In 2017, Robby Herrera Sr. bought a former auto shop on York Boulevard, at the line where Eagle Rock meets Highland Park, so his family could someday open a restaurant there. He had worked in a family restaurant in Mexico before he came to the United States, then spent 25 years running a plumbing business in Northeast Los Angeles. His children Robby Jr., Ingrid Herrera and Cindy Lemuz grew up three blocks away. They opened Zero Fox at 4607 York Boulevard in mid-September 2026 and held the grand opening on September 26.
From purchase to opening, that is nine years for one room.
The Eastside's other fall openings follow the same pattern. Silver Lake, Echo Park and Highland Park have no new buildings to show for this season. Each confirmed opening moved into a space the neighborhood already had a name for. The wait between tenants has been long, sometimes years, and the people who sat through it tend to have a reason to want that particular address.
The ledger of former tenants
| New tenant | Address | Who was there before | Status, per latest report |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zero Fox | 4607 York Blvd., Eagle Rock | An auto shop, bought by the family in 2017 | Open since mid-September |
| Tijuanero by Tijuanazo | 1312 Echo Park Ave., Echo Park | Los Burritos | Open since September 24 |
| Briciola | 3131 W. Sunset Blvd., Silver Lake | Spoon & Pork | Open since mid-September |
| Palomino | 5630 N. Figueroa St., Highland Park | ETA, closed in 2024 | Recently opened |
| The Ravine Club | Former Button Mash space, Echo Park | Button Mash and Poltergeist, closed September 2024 | Aiming for fall, per an August report |
| Sabelli-Frisch Wines | 5122 York Blvd., Highland Park | Byron Blatty Wines tasting room | Targeting an October debut |
Six rooms, and none of them were built new. The four that are open have one more thing in common. The operators had a personal tie to the space, or to the street it sits on, before they signed anything.
Echo Park's front window, back in service
Los Burritos had a walk-up window on Echo Park Avenue, just off Sunset. After it closed, Aria Esquivel took the space for Tijuanero by Tijuanazo, the stateside branch of a taqueria her parents Antonio and Claudia Esquivel started as a Playas de Tijuana taco cart in 2008. According to Eater LA, her father grew up in the area and remembered Los Burritos from his childhood. Once she saw the restaurant had closed, she moved quickly to bring Tijuanero there.
Tijuanero quietly opened on September 24 after nearly a year of construction, and it serves tacos, burritos and aguas frescas out of the old front window. On a first visit, Esquivel recommends the adobada. It is cooked on the trompo and topped with avocado crema and a slice of pineapple, and she calls it the dish "that pretty much fundamentally started this taqueria." Asada, birria, chorizo and a vegetarian option round out the proteins, served as tacos, mulitas, burritos and vampiros.
Hours were still being settled when Eater published. At that point the window was open Tuesday through Sunday, noon to 10 p.m.
The auto shop that waited nine years
Zero Fox's long wait shows in what the family chose to build: a neighborhood room priced to be used often. Brunch runs from 8 a.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m. on weekends, with chilaquiles, huevos rancheros, hot honey chicken and waffles, and berry French toast. Daytime dishes run $13 to $24. Dinner adds four burgers, tacos and wings, nothing on the dinner menu tops $20, and cocktails stay under $15. The dining room seats 78, the rear patio seats 20, and several screens are set up for game days.
"This is a place for the neighborhood to come in and enjoy a casual time, some good food, and watch games."
Robby Herrera Jr. said that to Eater LA. The menu backs him up. Chefs Chalo Martinez and David Paulino run the kitchen. Cesar Flores, founder of Elite Bartenders and a former Border Grill bartender, wrote a cocktail list that includes the Te Quiero Mucho, a tequila drink with espresso, Kahlua, cinnamon and Mexican chocolate. Nine beers rotate on tap.
Sunset Boulevard's smallest room gets a second act
Briciola took over the former Spoon & Pork space at 3131 W. Sunset Boulevard. Its name means "crumb" in Italian, a nod to how small the dining room is. The owners are coming off a move of their own. Mattia Raimondi and chef Matteo Di Nicola ran Cedro, a Michelin-recognized Italian restaurant in Newbury Park, and closed it in late 2025 to relocate to Los Angeles. Less than a year later, they opened in Silver Lake in mid-September.
