West Hollywood is losing one of its best-known seafood restaurants, and the closing says a lot about how tough the middle of the restaurant market has become. For diners tracking once-packed restaurants and dining chains that struggled to keep momentum, Connie & Ted’s is the kind of local loss that gets people talking.
Connie & Ted’s, the New England-style seafood restaurant from chef Michael Cimarusti and his partners Donato Poto and Crisi Echiverri, is set to close July 1 after 13 years in West Hollywood.
The restaurant opened in 2013 at 8171 Santa Monica Blvd. and quickly became one of Los Angeles’ most recognizable seafood spots. It was more casual than Cimarusti’s three-Michelin-star Providence — but it still carried serious culinary credibility from one of the country’s most decorated chefs, a James Beard Award winner for Best Chef: West in 2019.
The restaurant was also a personal project. Cimarusti named it after his grandparents, Constance and Edward Pointon, both English-born immigrants who married in 1940 and built a Rhode Island family life centered on fishing. The whole concept was an homage to those Rhode Island roots — sustainable, responsibly sourced seafood served in a setting inspired by classic East Coast clam shacks and oyster bars.
That was part of its appeal.
Connie & Ted’s gave Los Angeles diners a place for oysters, lobster rolls, clam cakes, chowder, fried seafood, fish, and a coastal New England feeling without turning dinner into a tasting-menu event. It was polished but approachable, chef-driven but not precious.
For more than a decade, that formula worked.
But the restaurant team has said the hospitality business has changed dramatically. Connie & Ted’s has faced the same pressures hitting many full-service restaurants: rising labor costs, higher seafood prices, lingering pandemic damage, and customers who are more careful about where they spend.
That last point is important.
Connie & Ted’s lived in a difficult space. It was not fast casual. It was not ultra-luxury fine dining. It was a full-service, chef-driven neighborhood restaurant with real operating costs and a menu built around expensive, sustainably sourced ingredients.
That “middle restaurant” category has become increasingly hard to sustain.
Customers still spend on quick, cheaper meals. They still splurge on special-occasion fine dining. But restaurants in between can get squeezed from both sides, especially in expensive markets like Los Angeles.
The closing also lands emotionally because Connie & Ted’s had built a loyal following.
For some diners, it was a reliable oyster stop. For others, it was a place for lobster rolls, casual birthdays, seafood cravings, or a meal that felt relaxed but still special. In a city full of constant restaurant openings, lasting 13 years is no small achievement.
Before the doors close, the restaurant is hosting one final celebration. One Last Cast, a farewell dinner on Thursday, June 18, 2026, will be led by Cimarusti and Executive Chef Sam Baxter. Seatings run from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at $175 per guest, with reservations available exclusively through OpenTable. The evening — named for a familiar ritual among fishermen — is being held in honor of “the fishermen, farmers, oyster growers, team members, longtime guests, and the greater Los Angeles community” that helped make the restaurant what it was.
Cimarusti has been clear that the restaurant’s closing is part of a bigger reckoning for the industry, not simply one bad business decision.
That makes the final weeks feel like more than a goodbye.
They are a reminder that even beloved restaurants with famous chefs, strong identities, and loyal customers can struggle when costs keep rising and dining habits shift.
For West Hollywood, July 1 will mark the end of a seafood favorite.
For Los Angeles, it is another sign that the restaurant landscape is still changing fast.
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