Downtown Wine Bar Anchor BottleRock Floats Away in South Park

Downtown wine bar BottleRock has closed in the South Park neighborhood, marking the end for one of the area’s longer-lasting restaurants. The drinks-focused eatery first came to life in 2009 as a second location to the Culver City original, but had been planned out (and stuck in permitting phases) for nearly two years before that.

While BottleRock has not formally made a public announcement regarding its closing, multiple reports to Eater have confirmed that last Friday was the final night of service. The wine bar is also no longer listed on OpenTable, and the doors have been locked up tight during normal service hours. Reached for comment over email, general manager Corwyn Anthony said in part:

Sadly and with many fond memories of the tens of thousands that we have enjoyed serving-BottleRock L.A (and BottleRock as a company) bids a fond farewell. We thank you all and we, as management and staff, will miss each and every visitor and each other.

It’s unclear what, if anything in particular, prompted the shutter of the neighborhood bar just blocks from L.A. Live, though Anthony did call it a “management decision.” The Culver City original location — once co-owned by Adam Fleischman of Umami Burger fame — closed several years ago, moving some staff and most of its inventory over to Downtown in the process. Yet even with an influx of new restaurants nearby, from Prank Bar to Barcito, that area has been tricky for business as much of the surrounding blocks are still clogged with under-construction condominium buildings that offer promise for the future but little in the way of a current customer base.

Broken Spanish (in the former Rivera space) has managed to make a niche for itself around the corner, thanks in large part to phenomenal reviews and the star presence of chef Ray Garica. Just across the street from the now-shuttered BottleRock sits Testa, a neo-Italian eatery in the former Briks space that has cycled through several big-named chefs since first opening in September.

• The Essential Guide to Downtown Los Angeles Restaurants [ELA]