12 LA Restaurants, Bars & Coffee Shops Inside Former Homes

LA is full of restaurants, bars and coffee shops hiding inside former homes. Craftsman bungalows became brunch spots. A Hollywood mansion became a restaurant. A Victorian became a bar. One house was literally picked up and moved. And at Granada, someone still lives there.

So we did some digging into who lived where, what these buildings were before, and what they’ve become today.

ALCOVE

• What: Café, bakery & bar
• Where: Los Feliz
• Best for: Morning coffee, brunch, working from “home”
• VENUE HISTORY:
  
  • Alcove occupies two of Los Feliz’s oldest houses: an 1897 Craftsman cottage and a 1916 Spanish duplex. Both began as private homes before spending the ’70s onward as offices, a school and other businesses.
• VENUE NOW:
  
  • Since 2004, the old houses have belonged to Alcove. Come early for coffee and pastries, stay for breakfast on the garden patio, or open your laptop and technically work from home. Just not yours.
• Website: Alcove
• History: Alcove’s history

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LITTLE BEAST

• What: Neighborhood restaurant
• Where: Eagle Rock
• Best for: Dinner, date night, sharing a bottle of wine
• VENUE HISTORY:
  
  • The 1911 Craftsman bungalow on Colorado Boulevard began its life as a house. More than a century later, the porch, pitched roof and small-scale rooms still give away its residential past.
• VENUE NOW:
  
  • Little Beast serves seasonal New American food in the old bungalow, with dinner spread across its small dining rooms, front porch and leafy patio. The original layout is still part of the experience, so dinner feels more like moving through a house than sitting in a restaurant.
• Website: Little Beast
• History: Little Beast: About Us

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BABY BISTRO

• What: California bistro
• Where: Victor Heights
• Best for: Date night, dinner with a friend, a slow evening over wine
• VENUE HISTORY:
  
  • Baby Bistro lives inside a Victorian bungalow built in 1919. The century-old former residence survived as the neighborhood changed around it and is now part of the leafy Alpine Courtyard complex.
• VENUE NOW:
  
  • Today, the little Victorian is Baby Bistro, a 35-seat neighborhood restaurant from chef Miles Thompson. The seasonal menu is intentionally small, with dishes designed for sharing, while tables fill the former home’s compact rooms and garden patio.
• Website: Baby Bistro
• History: Eater LA

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GRANADA

• What: Coffee shop
• Where: Angelino Heights / Echo Park
• Best for: Weekday coffee, pastries, reading, working from someone else’s home
• VENUE HISTORY:
  
  • Plot twist: no one used to live here. Someone still does. Isaac Watters and Sydney Wayser designed this modern Angelino Heights house for their family, then turned its ground floor into a legal home-based coffee shop.
• VENUE NOW:
  
  • Order your cortado at the kitchen island, then settle onto the living-room couch or head to the backyard. Granada is part coffee shop, part actual residence, right down to the owners’ young daughter’s toys occasionally sharing the room.
• Website: Granada
• History: Los Angeles Times

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LA PARRILLA

• What: Mexican restaurant
• Where: Westlake
• Best for: An old-school LA dinner with a side of architectural history
• VENUE HISTORY:
  
  • This Queen Anne house was built in 1905, when this stretch of Wilshire was still called Orange Street. It later belonged to developer Charles Chapman, whose name somehow morphed into a local rumor that Charlie Chaplin once lived here. He didn’t.
• VENUE NOW:
  
  • Mari Carmen Salinas opened La Parrilla here in 1978, turning the old house into a Mexican restaurant known for parrilladas and bubbling molcajetes. More than a century after it was built, the turreted Queen Anne remains one of the oldest buildings standing on Wilshire Boulevard.
• History: LA Conservancy

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EL CHOLO

• What: Mexican restaurant
• Where: Mid-City
• Best for: A classic LA lunch, margaritas and green corn tamales
• VENUE HISTORY:
  
  • Built as a private residence in 1920, this California bungalow became El Cholo in 1931, when George Salisbury bought the house during the Great Depression. Its living room and bedrooms became dining rooms, while the home kitchen became the restaurant kitchen.
• VENUE NOW:
  
