New Restaurants in Silver Lake, Fall 2026: Rooms With a Past

The most talked-about openings in Silver Lake this year all took over buildings the neighborhood already knew well. A 1931 church at Lucile Avenue and Griffith Park Boulevard now holds a 25-room hotel and a French-Southern restaurant. The Sunset Boulevard corner that housed Bar Moruno now serves pad Thai. A Brazilian-Italian kitchen moved into the former Spoon & Pork space, and an Italo-French bistro took over the yellow Bowery Bungalow.

None of these four needed new construction. Even the rooftop restaurant still in the pipeline is going on top of the Wasteland building at Sunset and Hyperion. Between the start of summer and mid-September 2026, Silver Lake changed as new tenants moved into rooms people have walked past for years, and in most cases the new operators kept the features that made those rooms recognizable.

The Church That Waited More Than a Decade

The longest wait on the list belongs to the building on the corner of Lucile and Griffith Park, about a block up from Sunset Triangle Plaza. It was built as Bethany Presbyterian Church in 1931. After serving as a church for most of the 20th century, it was used as an antique shop, a filming location, and the setting for the interactive horror show "Delusion."

The Los Angeles Times traces the hotel plan back to developer Dana Hollister, who took over the lease and sought city permits for a hotel with alcohol and dancing. The permits were approved in 2014 over objections from many neighboring homeowners and businesses who were worried about traffic. Hollister sold her interest in 2020. That same year Casetta Group took over the long-term lease from the Presbytery of the Pacific, which still owns the property. Eater reports that Casetta then spent six years renovating it.

The building that opened on September 14 still looks like a church. The cross is still on the roof. Stained glass windows showing the 12 apostles overlook the dining room. The guest-room windows have their original iron frames, and the bell tower anchors the view from the roof, though the bell no longer rings. The organ loft is now a meeting space, and the choir loft serves coffee and drinks. Jennifer Armbruster, president of Casetta Hotels, told Time Out how longtime locals reacted during the build-out:

"The amount of people that came in as second-, third-generation Silver Lake people, they were like, 'Thank God you guys are keeping the essence of the building.'"

For people who live nearby, the restaurant in the former chapel matters more than the hotel rooms. Sous Sous comes from chef Patrick Costa and beverage director Lee Zaremba of the Arts District's De La Nonna. The cooking blends French and Southern influences with California produce. The menu includes oysters with an Espelette-seasoned rim, a bouillabaisse for two, hush puppies with honey butter, and an eight-ounce bistro burger called Le Burg. The bar is built to look like a church organ, and Zaremba's cocktails include a fried green tomato tequila drink with an Old Bay rim. The team also partnered with Skylight Books in Los Feliz, and local artists' work hangs on the walls. Eater reports that the rooftop deck is open only to hotel guests.

One Operator, Two Sister Spaces

Half a mile of Sunset tells a related story. In 2022 the team of chef Chris Feldmeier and David Rosoff ran two sister restaurants side by side: Bar Moruno, on the corner that had been Kettle Black, and Causita, chef Ricardo Zarate's Nikkei Peruvian restaurant at 3709 W. Sunset. Causita opened in April 2022 and closed for good less than a year later. Its partners said they "were unable to generate sufficient weekday volume for such a large space," and they planned to use the room for pop-ups. Bar Moruno announced in October 2023 that it would close in early November, 19 months after it reopened in Silver Lake.

Both rooms now belong to one company again. TTFB, a Taiwan-based group that also runs Very Thai in Century City, opened Bobo Thai in the old Bar Moruno space on Sunday, August 2. It is the group's first U.S. location. The menu is built around pad Thai. The 1938 is a traditional version with pork belly, Two Kings combines pad Thai with tom yum, and Gold Rush is crispy noodles in yellow curry. The patio pours cocktails such as the Bobo Thai Spritz with lychee, raspberry and rose water, and the gin-based Tom Kha Booze.

Next door, TTFB plans to open Shann Shann Rice Bar in the former Causita space. Eater's August report said there was no opening timeline yet. TTFB's own page describes Shann Shann as "New Taiwanese Cuisine." When it opens, this pair of storefronts will once again be two restaurants under one owner. That arrangement ended with the closures of 2023.

Smaller Rooms, Same Pattern

The pattern holds in smaller spaces too, and the new owners kept what made each room distinct. Briciola, at 3131 W. Sunset in the former Spoon & Pork space, takes its name from the Italian word for "crumb" because the dining room is so small. Chef Matteo Di Nicola and Mattia Raimond ran the Michelin-recognized Cedro in Newbury Park and closed it in late 2025 to move to Los Angeles. Their cavatappi swaps vodka for cachaça and comes topped with linguiça calabresa. The spaghetti alla nerano uses queijo Minas in place of provolone, and the bananas Foster gets a dusting of pecorino. The wine list leans natural, and the owners are working on adding Brazilian bottles. Two weeks or so after opening, Raimond told Eater, "We already have some regulars."

Josephine moved into the historic yellow bungalow that was Bowery Bungalow and kept its string-lit gazebo and big vine-covered back patio. Chef and co-owner Marco Gagliardi cooks seasonal Italo-French food, and Eater's October 2 review names the chicken Josephine, sold in half and whole portions, and the $48 hanger steak frites with sansho peppercorn sauce as the dishes people already order most. The review also recommends whatever rotating pasta is on that night, which often includes duck.

The Rooftop Still Waiting on Its Date

Saade, the one project still pending outside TTFB's, follows the same approach. Santo Group, the Mexico City-based team behind Santo and Seco on Sunset, is building a rooftop restaurant on top of Wasteland at Sunset and Hyperion. Of All Places LA reported in late August that it would open "in a few weeks," with a menu drawing on Lebanon and Mexico City. The official site calls it "the only Rooftop in Silverlake" and describes contemporary Mediterranean and Middle Eastern flavors. As of early October it still says "Coming Summer 2026." Until an opening date is announced, it belongs on the watch list.

Putting the New Map to Use This Month

1. Sous Sous serves dinner Sunday through Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m. and until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, according to Eater's opening report. Reservations are on Resy.
2. Bobo Thai offers both an indoor dining room and a lush patio, and its cocktails can be ordered in either.
3. Josephine's back patio and gazebo give you an outdoor option at the bistro.
4. The Lyric Hyperion at 2106 Hyperion Ave. is hosting The Last Video Store Halloween Show, a sketch comedy night, on Friday, October 9. Doors open at 9:10 p.m. and the show starts at 9:30. That's late enough to fit in after an early dinner on Sunset.

The Sunset Junction blocks have plenty of established anchors too. The Los Angeles Times lists the Silver Lake Farmers Market, Pine & Crane, 33 Taps and the Photobooth Museum among them. This year's openings joined those neighbors inside walls that were already standing.

Kati Cattaneo follows how Silver Lake's familiar buildings find new uses, from a 1931 church to a corner storefront on Sunset. If you'd like to talk about a property with its own history in the neighborhood, Kati Cattaneo would be glad to hear from you. Work With Kati.