Ownership plans to reopen the lauded restaurant sometime in December.
When Here’s Looking at You closed 16 months ago, it prompted an outpouring of remembrances on social media and radio and in articles throughout the summer of 2020, all mourning the eclectic Koreatown restaurantand genre-defying cuisine. Regulars were grieving. But this week, the owners announced they’re planning to reopen by the end of the year.
Sixteen months later, faced with mounting back rent that only increases each month, the owners are hoping to recoup some of their costs — any money coming in from customers is better than none, even if it’s only $5 in profit, Ta said.“We’re gonna reopen this restaurant as soon as possible because the bills keep piling on and on and on,” Ta said this week.
Last summer, they put Here’s Looking at You up for sale, which included everything within the restaurant, as well as city and county permits, which can be valuable to a buyer — especially if a liquor license is included, as was the case here. As they cleared some of their belongings from the space — like Whitener’s 100 or so cookbooks from the shelf above the bar — they also gave tours to prospective buyers.