List Of A Few Manhattan Beach Businesses In Need Of Your Support

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — Manhattan Beach Patch's "Neighbor Post" asking for businesses in need of community support has yielded a few businesses who responded. As the pandemic has raged on since last March and businesses have found themselves with fewer customers for a variety of reasons, MB Patch asked owners to rate their needs, basically as dire or with a lsight amount of room to breathe.

The following businesses or their friends responded:

• Rainbow Cleaners
• El Gringo Mexican Restaurant
• Grunions Sports Bar & Grill
• Manhattan Pizzeria

Rainbow Cleaners, 1015 North Aviation Boulevard, could use your support. Their owner is unsure how much longer he can keep the doors open since the business has been operating at just 25% capacity. In business for 35 years, Rainbow Cleaners offers dry cleaning, fluff and fold, alterations and repairs, and additional services. Free parking is available in a parking lot in front of the building; (310) 376-0819.

The plight of restaurants in Manhattan Beach has been widely covered by media given the outreach of the Downtown Manhattan Beach Restaurant + Professional Association, Skechers grants program to downtown and North Manhattan Beach restaurants, and outdoor dining in those areas.

El Gringo, Grunions and The Hangar Inn all reside outside of those areas and have had way less media coverage.

El Gringo Mexican Restaurant, 921 North Sepulveda Boulevard, opened its doors in 2004 as the second El Gringo location. Restaurateur Bill Graw bought the original location in Hermosa Beach in 2001 and hasn't looked back since, expanding to Redondo Beach and El Segundo. Graw says since the pandemic began he has been fortunate to keep the majority of his staff working. He also owns the catering Guac Taco truck and told Manhattan Beach Patch his eateries have been barely getting by selling to-go meals since only half of his El Gringo eateries cold offer outdoor dining when it wasn't banned; (310) 372-6080.

Grunions Sports Bar & Grill, 1501 North Sepulveda Boulevard, opened in 1974 and is a bit of an institution where locals have always held forth to enjoy watching sport games and a convivial vibe. The owner is operating with one cook and himself seven days a week and spent thousands of dollars on his outdoor dining tents, according to a friend, which have been shut down by Los Angeles County order since late November. Grunions is open for take-out food and drinks; (310) 545-9910.

Manhattan Pizzeria, which sits at 133 Manhattan Beach Boulevard in the heart of Downtown Manhattan Beach a block or two away from the Manhattan Beach Pier, typically would have had a busy summer thanks to all of the beach events that bring hungry visitors to his much-loved pizzeria. Those proceeds usually carry the business during the slower winter months of January and February and now with the City of Manhattan Beach closing down its public outdoor dining "parklets", Owner Bobby Eskowitz needs some extra support in the form of customers to help his 20-year business stay afloat; (310) 546-2117.