The Impact of LA Quarantines: Famous Ivy Restaurant 2019 vs 2020

The Ivy Restaurant on Robertson in Beverly Hills is famous for its patio dining behind the white picket fence. It’s always packed with A-list celebrities and the sidewalk in front of the restaurant is packed with paparazzi trying to get a shot of whatever celebrities are dining there for the day.

See more photos at bottom of post.

The staff makes a pretense of running the paparazzi off to “protect the privacy of their clients” but I suspect it’s nothing more than a pretense. Celebrities need to remain in the public eye. One of the reasons many celebrities dine there is because of the large patio where they are in full view of anyone passing by… including the ones with professional cameras.

After Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck postponed their wedding in 2003, they made it a point to be seen there together to dismiss rumors that they had broken up.

Whether the celebrities hated the paparazzi, or went there because of them the Ivy was a happening place! That is until March 2020.

When the “two weeks to slow the spread” quarantine order was pushed down in March, restaurants had to close for all but takeout and delivery. Two weeks became well over 2 months.

Restaurants in Los Angeles were finally able to reopen on a very limited basis with strict restrictions in place. That was short lived. All indoor dining was banned. Most restaurants had to scurry to set up outdoor dining spaces. The Ivy was lucky. It already had one!

But like all things in 2020, even the outdoor dining came to an end. As Thanksgiving rolled around Angelenos were told that unless you were a politician you could not spend Thanksgiving with family. You had to stay at home. (most of the politicians in CA were caught violating their own orders)

So for the biggest part of and at the close of 2020, the famous patio at the Ivy Restaurant remains deserted.

This is a crime. Though closed, the owners of the restaurants are still liable for the rent that full time. There are still utilities. And somehow the government never saw fit to forgive property tax! They have still been expected to pay permit and licensing fees.

Several lawsuits have been launched to remedy the situation. More than once the courts have ruled there is no scientific evidence that restaurants pose a greater risk in spreading coronavirus than any other business that has been allowed to remain open. The ruled that the restaurants could reopen… yet officials have found ways to circumvent the rulings and keep them closed.

We think the same officials who so callously ordered them closed should be forced to personally pay for the losses. Perhaps then they would give a bit of thought to the harm their edicts are causing their constituents.

Be sure to see our interview with Angela Marsden, the owner of the Pineapple Hill Saloon and Grill. Angela’s video of her reaction when she discovered a large outdoor dining facility for a film crew had set up in her parking lot after her outdoor dining was ordered closed!

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