By LILY TINOCO | Assistant Editor
Palisadians are surely familiar with Patrick’s Roadhouse, with its shamrock-green exterior and roof topped with eccentric sculptures. It has stood at the mouth of Santa Monica Canyon since 1973.
Today, the restaurant faces closure—and over $60,000 has been raised in support of keeping the eatery’s doors open.
Owner Anthony Fischler told the Palisadian-Post the restaurant has been in business for over 50 years, serving customers from the Palisades, Santa Monica, Malibu and all over the world.
“We became a part of the community over decades,” Fischler said. “It became an icon … not just in the area, but all over Los Angeles. It’s listed as one of the things to do when you visit LA.”
Longtime customer Kurt Benjamin described it as “an institution that has been woven into the fabric of the community.”
Benjamin told the Post he grew up visiting Patrick’s Roadhouse often. His father taught swimming at the Santa Monica Pier and would take him to the restaurant when he was younger.
“Then I lived in Malibu for many, many years … moved to Santa Monica, and now I live in Brentwood,” Benjamin said. “I carried on the tradition of going to Patrick’s, and then I got married and my wife was inducted into my routine … Then we had a daughter, and we brought her into that same routine. The history is long and enduring.”
Now, Patrick’s Roadhouse has been faced with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and deferred rent that has accumulated. The restaurant’s doors closed on Thursday, April 25.
“During COVID … about 10% of U.S. restaurants went out of business,” Benjamin explained, “and Patrick’s wasn’t the place you would think of [going] to get your takeout food. Quick service restaurants survived really well and they were set up to survive the onslaught of COVID. There was deferred rent … and just the pure plight of survival for the years that followed … All of this came due and it was impossible to bear for Anthony.”
When Benjamin heard of the news, he moved quickly to push to save the restaurant.
“That’s when I decided that [Patrick’s Roadhouse] not only should be saved, but could be saved,” he said to the Post.
He reached out to Fischler and his legal team, and launched a GoFundMe with a goal of raising $250,000.
“The immediate goal is to raise $250,000, with $200,000 allocated for back rent, which will be paid to the landlord, and $50,000 for immediate building improvements,” according to the GoFundMe.
Benjamin said a group of private investors and longtime customers have also committed to filling the gap where the GoFundMe may fall short.
He explained that “there is dialogue happening in regards to initiating [lease] negotiations.”
“If all of the terms are not met, meaning … we have a lease that’s acceptable [and] enough funds to open the restaurant guaranteed, we are not taking any money out of the GoFundMe and it would be sent back to all of the donors,” he said. “But we’ve had multiple donors, and every donation counts.”
As the Post went to print Tuesday evening, over $65,000 of the $250,000 goal had been raised.
“It makes me want to cry,” Fischler said of the donations. “I’m completely overwhelmed by the response by the community and how important Patrick’s was to so many people. It warms my heart … and makes it worth continuing for another 50 years, hopefully.”
For more information or to make a donation, visit gofund.me/f33f3487.
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