Same Names, New Addresses: Where Pacific Palisades Eats and Shops This November
At 15246 Sunset Boulevard, Eddie Navarro is making espresso in a restaurant that doesn't serve until later in the day. His coffee bar, Pali Drip, opened Sunday, Sept. 27, inside Prima Cantina and runs during the morning hours, when Prima's dining room would otherwise sit empty. Navarro opened Estate Coffee on Via de la Paz in 2018. Prima owner Nando Silvestri told the Palisadian-Post that he offered the space because "there was a need for a small, local coffee shop since so many had burned down."
A lot of Palisades businesses are following the same pattern this fall. A familiar operator comes back under a new roof, often next door to someone else who also came back. If your mental map of town still runs down Via de la Paz, it needs an update. The returning businesses have gathered in two places. One is Sunset Boulevard around Palisades Village. The other is Highlands Plaza on Palisades Drive.
Several of the moves are easy to miss unless you've been reading the local paper week by week.
The K Bakery and Cafe Vida swap shows the whole pattern. One business moved down the hill toward Sunset, and another moved up into the space it left. Both stayed in the Palisades.
Palisades Village reopened Saturday, Aug. 15. According to the Palisadian-Post's reopening coverage, Porta Via and Angelini Ristorante & Bar returned to the center, and the h.wood Group's Alphabet Bar & Grill opened as a new tenant. K Bakery drew long lines, and Diptyque and Elyse Walker's Towne store came back as well.
The biggest addition since then is Spacca Tutto, which opened Oct. 15 at 15255 Palisades Village Lane. It's Nancy Silverton's first restaurant in the Palisades, a modern Italian steakhouse from Mozza Restaurant Group, Caruso Restaurant Group and New School Hospitality. The Palisadian-Post reported that Rick Caruso wanted a neighborhood restaurant people could eat at several times a week rather than a special-occasion room. Silverton said she picked the steakhouse format because it means "a large menu with a lot of choices and familiar food." The menu carries over chi SPACCA favorites such as the Focaccia di Recco, and the steaks range from Australian Wagyu to a Kansas Porterhouse. Silverton said the name roughly translates to "let's go" or "tear it up."
Errands are coming back too. City National Bank reopened Oct. 5 at 15273 Sunset Boulevard.
Across Sunset, the strip that faces the Village has been filling in. The Palisadian-Post reported that new martial arts gym Ludus held an open house on reopening day. Synergy Signature Homes and the cabinetry brand Marram opened showrooms that same Saturday. Pali Trading Post, a gift and general store at 15248 West Sunset Boulevard, held its grand opening July 1. It stocks home goods, board games, candy and Palisades-themed apparel. Owner Michelle Murphy has lived in the Palisades since 2012. She told the Palisadian-Post that her Father's Day weekend soft opening hit the shop's break-even numbers on the first day.
Prima Cantina is two doors down at 15246, and it says the most about how this stretch has done over time. Silvestri reopened in May 2025, one of the first restaurants back. He told the Palisadian-Post that he almost gave up while fewer residents were living in the area. He also said that since Palisades Village reopened, business is "very close to prefire numbers." That makes Prima the clearest example on Sunset of how a big anchor reopening can lift the independents nearby. On a weekday, you can now get coffee at Pali Drip, run errands at City National and Pali Trading Post, and have dinner at Spacca Tutto, all within a short walk on one stretch of Sunset.
The Sunset side has the big names. Highlands Plaza is where the comeback of locally owned businesses is most concentrated.
Amy Russo's Palisades General Store soft-opened in mid-August and held its grand opening Saturday, Sept. 19. It carries Loonen Water, specialty teas, home décor, jewelry, kitchenware, clothing and candles made in West Hollywood, and a frozen yogurt machine was already handing out samples on opening day. Russo had the opening catered by two neighbors, Café Vida and Spruzzo, which is a few doors down. The plaza's businesses already work together.
Sanctuary Spa at 530 Palisades Drive was scheduled to reopen Thursday, Oct. 29, after a seven-month buildout, offering its facials, massages and body scrubs again. Racquel and Jeffrey Jacobs first opened the spa in December 2024, a month before the fire closed it. They plan to open Nails by Sanctuary Spa in the adjoining suite about a week after the spa, with manicures and pedicures. Jeffrey Jacobs told the Palisadian-Post that the previous nail salon in the space chose not to return and that most of the town's other nail salons had burned.
Cafe Vida is the opening Highlands regulars are waiting for. The restaurant opened in 2002 and has served the Palisades ever since. Co-owner Luis Castaneda told the Palisadian-Post in late October that he hoped to reopen at 548 Palisades Drive in the first week of November, once final inspections were done. The original plan was October. The new space has a small interior with only a few tables. The main seating area is a year-round patio with a pergola and heaters, and Castaneda said it will give the restaurant more seating than its old location had. Cafe Vida will serve breakfast and lunch first, with dinner to follow once it settles in. Beer and wine are joining the drinks menu, and the food menu keeps the dishes regulars already know. Since the date depended on inspections, check before you go this week.
With the General Store, Spruzzo, Sanctuary Spa and Cafe Vida all in Highlands Plaza, someone living in the Highlands can now shop for gifts, eat out and book a spa appointment without going down to Sunset.
The Village has become the town's main gathering place, and its events calendar is full for the rest of the month.
The market falls on a weekday afternoon, so it overlaps with school pickup and fits easily before an early dinner at Spacca Tutto or Porta Via.
The next round of openings will strengthen the Sunset side.
Loomey's Toys, which first opened on Via de la Paz in March 2022, was aiming for a Nov. 1 opening at 15275 West Sunset Boulevard. The shop carries toys for children from infants to age 12. Owner Amanda Rastegar told the Palisadian-Post that her children came up with the idea for the shop, and the name combines their two nicknames.
Several tenants have posted dates for early next year. Signs on Sunset show Erewhon returning in January 2027. Staud plans to reopen that same month, and Mother in February 2027.
Carla Cafe, known for the tuna chop sandwich that went viral in 2020, has signed a lease for a 562-square-foot space next to Alfred Coffee and plans to open in April 2027. The space is small, so owners Avi Ahdoot and Jessica Horell will run it as a walk-up window and use most of the room for the kitchen. Customers will eat in the Village's open areas and green spaces. Ahdoot told the Palisadian-Post that when he first visited the site, "this still feels like the Palisades."
Carla Cafe fits the pattern of this fall. Like Pali Drip working out of Prima's morning hours and Cafe Vida building its dining room around a patio, it is designing its service around the space it got.
Over thirty-plus years in real estate, I've seen many times that the places on a block shape how a neighborhood feels to live in. If you're planning a move back to the Palisades or thinking about your home now that Sunset and the Highlands are filling in, I'm glad to talk it through with you. Desirée Lapin is here when you're ready. Let's Connect.
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