The menu reads mostly Italian, with a Brazilian turn in nearly every dish:
- Prosciutto crudo with papaya, and polenta frita, a dish Italian immigrants carried to Brazil
- Bolinho de bacalhau, the cod and potato fritter Raimondi calls essential, served with red pepper sauce
- Cavatappi with linguiça calabresa in a pink sauce made with cachaça where you'd expect vodka
- Spaghetti alla nerano made with queijo Minas from Minas Gerais in place of provolone
- Queijo Minas with goiabada for dessert
For now, the wine list leans toward natural bottles from Austria, Germany and France. Raimondi and his fiancée, Alyssa Del Sesto, are working to add Brazilian wines. "We already have some regulars," Raimondi told Eater LA.
Figueroa's room across from the bowling alley
The space at 5630 N. Figueroa Street, across from Highland Park Bowl, was home to ETA for about eight years. ETA was a small cocktail and oyster bar, and it closed in 2024. The Eastsider reports that the team behind Gold Line has now opened Palomino there. It's a dark lounge lit by disco balls, with a celery-vodka martini, a banana slushy and a nitro carajillo on the menu, DJs spinning records every night, and doors open daily from 5 p.m.
Two rooms on deck, one about to go dark
Two more familiar addresses have announced new tenants. Button Mash and its restaurant, Poltergeist, closed in Echo Park in September 2024 after nine years. In August, Eater LA reported that television writer Hank Chilton plans to turn the space into the Ravine Club, a sports bar he co-founded with Alex Soto of the Dodgers fan group Pantone 294. Chef Hugo Sanchez of Brown Soul Brewing will cook. The stated target was "this fall," and before opening, the club planned to serve food at Echo Park Rising on August 29 and 30. That August report gave no specific opening date.
On York Boulevard, Sabelli-Frisch Wines is converting the former Byron Blatty Wines tasting room at 5122 York into its first tasting room and wine bar. The plan calls for 450 square feet with flights plus indoor and outdoor seating. The Eastsider reported that owner Adam Sabelli Frisch was targeting an October debut, without a specific date.
One more familiar room is about to become available. Messhall Kitchen, the Los Feliz Boulevard restaurant known for its takes on American classics and its cocktail list, closes after business on October 17. The Eastsider reported that no reason was given. If the rooms above are any guide, it may be a while before that space has a new name. That leaves five days to order the white cheddar mac and cheese one more time.
Three weeks of Halloween in rooms with history
The season's calendar also runs through places with long track records. One event is literally about the neighborhood's past. The Eastsider's 2026 Halloween and Día de los Muertos guide lists these:
- Wednesday, Oct. 21, Eagle Rock. Spooky Stories and a Halloween Parade at the library, 6:30 p.m., free.
- Thursday, Oct. 22, Silver Lake. Estelle From Hell Halloween Party at El Cid, with puppetry, music and comedy, 10 p.m.
- Saturday, Oct. 24, Echo Park. Ghosts of Edendale, a film about Echo Park's history, screened at the library with director Stefan Avalos and the Echo Park Historical Society, 1 to 3 p.m., free.
- Saturday, Oct. 24, Highland Park. The Bob Baker Marionette Theater's 4th Annual Hallowe'en Costume Ball, 8 p.m. to midnight, from $35. The theater's Hallowe'en Spooktacular runs through Nov. 8.
- Friday and Saturday, Oct. 30 and 31, Echo Park. The Booth Bash, a vintage photobooth party at The Hunt Vintage, 7 to 11 p.m., free.
- Saturday, Oct. 31, Silver Lake. Read Between the Lines, a murder mystery game at the library, noon to 3 p.m., free.
In Highland Park, Kiez is holding Oktoberfest on Fridays and Saturdays through Oct. 31. On Sunday, Nov. 1, the Center for the Arts Eagle Rock hosts a Día de los Muertos family printmaking class from 2 to 4 p.m. with teaching artist Valerie Castanon. It's for ages 6 and up, every child needs an adult along, and the price starts at $45, materials included.
At Native Real Estate, we keep track of which Eastside storefronts are open, which are waiting on a new tenant, and how long a familiar room tends to sit empty, because those changes shape daily life on a block. If you'd like to talk through what's changing on your own street, we'd be glad to. Schedule a Consultation.
