WeHo's Kitschy French Market Place Sinks Into the Bayou March 31

Another week, another longtime restaurant turned teardown — though this one may not have quite as many people clamoring for it’s protection as the rest.

West Hollywood’s longtime French Market Place (which is held together in large part by the French Quarter restaurant inside) has sat inside of a garish building on Santa Monica Boulevard since 1974. As of March 31, developers are turning off the lights. And while Wehoville seems to indicate that it’s just a ‘renovation,’ asking around on site tells a different story.

Apparently, French Market Place employees in person have been telling customers about the impending laydown for a little while now, going so far as to intimate that the renovation ruse was little more than a bit of shade to cover the move towards new permitting that will transform the site into a series of upscale condos, or even a hotel. When reached by phone yesterday, employees were a bit cagier, but did confirm the closure of the restaurant, with no timetable for reopening. Calls to development partner Marc Ittah's office were not returned.

Regardless, the once faux-opulent NOLA-styled interior is now a wasteland of former storefronts and shops, all of which were given notices to vacate by March 31 sharp.

It seems that after more than four decades in the game, the French Market Place may go down without so much as a swing.