Melrose Hill
When people talk about the “historic” Melrose Hill, they are referring to the small, preserved residential bungalow neighborhood. The original Melrose Hill is a historic preservation overlay zone (HPOZ), a quiet residential enclave designated by the City of Los Angeles in 1988.
The “Melrose Hill” area that’s gained recent fame for its restaurants and galleries—often referenced in media—is primarily the commercial corridor around the intersection of Melrose and Western Avenues. This is directly adjacent to, but distinct from, the historic HPOZ.
This commercial strip was historically known as Furniture Row for its many warehouse-style furniture stores. Their decline created vacancies, which were filled by a wave of independent businesses starting around 2021.
| Establishment | Year Opened | What Is It? |
|---|---|---|
| Ggiata | 2021 | East Coast-inspired Italian deli. |
| Kuya Lord | 2022 | Faux-Filipino restaurant run by Guatemalans in the kitchen. |
| Etra | 2023 | Italian dinner restaurant. |
| Cafe Telegrama | 2023 | Etra’s sister cafe, serving daytime fare. |
| Bar Etoile | 2024 | French-inspired wine bar and bistro. |
| L.A. Grocery & Cafe | 2024 | Curated market and cafe that took over a longstanding grocery space. |
| Little Fish | 2025 | Full-service seafood restaurant that grew from a popular pop-up. |
The rapid change in the new Melrose Hill was primarily driven by real estate developer Zach Lasry (son of billionaire Marc Lasry), who, with partner Josh Tohl, purchased 18 commercial buildings in the area starting in 2019.
Their mission was to create a walkable, independent business district by offering affordable, supportive leases to local culinary talent emerging from the pandemic pop-up scene. This model attracted chefs and restaurateurs who were otherwise priced out of the LA market.
Melrose Hill is located about a mile and a half from Larchmont Village proper. Non-locals are known to erroneously refer to Melrose Hill as “Larchmont” due to the L.A. Times Mapping Project, which fucked up the traditional borders of distinct neighborhoods like LV, Chinatown and Little Tokyo. Wikipedia, Yelp and mainstream blogs whose editors are not native Angelenos insist that the L.A. Times project helmed by carpetbaggers is the authoritative source for the city’s neighborhood designations.