"In spite of this consistency, our landlord made the choice to lease this space to a different restaurant, a decision over which we had no control." That line comes from the farewell letter Pitfire Pizza's managers and staff wrote when the restaurant closed at Manhattan Beach Boulevard and Morningside Drive on December 24, 2024. They had served the city for more than 10 years.
The restaurant the landlord picked was Great White, an all-day cafe that started in Venice in 2017. When MB News reported the change, Great White already had three Los Angeles locations and a fourth on the way in Brentwood. Pitfire's corner is where the pattern starts. Since then, most of the food and coffee spaces that opened up downtown have gone to brands that built their following in Venice, West Hollywood, Brooklyn, La Jolla or Milan before they came here.
A Year of Turnover, Block by Block
By July 2026, Kelly Stroman, executive director of the Downtown Manhattan Beach Business and Professionals Association, told MB News that "the turnover in downtown Manhattan Beach is unprecedented right now and we are all talking about it." Here is that July report's list of food and drink changes, street by street:
- Metlox Plaza. Bacio di Latte opened, and Sogno Toscano got Planning Commission approval to build out the former Lemonade space with a small patio facing Manhattan Beach Boulevard. Drift Beach Club closed in June.
- Manhattan Beach Boulevard. Blank Street Coffee signed a lease for the former Peet's Coffee space, and Great White was getting ready to open in the old Pitfire space. Pressed Juicery closed.
- Manhattan Avenue. Coucou, a French bistro, opened in the former Nando restaurant space.
- Highland Avenue. Parakeet Cafe's move into the former Cafe Altamura space was delayed, with no opening date. Ocean View Cafe was closing, and Alfred Coffee signed a lease for its space.
Retail followed the same pattern. Beyond Yoga took the former Gum Tree space on Manhattan Beach Boulevard, and Velvet by Graham & Spencer was headed into the old Gelato & Angels space. Every name on that list already had a track record somewhere else.
Where Each Newcomer Got Its Start
Each brand's own history explains why a landlord with a prime corner would sign it. Each one had already shown it could fill a room somewhere else.
| Newcomer | Started | Downtown space it took | Status as of October 3, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great White | Venice, 2017 | Former Pitfire Pizza, 401 Manhattan Beach Blvd. | Open |
| Coucou | Venice, 2023 | Former Nando, Manhattan Ave. | Open |
| Bacio di Latte | Founded 2011 by brothers from Milan | Metlox Plaza, Suite B-106 | Open |
| Blank Street Coffee | Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 2020 | Former Peet's, Manhattan Beach Blvd. | Lease signed, opening not confirmed |
| Alfred Coffee | Melrose Place, 2013 | Former Ocean View Cafe, Highland Ave. | Lease signed, opening not confirmed |
| Parakeet Cafe | La Jolla, 2017 | Former Cafe Altamura, Highland Ave. | Delayed, no date announced |
| Sogno Toscano | Founded 2007 by an Italian food importer | Former Lemonade, Metlox Plaza | Approved for buildout, opening not confirmed |
Great White's own location list now shows six cafes: Manhattan Beach, Studio City, Brentwood, West Hollywood, Larchmont and Venice. Coucou is Jesse and Hayley Feldman's third bistro, after Venice in 2023 and West Hollywood in 2024. Sogno Toscano runs cafes in New York's West Village and Chelsea, Santa Monica, The Grove and Arcadia in Phoenix. Its Metlox location, at 451 Manhattan Beach Boulevard, Suite B102, came before the Planning Commission on June 24, 2026.
Dinner Is Already Here. Morning Coffee Is Still Behind Construction Paper.
The tenants that have opened are mostly the sit-down and treat spots. Great White serves all day at 401 Manhattan Beach Boulevard, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Walk-ins are taken from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and reservations are available from 4 p.m. on. The menu covers breakfast, salads, sandwiches, pasta and pizza, so the corner still serves pizza, just from a different kitchen.
