Serving Larchmont Village, Hancock Park, and the Greater Wilshire neighborhoods of Los Angeles since 2011.

Great White Restraurant Opens Friday

Pizza chef John Thoma and Operations Manager Kelsey Champion show off Great White’s pizza oven. The restaurant opens Friday.

 

We stopped by the new Great White restaurant at 244 N. Larchmont Blvd. this afternoon. They’re not yet officially open, but they were hosting news media and special guests today and tomorrow. The official opening is Friday at 8 a.m. and residents are welcome to stop in and check out the newest eatery on Larchmont, which looks great and so does the food!

Co-owner Sam Trude told us he’s very excited to finally be open and serving food. We first reported Great White was coming to Larchmont back in March.

“We’re excited to be on Larchmont, we love the neighborhood,” said Trude.

The Larchmont restaurant is Trude and his partner, Sam Cooper’s second location. They opened their first Great White four years ago in a small 900-square-foot space in Venice Beach. The Larchmont location is an opportunity to bring what they’ve learned over the last four years to a new neighborhood. They say they’ve tailored their beach style interior furnishings to fit the Larchmont vibe, with classic marble tables and comfy, sunny booths. They also commissioned artist Rafa Uriegas to interpret the community ethos in the large painting that fills the south wall of the restaurant.

Earlier this year, the partners filed an application for a permit to sell a full line of alcoholic beverages, but they withdrew it after some neighborhood groups and the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council’s Land Use Committee opposed the application because it could set the precedent of permitting more alcohol on the Boulevard.  (Currently all the alcohol licenses in Larchmont Village between Beverly and First Street are limited to beer and wine.)  However, at the last Larchmont 2021 Community Conversation virtual meeting, most residents present expressed support for allowing Larchmont restaurants to have full-line alcohol permits. It seemed the timing of Great White’s application just got ahead of the neighborhood discussion.

Nevertheless, Trude told the Buzz he’s happy to be open and welcomes the neighborhood to come in and get to know his team and the restaurant’s cuisine and service.

Great White plans to be part of the Larchmont community for a long time.

“We’re here for the long term, ” he told us.

According to Trude, they have signed a ten-year lease with an option to renew for another ten. That’s a big commitment for two restaurant entrepreneurs, and it’s also good news for Larchmont, which has seen more closings than openings in the last year.

Starting Friday, Great White will be open from 8:00 a,m. – 10:00 p.m. daily. The all-day menu features smoothies, fresh salads, sandwiches, and burgers. Dinner additions include share plates, and “mains” — sustainably sourced fish tacos, mezcal con penne, and wood-fired-oven pizzas, according to the website.

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Patricia Lombard
Patricia Lombard
Patricia Lombard is the publisher of the Larchmont Buzz. Patty lives with her family in Fremont Place. She has been active in neighborhood issues since moving here in 1989. Her pictorial history, "Larchmont" for Arcadia Press is available at Chevalier's Books.

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3 COMMENTS

  1. I think it is a bit of an exaggeration to suggest community agreement with the idea of restaurants with full liquor licenses. Maybe I missed something said. The “expert” advocates of such are shills for conventional solutions. The same advisors destroyed Westwood which has never recovered. If much rather see empty shops for a year or two forcing building owners to reduce their expectations rather than get on this hopeless inflationary spiral. Otherwise here comes the regional atttaction and there goes our community. Full bar means 2am closing and so forth.

  2. Yeah so nice but how long will they stay in business with the exorbitant rent which is just ridiculous. To give you an idea, the going rate is $7.75/sq foot. I’d guesstimate that place is around 1400 sq ft.
    Now do your math and that should give you an idea of what they’re paying in rent alone. They have to sell at least that much per month just to pay their rent.

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