State Officials Deny Lease Renewal for Seafood Spot
Plans to resurrect The Reel Inn Malibu after the Palisades Fire have been shelved following a decision by the California Department of Parks and Recreation not to renew the restaurant’s lease, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The move effectively closes a 36-year chapter for the 144-seat seafood shack on Pacific Coast Highway, long recognizable for surfboards on the walls, clever signage, chalkboard menus, and the relaxed Malibu customers.
Owners Teddy Seraphine-Leonard and Andy Leonard had hoped to rebuild after the fire leveled the property earlier this summer, but their lease expired a month after the blaze, and state officials have since ruled out new permanent construction at the site.
According to the Department of Parks and Recreation, which told The Wall Street Journal that wildfire impacts have reduced usable space in the area. Part of the parcel is now serving as a staging yard for a two-year Los Angeles Department of Water and Power project to restore the coastal power grid. The agency said any food service on the property in the near term would be offered through a competitive process for short-term concessions.
While the Reel Inn could compete for a two- to three-year food-truck permit, the owners said bringing back a brick-and-mortar restaurant is “not feasible under current restrictions.” While they have been offered the option of reopening the beloved restaurant in Marina del Rey, the owners have declined and announced that they would focus on a cookbook project and bottling the restaurant’s popular chipotle sauce, according to Time Out.
The owners thanked their customers, many of whom contributed to the GoFundMe, to pay their workers after the restaurant closed and said, in an Instagram post, “It has been gratifying to discover how many people’s lives have been touched by The Reel Inn. We have been deeply moved by your photos and memories; please keep them coming, as they are buoying us up during this dark time. With love and gratitude, Andy and Teddy Leonard.”
