Salt Bae’s LA Arrival Means the Arts District Has Jumped the Shark

Everyone’s favorite Instagram elbow, Salt Bae, is coming to Los Angeles — and Eater knows where.

According to some brand new city paperwork, Bae and Co. are officially taking up residence inside the Arts District, with plans to sprinkle their way into everyone’s social media feeds soon. The restaurant is happening along Garey Street, right next door to izakaya newcomer Inko Nito and the yet-to-be-completed Father’s Office expansion. As for the name of the place? It’ll be called Salt Bae LA, naturally.

For those blissfully unfamiliar, Salt Bae is a popular last-year Internet meme featuring the stylized look of Turkish butcher and restaurateur Nusret Gökçe. He’s mostly known for his abundance of red meat, signature pony tail and sunglasses, and his finishing salt move where he dribbles grains down his entire forearm en route to the plate (and a big mess). From that moment on, the nickname — and in some ways the caricature of a man itself — Salt Bae was born.

Following the prominence of the video (shown below) Gökçe decided to open up a steakhouse in New York City called Nusr-Et. Critics have largely panned the restaurant, but that certainly hasn’t suffered from social media cache. Earlier this year, Eater reported that Bae would be expanding to Los Angeles, adding the first of many casual sit-down burger chains to his repertoire. Now that time has come.

Eater reached out Bae’s team to find out more on timing, layout, menu, and the rest, but has not heard back. When the restaurant ultimately does arrive, expect a deluge of early fans and Instagrammers eager to capture whatever action Gökçe has planned inside.

Salt Bae LA. 221 S. Garey St. Los Angeles, CA

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