Did That Weird Other Scratch Bar Finally Close in Beverly Hills?

Is the end of the dual Scratch Bars finally at hand? It may well be, as a tipster writes in to say that Yelpers have begun reporting the original-turned-questionable La Cienega location as closed. Likewise, OpenTable is no longer taking reservations for the restaurant, which is never a good sign.

A closer look at the space itself shows the following note taped up to the locked front door:

Of course, nothing in that note indicates a permanent shutter, but with just about everyone online mentioning sparsely populated dining rooms and shaky hours of late, a full shutter might not be out of the question. Phone calls to the space just ring and ring, and so far requests for comment from owner Dario Danesh haven’t been returned.

If true, the timing couldn’t be better for chef Phillip Frankland Lee, who was just announced as a Top Chef contestant yesterday. What’s more, his own oddly placed Encino version of Scratch Bar is likely just a few weeks away. Not having to compete with a former business partner over the name of your reopening restaurant would certainly seem to be good for business.