Taberna Arros Y Vi Just Couldn't Hold On in Santa Monica

It looks like one of Santa Monica’s stalwart Spanish spots is gone for good. Per Toddrickallen, Taberna Arros Y Vi on 2nd Street is buttoned up tight, though there’s no signage on the window or tearful goodbye online to officially detail the shutter.

Instead, all that’s left is a non-functioning OpenTable page and a bunch of Yelpers saying that Taberna is officially done. It’s a shame for Santa Monica to lose the restaurant, which came highly regarded when it first came to life back in 2013. Since then, though, things have been awfully quiet.

Of course, this all also speaks to a larger issue with Spanish cuisine in Los Angeles — or, rather, it's surprising dearth. Sure, there are places like Moruno trying to bring casual Spanish snacks to the forefront, but with Perfecto out at smoke.oil.salt. it seems a particularly tough time for the cuisine in L.A. Hopefully with Ricardo Zarate's pan-Latin (but mostly Spanish-influenced) tapas at smoke.oil.salt. can help bring some energy to the Spanish food front.

At least for Santa Monicans, they can still go down the street to casual wine bar dinner spot Manchego, or walk over to Bar Pintxo.