The Pandemic Won’t Stop Salt Bae From Opening His LA Restaurant

Remember Salt Bae, the thick-chested Instagram lothario known for his vivid style of performative butchering and his bent-at-the-elbow salt spring flair? That guy is still around, and still opening restaurants — including a planned steakhouse project in Beverly Hills, it seems.

Per this liquor license posting in the window of the former restaurant Citizen at 184 N. Canon Drive, steps from the iconic Spago, it seems that Mr. Bae (real name Nusret Gökçe) is set to unleash his eponymous steakhouse Nusr-Et on the 90210 soon enough. The project is far from complete, considering Citizen’s now nearly two-year-gone signage is still up on the outside, but all signs point to an LA expansion of Gökçe’s meat empire sometime in late 2020 or, more likely, into 2021. Other Nusr-Et locations include Miami (where Gökçe was accused of wage theft), New York City, and across Istanbul, Dubai, and Greece, among other international outlets. A planned Dallas steakhouse has yet to formally materialize.

It’s also worth noting that Gökçe has long promised to expand on his Salt Bae moniker with a run of casual burger restaurants as well, including one that was supposed to open in the Arts District section of Downtown Los Angeles back in the day. That never happened, of course, with people associated with the deal telling Eater that Gökçe preferred instead to skew upscale with a steakhouse further west. Though it’s unclear at this point if and when the 90210 place will open.

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