Pizza Power! First Official ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Pizzeria Opens in L.A.

Pizza Power! First Official ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Pizzeria Opens in L.A.

The IP-oriented restaurateur Andy Nguyen, who’s previously opened concepts based on Hello Kitty and Sonic the Hedgehog, has spent more than a decade chasing his “dream project”: producing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pizzeria. After years of indifference and then false starts with the rights holders at Viacom, he’s now partnered under the new ownership…

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At Jacaranda, a Food-and-Music Power Couple Reignites L.A. Fine Dining

At Jacaranda, a Food-and-Music Power Couple Reignites L.A. Fine Dining

The Los Angeles restaurant scene has been in acute crisis thanks to everything from the Trump administration’s tariffs and Hollywood’s business woes to rising labor costs and the normalization of GLP-1s. Yet the K-shaped economy has simultaneously nurtured a notable new generation of fine-dining rooms, with the city witnessing a renaissance of tasting-menu-oriented spaces, from…

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Investors, Health Violations, and More

Investors, Health Violations, and More

When Jessica Hall invested in Sugar Taco in 2018, she thought she was becoming more than a part-owner of a vegan Mexican restaurant — she thought she was joining a social movement. The restaurant’s produce, she was told, would be organic, ethically and locally sourced from independent farms in Southern California. It would be eco-conscious…

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Chef Justin Pichetrungsi on Quitting Disney to Take Over Anajak Thai

Dinner in a Show: L.A.’s The Gallery Offers Haute Cuisine With Interactive Tabletop Animation

Daren Ulmer, the former head of music for Disneyland, likes to point out that the iconic Enchanted Tiki Room attraction was first conceived as a Polynesian-themed restaurant. “That was Walt’s original vision,” he says, noting logistical challenges meant that it evolved into merely an audio-animatronics revue. “He was onto something!” Ulmer — who now heads…

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