Tar & Roses, the wood-fired restaurant that has anchored Santa Monica Boulevard for 15 years, will close permanently following dinner service on October 24, 2026. The restaurant, led by chef Andrew Kirschner, announced the news through a farewell message to patrons on social media, giving diners roughly two weeks to make one last visit before the doors shut for good.
According to Santa Monica Mirror, restaurant management used the announcement to thank current and former employees along with the regular diners who kept coming back over a decade and a half. The restaurant, the report notes, became a gathering space for community celebrations, shared meals and long-standing friendships over its run at 602 Santa Monica Boulevard. In its message, Tar & Roses said it hoped to welcome familiar faces and old friends during its final two weeks and thanked patrons for 15 years of support.
Tar & Roses first took shape in 2011, when Andrew Kirschner — then fresh off his run as executive chef of Wilshire — told the Los Angeles Times he was just weeks from opening his own place. That early plan called for a 2,000-square-foot restaurant on Santa Monica Boulevard with seating for 75, according to the Los Angeles Times. The wood-fired small plates concept would go on to define the restaurant's identity for the next decade and a half.
A Fire That Once Threatened to End It Early
The restaurant's history wasn't without a major scare. The Santa Monica Daily Press reported that Tar & Roses temporarily closed after a fire caused by heat from its wood-burning oven, with the flames breaking out in the attic space above the multi-story building after heat from the oven's flue reached it. The incident happened before business hours and caused no injuries, and the fire remained under investigation at the time of that report, per the Santa Monica Daily Press.
A restaurant spokeswoman told the paper that Tar & Roses was temporarily closed while staff cleaned up and worked to reopen as soon as possible. The closure stretched on for months: the Los Angeles Times later reported that the restaurant was forced to close in June after a fire in the flue of its oven and didn't reopen until January 2016. Management said the shutdown allowed the restaurant to retain about 70% of its staff through the ordeal.
Part of a Rough Stretch for Santa Monica Dining
Tar & Roses isn't the only long-running Santa Monica name to close its doors in 2026. Blue Plate Oysterette announced on January 4 that it would permanently close after 16 years as a mainstay on Ocean Avenue, with its owner citing a sharp drop in tourism, changing dining habits and declining foot traffic, according to the Santa Monica Mirror. That restaurant's property at Ocean Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard had long been slated for redevelopment, limiting its ability to extend or transfer its lease, the outlet reported.
Marmalade Cafe also shuttered its Santa Monica Boulevard location in August, ending the chain's presence in the city after more than three decades, according to Patch. That restaurant, at 525 Santa Monica Boulevard, had only relocated there in April 2024 after more than 30 years on Montana Avenue. Patch also reported that the chain closed its longtime Calabasas location around the same time, even as it continues operating in Westlake Village, Malibu, Sherman Oaks and El Segundo.
The broader pressures facing Santa Monica restaurants aren't new. Back in 2017, when Kirschner closed his Santa Monica Yacht Club venture to focus solely on Tar & Roses, Eater LA pointed to high rents in visible areas like Santa Monica, plus the usual staffing and sourcing issues, as persistent headwinds for operators in the city.
For now, Tar & Roses diners have about two weeks left to grab a table before the restaurant serves its final dinner on October 24. The Santa Monica Mirror's report did not detail what comes next for Kirschner or the Santa Monica Boulevard space once the wood-fired ovens go cold for the last time.
