Hollywood’s Robot-Slicing Turkish Doner Kebab Shop Shutters Just Three Months In

Hollywood doner kebab shop Kebbros has unceremoniously closed just three months into operation. The Cahuenga restaurant promised to offer a variety of Turkish-style fast-casual shawarma meats and sides for the busy neighborhood, but never seems to have quite caught on.

Back in July, Kebbros announced itself with a bit of splashy fanfare, thanks in part to the restaurant’s use of automated doner kebab slicers that would carve up the spinning meat for customers on the spot. Beyond the bots, the restaurant also carried out an expensive remodel of the space, which had already been redone by a different short-lived restaurant, the coffee-focused cafe Demitasse.

Unfortunately the return on investment proved hard to find. In a closing note sent to Eater, ownership says:

We whole heartedly believe in bringing an organic, healthy and elevated version of the European street food, doner kebab, to the masses, and are so happy to have been able to give the people of Los Angeles a little taste of Kebbros. We are choosing to close this location at this time to fine tune the concept and we hope to serve you again very soon.

The loss of Kebbros makes another tally for the so-called Cahuenga Curse, wherein restaurants that try for the fickle boulevard often find it hard to hold on for long stretches. That’s certainly not true of every place (Stout Burgers, for example) but the loss in recent years of Brendan Collins’ Birch and even classic sports bar Big Wangs (now operating again with a different name and focus) show just how tough Hollywood can be.

• The Most Notable Restaurant Closures of 2018, So Far [ELA]