Pitfire Pizza Founder Wants to Open a Meat-Focused Restaurant in Venice

Serial restaurateur Paul Hibler (Pitfire, Superba Food & Bread) is at it again. The longtime Westside lover is set to bring a big new project to Rose Avenue sometime in the near future, called American Beauty.

Hibler and the whole American Gonzo Food Corporation team are being tight-lipped about what’s to come, but a few details have managed to trickle out. First among them is the project itself, a sub-100-seat restaurant on Rose Avenue that will almost certainly focus on casual California cooking with a big lean towards live fire, red meat, and wine.

While reps for Hibler won’t confirm the exact address, it’s been previously linked to the well-known former La Fiesta Brava property, which was the site of some pretty tense talks about gentrification in greater Venice back in 2015.

Hibler is of course no stranger to the area (besides the fact that he lives in Venice). For years the Pitfire Pizza founder operated Superba Snack Bar on the same strip, and he still runs Superba Food & Bread around the corner as well. Add to that Gesso, the artsy new American spot on Fairfax, plus a long-awaited fast casual expansion of Superba Snack Bar in Pasadena, and it’s safe to say Hibler has been around the block. More to come on American Beauty — including an opening timeline — but given the slow pace this one has taken so far, don’t expect anything overnight.

American Beauty. 423 Rose Ave., Los Angeles.

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