The Massive Capital Grille at the Beverly Center Turned Off the Lights Over the Weekend

Very unceremoniously, it seems that The Capital Grille at the Beverly Center has closed over the weekend. Tipsters send in details of the sudden Sunday shutter, saying that the closure wasn’t necessarily unexpected, but still landed with a thud.

Part of a much larger national chain, the expansive L.A. Capital Grille always seemed to max out at half-full, and was only really buoyed by the nearby shopping plaza. But flagging foot traffic and a consumer base growing more accustomed to better eats from local restaurants nearby caused a further downturn, culminating in a Sunday morning mass layoff.

To the credit of Darden Restaurants, which owns other chains like Olive Garden and Yard House, staff were apparently given the option to relocate to any other Capital Grille in the chain (with financial assistance), move to a new Darden concept, or be given a severance package.

It’ll be interesting to see what lands in the space post-Capital Grille (hopefully not a third, even more massive Chipotle), but a call to the restaurant confirms that they’re clearing everything out. Even former wine locker owners at the restaurant were only given Sunday and today to come claim their bottles, before the doors lock up for good. The Capital Grille franchise has already scrubbed all mention of the Los Angeles outpost, dropping it from their locations page and deleting the former Facebook page.