LA restaurant apocalypse claims another beloved eatery: ‘All odds are against us’

Another day, another Downtown Los Angeles business shuttered.

The latest sad news for the long-struggling section of the city is the closure of Rossoblu — a celebrated Michelin Bib Gourmand Italian restaurant that toughed it out for nearly a decade in the Fashion District.

Known for handmade pasta and Bolognese specialties, the beloved-by-many eatery will serve its final regular dinner on Nov. 1 — and its owners are calling out the increasingly punishing economics of running a restaurant as the reason, saying that things were a struggle from the start.

“When we started, we ran out of money,” Dina Samson, who co-owned Rossoblu with husband and chef Steve Samson, told Eater. “We started hoping we would make the first payment, and it’s been like that since day one. Where do you find the money to keep going?”

The departure is the latest domino to fall in a hospitality bloodbath not only in DTLA, but across Los Angeles and neighboring cities — where high-profile bars and restaurants are being squeezed out by high operating costs and rent, changing consumer habits and rising minimum wage requirements.

“We are incredibly proud of the restaurant and community we’ve built together,” the Samsons said in a social media post announcing Rossoblu’s swan song. “We still love cooking. We still love hospitality. And we still believe in Downtown Los Angeles and City Market South.”

Rossoblu opened in 2017, and quickly became one of Downtown’s buzziest dining rooms — earning praise from Michelin reviewers and a Bib Gourmand recognition in the guide for years.

Located in a converted warehouse space, the restaurant featured an open kitchen and a wood-burning hearth in a soaring hall.

But an appealing environment and great food couldn’t help the Samsons beat the Goliath-sized challenges they faced — from a 2018 kitchen fire to a recent drop-off in diners making the trek to the remote area at night.

“All the equipment and restaurant are almost 10 years old,” Samson told Eater. “When you don’t have that kind of money for maintenance and repairs, and guests are no longer coming in like they used to, it seems like all odds are against us.”

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The couple said they had sold the business to undisclosed new partners who plan to reimagine the space, with Chef Steve potentially returning to helm the kitchen.

“The fact that somebody came in and said, ‘Hey, let us buy it from you, and you can still be a part of it if you want,’” Samson said. “Why would we say no?”