Gladstone's 4 Fish wins panel's OK to hold landmark site

Nation's Restaurant News, March 24, 1997

LOS ANGELES -- Beach-front landmark Gladstone's 4 Fish, the reputed highest-grossing restaurant in California, defeated Chicago's Levy Restaurants and others to win preliminary approval for a new 20-year lease at its 2.8-acre site.

Subject to final approval by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Gladstone's parent, California Beach Restaurants, will retain its state-owned location at the terminus of Sunset Boulevard after the current lease expires next Oct. 31.

In addition to a bid "substantially in excess" of the newly required minimum annual rent of $1.046 million, California Beach agreed to spend $2.7 million on restaurant improvements, according to chief financial officer Mark Segal. While making esthetic enhancements, the 757-seat restaurant will expand facilities for private parties of as many as 250 people.

Gladstone's whose breakfast-lunch-dinner trade yielded 1996 sales of $13.2 million, paid Los Angeles County $1.12 million in rent last year, when the minimum rent was $480,000.