Manhattan Beach Restaurants Plead For Help From City Council

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — Amidst the current ban on outdoor dining and the pandemic, restaurants owners continue to face challenges. Just last night, at least four Manhattan Beach restaurant owners addressed the Manhattan Beach City Council asking for help now that Los Angeles County is not allowing them to serve diners outdoors.

Mike Simms, Mike Zislis, David Slay and Dario Vullo implored Council to do something now, saying they cannot afford to wait. The holiday season is here and they need to be able to sell more food than they are now during a time of year that traditionally brings more dining dollars to downtown restaurants.

Zislis, who owns four dining establishments in downtown Manhattan Beach, has shuttered two due to the county's new outdoor dining ban. Even though the ban is initially set to be for three weeks, the longtime entrepreneur found it necessary to shut down operations at The Strand House and Rock'N Fish. BREWCO and zinc@shade [as in Shade Hotel] are open for take out, pickup and delivery.

“I was devastated to have to lay off my entire team right before the holidays," Zislis said in a news release. "My employees here are like family." KTLA reported that Zislis laid off or furloughed 54 staffers from Rock'N Fish. The restaurant also celebrated its 20th anniversary in November.

During last night's council meeting, downtown restaurant owners said the quaint and typically bustling downtown seaside area has been "dead" and devoid of people coming to shop or visit the eateries. They asked for more public eating spots, including benches, where someone could sit after grabbing a bite to go.

To deal with the dining crisis throughout the city, council set up an emergency meeting of the Long Term Business Solutions Ad Hoc committee for 1 p.m. today [Wednesday, Dec. 2]. The meeting will bring together the heavy hitters in the city: City Council members Nancy Hersman and Steve Napolitano, city staff, Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Kelly Stroman, Downtown Manhattan Beach Business + Professionals Association Executive Director Jill Lamkin, Senior General Manager Don Ziss from the Manhattan Village Shopping Center and the president of the Downtown Residents Association.

"The conversation will be about outdoor dining in all parts of the city, not just downtown Manhattan Beach," said Stroman.

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