Restaurants Stake Prime Spots Near New Arena
Where there’s sports, can a he-man staple like steak be far behind?
Within the last six weeks, at least three steakhouses have opened just blocks from the recently inaugurated Staples Center, hoping to cash in on the grumbling stomachs of sports fans herding to and from the state-of-the-art home of the Kings, Lakers and Clippers.
Even downtown Los Angeles’ landmark steakhouse, the 78-year-old Pacific Dining Car, has adjusted its business strategy to account for Staples Center, recently launching a shuttle service to the venue for its patrons.
The trend is among the first noticeable signs of the arena’s impact on downtown’s moribund economy, which many hope can mount a late-quarter comeback with a big assist from the center’s throngs.
“We’re trying to get some business with people who want to get a bite before going to see an event, and I’m sure a nice hearty steak would be welcome for them,” said Kim Salcedo, director of restaurants for the Hyatt Regency Hotel. In late August, the hotel shuttered its pastel green and teal Pavan Pacifico restaurant and spiked its Asian/California menu in favor of the deep-burgundy, white-linen swank of a steakhouse dubbed The Grill.
Steak, Salcedo said, was the natural choice when hotel business planners sought to tailor the new restaurant’s menu largely around the gastronomic sensibilities of Staples Center sports fans.
“That was our gut feeling when we decided to make the change,” she said. “You offer people steak, they know what they’re getting. You offer them sea bass with some kind of guava sauce, they’re not sure what they’re getting on their plate.”
Although the arena will also host other events such as rock concerts, the lion’s share of its 200-odd happenings each year will entail either a puck or basketball, a fact not lost on award-winning restaurateur Joachim Splichal when he decided to open Nick & Stef’s steakhouse at Wells Fargo Center, replacing longtime downtown eatery Stepps.
“A lot of people who go to those events are steakhouse clientele,” he said. “We knew the Staples Center was coming, and we felt there was a need for a steakhouse.”
But is there a need for four steakhouses within a stone’s throw of one another, especially since the three sit-down restaurants inside the arena itself all feature steak on their menus? In addition, there are nearly two dozen fast-food stands within the complex.
Worried about over-saturation, the Regal Biltmore Hotel scrapped plans to convert its storied Bernard’s restaurant into a steakhouse after market research revealed it would have been one of five within a one-mile radius, hotel spokeswoman Matti Asgarian said. The restaurant has instead become a private dining room.
Restaurateur Stephanie Haymes also nixed plans to open a steakhouse in the old Standard Oil building out of concern it would drain too much attention and resources from her current downtown restaurant, Cicada.
But restaurant consultant Ron Paul said each of the arena-area chophouses should be able to hold its own given the hordes of potential diners now streaming into downtown; Staples Center is expected to draw tens of thousands of people per event.
What’s more, consultant Randall Hiatt said, efforts to capture specific niche markets will also help. “To the degree they carve out their own segment and following, they have a good chance of success, “ he said.
Pacific Dining Car, Hiatt said, will probably continue catering to old-school steakhouse traditionalists while Nick & Stef’s, like other Splichal restaurants around the Southland, will most likely attract yuppie big spenders. The Grill at the Hyatt, however, will probably see mostly leisure and business travelers.
Meanwhile, the new Windows Steaks & Martinis atop the Transamerica building appears to be aiming largely for hip twenty- and thirtysomethings with its retro ‘60s boomerang bar, hourglass light fixtures and serpentine couches.
Windows opened Oct. 16 in the former home of the Tower restaurant, which until early September had served French continental cuisine for 34 years, general manager Craig Osmundson said. Steak ushered out broiled eel, he said, not only because of its broad appeal among sports fans but also because it appears to be supplanting so-called Pacific Rim as L.A.’s cuisine du jour.
“Steaks are coming back into vogue,” he said. “Health consequences be damned.”