  • Today, the bungalow is the original Western Avenue location of El Cholo, still family-owned and serving the Mexican-American classics it has become known for. Enchiladas, green corn tamales and margaritas fill a space that has expanded considerably beyond the little house George Salisbury bought in 1931.
• Website: El Cholo
• Restaurant history: El Cholo

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NO VACANCY

• What: Cocktail bar & nightlife venue
• Where: Hollywood
• Best for: Late-night drinks, live music and dancing
• VENUE HISTORY:
  
  • Built in 1903, this Queen Anne Victorian became the Janes family home, then a school for the children of early Hollywood stars. It later served as a gas station before being moved to the back of its own lot in 1985.
• VENUE NOW:
  
  • Today, the house is No Vacancy, a cocktail bar where the night starts with a theatrical speakeasy-style entrance. From there, the old Victorian opens into dimly lit rooms, multiple bars and a large courtyard with live music and performances.
• Website: No Vacancy
• History: Janes House history

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YAMASHIRO

• What: Restaurant & historic estate
• Where: Hollywood Hills
• Best for: Sunset dinner with one of Hollywood’s best views.
• VENUE HISTORY:
  
  • Built in 1914 for brothers Adolph and Eugene Bernheimer, Yamashiro was their private hilltop estate and a showcase for their collection of Asian art. The property included gardens, a pagoda and sweeping views over a still-developing Hollywood.
• VENUE NOW:
  
  • Today, Yamashiro is a Japanese-inspired restaurant where the original estate is still very much part of dinner. Tables surround the courtyard and koi pond, while the hillside location delivers sweeping views of Hollywood and Los Angeles below.
• Website: Yamashiro Hollywood
• History: National Register of Historic Places

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THE VICTORIAN

• What: Restaurant, bar & nightlife venue
• Where: Santa Monica
• Best for: Drinks that may turn into dancing
• VENUE HISTORY:
  
  • This 1903 house was built for attorney Walter J. Trask and his wife Victoria near Ocean Avenue. Decades later, rather than demolish it, Santa Monica saved the Victorian by picking up the entire house and moving it.
• VENUE NOW:
  
  • The old residence now anchors The Victorian on Main Street. Dinner and drinks occupy the early hours; DJs, dancing and events take over later. You can go out in Santa Monica without entirely leaving the living-room architecture behind.
• Website: The Victorian
• Venue information: Visit Santa Monica

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THE RAYMOND 1886

• What: Restaurant & cocktail bar
• Where: Pasadena
• Best for: Brunch, patio dinner and cocktails
• VENUE HISTORY:
  
  • This Craftsman cottage survived the rise and fall of Pasadena’s enormous Raymond Hotel. Walter Raymond and his wife used the cottage themselves, and after the grand resort was demolished during the Depression, it became their home.
• VENUE NOW:
  
  • The hotel is long gone, but the little house remains. The Raymond 1886 now serves brunch and dinner inside it, while Bar 1886 has made the address a destination for cocktails. The supporting character somehow outlived the main attraction.
• Website: The Raymond 1886
• Context: South Pasadena Historic Context Statement

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THE LITTLE DOOR

• What: French-Mediterranean restaurant
• Where: Beverly Grove
• Best for: Date night
• VENUE HISTORY:
  
  • Long before The Little Door opened here in 1996, this property was a house tucked behind an enclosed garden on West 3rd Street. Its residential layout remains, with intimate rooms surrounding a secluded courtyard.
• VENUE NOW:
  
  • Today, The Little Door is a French-Mediterranean restaurant built around its romantic courtyard. Enter through the namesake wooden door for candlelit tables, lush greenery, dinner and an extensive wine list, with dining rooms still spread throughout the former house. 
• Website: The Little Door
• Story: The Little Door

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THE ATTIC

• What: Southern restaurant
• Where: Belmont Heights, Long Beach
• Best for: Brunch, comfort food and patio dining
• VENUE HISTORY:
  
  • This 1920s Craftsman began life as a home on Broadway in Belmont Heights. While we couldn’t trace its original residents, the front porch, pitched roof and residential layout still make its first life fairly obvious.
• VENUE NOW:
  
  • Since 2012, the old Craftsman has been The Attic, a neighborhood restaurant serving Southern-inspired comfort food. Tables fill the former home and spill onto its porch and patio, with brunch being one of its biggest draws.
• Website: The Attic

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