Coucou serves the same menu here as at its other two locations, according to Eater LA's May 2026 report. That includes the Burger Americaine with cognac sauce, steak frites with garlic jus, mussels mariniere and the knife-and-fork L'Haute Dog. The restaurant credits the food menu to chef Jacob Wetherington, who previously worked at Bouchon. For an early evening, there's a daily apero hour from 4 to 5 p.m. with discounted drinks and snacks such as pommes frites, zucchini beignets and steak tartare. Bacio di Latte is open in Metlox Plaza and makes its gelato in front of customers.
The coffee spaces are a different story. All three new coffee and cafe brands have downtown spaces, and none of them has confirmed an opening yet. Blank Street opened its first Los Angeles shop in Studio City on August 12, 2026, the Los Angeles Times reported. The Manhattan Beach Boulevard shop would come early in the brand's Southern California expansion, but its store locator doesn't list a Manhattan Beach address yet. Alfred's directory still lists only its other Los Angeles-area stores. In July, MB News reported that Parakeet's Highland Avenue opening was delayed with no date. Sogno Toscano told Patch in January that it planned to open in summer 2026. Summer is over, and its own site still doesn't list the Metlox cafe.
Until those open, the Highland Avenue morning routine is the least settled part of downtown. Ocean View Cafe and Cafe Altamura's spaces have new tenants on paper, and neither has opened.
The Locals Who Grew Instead of Leaving
The turnover hasn't all gone one way. When Manhattan Grocery on Manhattan Avenue closed on December 30, 2024, after 21 years, owners Heather and Matthew Kim held an impromptu party in the store to thank their customers. Manhattan Meats, the shop across the way, took over the lease for the whole space. That's an existing downtown business getting bigger, not a new arrival.
The July list had similar examples on the retail side. Ounce of Salt, a jewelry store from local Jen Baick, was set to open in the former Rolling Hills Flower Mart space on Manhattan Avenue. Gum Tree didn't leave downtown. It moved, and its shop at 1140 Highland Avenue is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Local Muse filled the empty Drift Beach Club space at Metlox with a pop-up of female-owned businesses that ran through July 12.
Why Storefront Size Came Up at City Council
The same question about what kind of tenant fits downtown came up at City Hall in September. On September 19, 2026, Easy Reader reported on the City Council's first look at a city-owned redevelopment of the former U.S. Bank site at 400 Manhattan Beach Boulevard. Kosmont Companies, the city's economic development consultant, put preliminary ground-floor rents at more than $100 per square foot a year. It said comparable second-story space asks more than $125.
The largest ground-floor space in the concept, at 4,100 rentable square feet, got the sharpest pushback. "At that size we're really attracting a national brand," Councilmember Amy Howorth said. "When people talk about small town feel, they're talking about small local businesses, and I don't know a small local business really that would do that." Stroman went further. "You're inviting big business," she said. "You're really taking away the character of downtown with that." City Manager Talyn Mirzakhanian said the floor plan was illustrative only. She noted that city code already requires a conditional use permit for downtown retail with more than 1,600 square feet of sales floor.
None of that reporting says rents caused any particular closure. Pitfire's letter is the only first-hand account of why a tenant left, and it describes a landlord's choice. It does show why multi-location brands keep landing these leases. Downtown space is expensive, and an operator with several successful locations can show a landlord a proven track record.
Spaces to Watch This Fall
As of the July report, several downtown spaces had no tenant or opening date. Here are the open questions:
- The former Pressed Juicery on Manhattan Beach Boulevard. No tenant had been named, though there had been "multiple expressions of interest."
- The former Drift Beach Club and Beehive/Forma pop-up spaces in Metlox Plaza. Neither had a permanent tenant identified.
- The former Bardot Salon and Corpo Bonito space on Manhattan Avenue, which was renovated and combined into one unit with no tenant announced.
- Framebridge, the framing shop expected "in the fall" in the former Kate Lester Home space.
- The former Harry's Cleaners on Highland Avenue, which closed with no new tenant announced.
When Blank Street, Alfred, Parakeet and Sogno Toscano post their opening dates, the four signed leases on this list will be four businesses you can walk into.
At Liz Bird Fine Homes, we keep an eye on the corners of downtown Manhattan Beach as closely as we follow the homes around them. If you'd like to talk through how these changes affect your block, or what an opening on Highland might mean for your morning walk, Let's Connect.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.