Horses, the once-impossible-to-book Hollywood restaurant that drew Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Jeff Bezos and Will Ferrell to its Sunset Boulevard dining room, is plotting a return to the Sunset Strip after a collapse that buried it in state tax debt and a bitter, headline-grabbing divorce between its founding chefs. The restaurant shut its doors in December 2025, initially telling the public it was closing temporarily for storm repairs.
According to the New York Post, Horses has announced it will relaunch at a new Sunset Strip location, reviving a brand that became a genuine overnight sensation after opening in 2021 inside a historic brick-and-mortar space. The building at 7617 Sunset Boulevard carried its own Hollywood pedigree long before Horses arrived: it previously housed Ye Coach & Horses, a 73-year-old British pub once frequented by Richard Burton, Alfred Hitchcock and Quentin Tarantino, according to Brunchographers, before The Pikey opened in the space in 2012.
Co-founders Liz Johnson and Will Aghajanian launched Horses together in 2021 and built it into one of Los Angeles's most elusive reservations, serving French brasserie fare and seasonal California cuisine that the New York Times reported was widely praised. At its peak in October 2022, the restaurant expanded with The Garden at Horses, a 48-seat outdoor space with a wood-fired pizza oven added specifically to meet reservation demand, per Resy.
A Divorce That Derailed the Kitchen
The good times didn't last. In May 2023, Johnson's public divorce from Aghajanian spilled into court filings that accused him of domestic assault and of torturing and killing the couple's pet cats, allegations he denied. Aghajanian countersued, alleging Johnson had been physically abusive toward him and their dogs, and both chefs ultimately exited the business and settled their legal dispute.
In a March 2026 profile, Aghajanian addressed the allegations and maintained his innocence, according to Air Mail. The outlet also reported that domestic abuse and animal cruelty allegations first surfaced in court filings tied to the couple's 2023 divorce proceedings.
With both founders gone, chef Brittany Ha took over leadership of the Horses kitchen, co-managing it alongside her husband, Lee Pallerino. Ha kept the restaurant running even as its tarnished reputation chipped away at private-event revenue.
Storm Damage Story Masked a Deeper Financial Crisis
When Horses closed in December 2025, management publicly attributed the shutdown to structural issues from heavy rain, posting a notice describing the closure as temporary building maintenance. The closure came amid financial strain.
Government filings back up that darker picture. That same month, the State of California filed two separate tax liens against parent company Horses Holdings LLC totaling nearly $530,000 in unpaid state taxes, grounding the closure in verified public records rather than weather alone.
After Horses
Johnson, for her part, had already tested a post-Horses chapter in New York. She opened the 68-seat Greenwich Village restaurant Frog Club in the historic former Chumley's space in February 2024, enforcing rules like a ban on internal photography, according to Secret NYC.
Now the Horses name itself is set for a third act, with a return planned at a new Sunset Strip location rather than reopening in its original storm-damaged, debt-laden home. For a brand once synonymous with A-list clientele and near-impossible reservations, the comeback attempt arrives shadowed by the same scandal and financial wreckage that brought the original location down.
