Burbank’s Classic Castaway Restaurant Closes for $10 Million Overhaul

Elevated Burbank restaurant Castaway is heading for a serious remodel, with reps telling Eater that the plan is to pour some $10 million into the multi-functional space. Long a hillside hideaway with a Polynesian theme for folks using nearby Wildwood Canyon Park or the DeBell Golf Club, the place has also been for years a home for weddings and other private patio events. The plan is to lean into that side of things even more, with a complete renovation of the banquet rooms and catering kitchen space.

So what does that mean for day-to-day diners? First, the restaurant is going on hiatus starting August 6, with renovations scheduled to take around six months (less for the banquet rooms). A team including Hatch Design Group will be handling the new look, which will include the large, wrapping patio that pokes out from the hillside and looks out over Los Angeles.

Reps for Castaway say that the goal with the spendy remodel is for the restaurant “to become the premier dining experience in all of Los Angeles,” which is no small feat. Plus there’s already a ton of competition in the “gorgeous and also good food” category, not least of which is Vartan Abgaryan’s sky-high 71Above. Check back at the end of the year to see if Castaway’s dreams have actually come true. The original Castaway was built in 1963 before a fire took the building out in 1993, after which it was rebuilt to its current form.

Castaway Burbank
1250 E. Harvard Rd.
Burbank, CA

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