WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA — Employees Only, the popular cocktail bar and restaurant that brought a taste of New York nightlife to Santa Monica Boulevard, is preparing to close its West Hollywood location after more than eight years in business.
The establishment at 7953 Santa Monica Boulevard will serve customers for the final time on September 27, 2026, ending a run that began in April 2018.
Known for its speakeasy-inspired atmosphere, craft cocktails and elevated food menu, Employees Only became a recognizable part of West Hollywood’s nightlife scene. The Los Angeles location was an expansion of the Employees Only concept that originated in New York City.
But behind the upcoming closure is a combination of pressures increasingly familiar to restaurant and bar operators throughout Los Angeles.
Managing partner Tom Sopit told Los Angeles Magazine that there was no simple explanation for why the business could no longer continue. Among the factors he cited were inflation, higher costs for goods, rising minimum wages and changes in consumer behavior.
Sopit also pointed to the growing popularity of GLP-1 medications, which can suppress appetite and may affect how much some consumers eat and drink.
Employees Only operates under the traditional full-service restaurant model, requiring a sizable staff and the expenses associated with preparing and serving food and drinks in a physical location. Sopit told Los Angeles Magazine that despite adapting as restaurant culture changed, he had not found a long-term solution to the mounting pressures facing the model.
The closure comes as restaurant operators across Los Angeles continue to grapple with higher labor and ingredient costs, changing nightlife habits and reduced discretionary spending.
Employees Only is not alone. Other established Los Angeles-area restaurants and bars have announced closures in recent years, raising questions about how the region’s full-service hospitality industry will adapt to a changing economic environment.
Hollywood’s Production Slowdown Adds Another Concern
Sopit also connected the restaurant industry’s difficulties to changes within another major Los Angeles industry: film and television production.
He told Los Angeles Magazine that the decline in local film activity has meant the disappearance of production-related spending that once flowed into restaurants and bars.
That connection is particularly significant in areas such as West Hollywood, where hospitality and entertainment have historically overlapped. Actors, production workers and other entertainment professionals make up part of the customer and labor base for the region’s restaurants, bars and nightlife businesses.
Employees Only’s closure therefore arrives amid a larger conversation about the economic ripple effects of Los Angeles losing some film and television production to other markets.
Eight Years on Santa Monica Boulevard
Employees Only opened its West Hollywood location in 2018, taking over the former Baby Blues BBQ space.
The venue developed a reputation for cocktails and late-night hospitality while combining elements of its New York origins with the atmosphere of West Hollywood.
When announcing the closure, Employees Only thanked the workers, customers and regulars who helped build the location during its eight-year run.
“We’re incredibly grateful for the people who worked alongside us, supported us, celebrated with us, and brought so much life and joy into this space,” the business said in its announcement.
For Sopit, the challenge facing restaurants extends beyond simply increasing menu prices. At some point, he said, operators cannot continue passing every additional expense on to customers.
He expressed hope that a new generation of restaurant owners will develop operating models capable of navigating those pressures.
One Final Celebration
Employees Only isn’t disappearing quietly.
The bar plans to hold a large hospitality-industry party on Sunday, September 27, its final day of operation. Items associated with Employees Only will be auctioned during the event, with proceeds going directly to staff members as they transition to new jobs and opportunities.
Until then, customers still have an opportunity to visit the Santa Monica Boulevard establishment for a final meal or cocktail.
Its closure will mark the end of another longtime destination in West Hollywood’s evolving restaurant and nightlife landscape — and another example of the economic questions confronting full-service hospitality businesses across Los Angeles.
Source: Reporting and comments from Employees Only managing partner Tom Sopit were originally reported by Los Angeles Magazine. Additional reporting on the September 27 closure and the restaurant’s history was reviewed from local Los Angeles coverage.