Is NYC's The Meatball Shop Headed to Los Angeles?

Here's a crazy little rumor to start off the day. Three months ago Eater heard that NYC's The Meatball Shop, the casual hip 39-seat mix and match meatball and sauce shop, was eyeing expansion to Los Angeles and that owners Michael Chernow and Daniel Holzman were actively scouting locations. Eater reached out to Holzman who said "we have no plans to open a restaurant outside of New York," now fast forward to this past weekend and the same rumor swirled again, from a separate source. Again Eater reached out to Holzman for a comment who said, "we are not even looking in LA, haven't been to LA for 6 months, someone's got it all mixed up."

So. What is going on here? Is somebody trying to rip off The Meatball Shop concept to launch in LA? Last we heard whoever is doing the meatball thing has likely found a place on 3rd Street just west of Fairfax. Additional tips welcome in the comments. [EaterWire]

[Photo: The Meatball Shop, Lower East Side]