Restauranteurs are always some of the first on a tragic scene, finding out how they can support their community. About 38,600 acres have burned in Los Angeles County in one week, and 88,000 people remain under mandatory evacuation orders. Over 9,000 structures have been destroyed or damaged. For fire evacuees, the outpouring of support has been overwhelming. Here’s how restaurants are making a difference.
Wildfire Pop-Ups
Pop-ups have been big business lately, growing by an incredible rate of 155% between May 2023 and April 2024. Today, in Los Angeles, they’re providing clothes, toiletries, and food for the thousands of people affected by the fires.
SFGate and Eater Los Angeles reported on several restaurants lending support despite their own uncertainty. Thus far, 15 restaurants have been destroyed, and many more have been affected by the fires.
Restaurants Lending a Hand
Eater LA created a list of Los Angeles restaurants providing free meals and relief to those in need. The restaurants spanned from Atwater Village to Westwood, all offering refuge and food to first responders, firefighters, and evacuees. All in all, some 50 restaurants have pitched in. And the list keeps growing.
Here are a few of the many operators supporting their communities and the thousands of displaced individuals and families.
- World Central Kitchen set up 17 meal distribution sites. Numerous restaurants are offering special drinks or meals with profits or entire sales going to the WCK.
- In-N-Out delivered burgers to show appreciation to 900 prisoners from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation who have been helping battle the wildfires.
- Crustacean in Beverly Hills is providing free pho and garlic noodles,
- Steep in Chinatown is offering free tea and chicken rice.
- Fat & Flour in Culver City is providing a place of refuge and free coffee and bread to those in need.
- Gra in Echo Park is giving free to-go meals to firefighters, first responders, and evacuees.
- Hard Rock Café in Hollywood is providing free meals to first responders and hosting a drop-off for emergency items.
- Ozzy’s Apizza is providing a place of refuge and giving out free meals.
And the list goes on.
Restaurants Destroyed
Long-standing, iconic restaurants that dotted the Malibu coastline, such as Moonshadows and Reel Inn, no longer remain. Reel Inn’s lease had just ended with state officials in Topanga State Park, and the owners were looking to negotiate a new one. After 40 years and one fire, they’re now uncertain if the state will let them rebuild.
According to the LA Times, the couple is most concerned about their workers, some of whom have worked for them for over 30 years, their first and only job. Like many of those affected by the fires, they started a GoFundMe for their staff to raise 3 months of wages, benefits, and support. They have since raised $158,800.
Moonshadows was a part of the Malibu coastline for almost 40 years, sitting on the water’s edge with breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean.
That story is not uncommon in this area, with many of the restaurants in the same place for decades. Vittorio’s, a family-owned Italian restaurant, had also been there for 40 years.
Other Restaurants Destroyed by the Fires
Cholada Thai, Rosenthal Wine Bar & Patio, Café Vida, Casa Nostra, Caffe Luxxe, Café de Leche, Rancho Bar, Pizza of Venice, Fox’s, The Little Red Hen Coffee Shop, Side Pie, Amara Kitchen, and Everest Burgers
Restaurants Helping Restaurants
Many of the restaurants in the distant neighbor to the north, San Francisco, are contributing to the relief efforts, whether hosting special dinners or selling items with proceeds going to the fire victims. Restaurants Care, a nonprofit fund, has set up assistance for food and beverage workers affected by the fires.
While the full scope of the fires is just beginning to emerge, restaurants, charitable agencies, and food groups across California and the nation quickly gathered forces to support those in need. In Huntington Beach, about 50 miles south of the devastation, the owners of Calico Fish House set up a staging area to transport seafood and hot meals to WCK.
The owner, Andrew Gruel, told SeafoodSource he was amazed at the outpouring of support. He received $50,000 in donations from across the country and saw over 100 volunteers help load trucks transporting food to the affected areas.
And that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
Food & Wine put together a publication listing the major organizations helping the cause and how others around the world can help.
