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Inside Horses, the Surprise Return of a Legendary LA Dining Room

The former Ye Coach & Horses space, more recently called the Pikey, is back with food and drink from a pair of famous faces

by Farley Elliott
Photos by Wonho Frank Lee
An angled photo on a white background of a plate with a full roasted chicken atop.
Cornish game hen with roasted dandelion panzanella.
Wonho Frank Lee
Farley Elliott is the Senior Editor at Eater LA and the author of Los Angeles Street Food: A History From Tamaleros to Taco Trucks. He covers restaurants in every form, from breaking news to the culture, people, and history that surrounds LA's dining landscape.

What’s old is new again — or, at least, very vibrant — in the western stretches of Hollywood today, as the longtime former Ye Coach & Horses space returns with youthful energy and a few nods to the past. More recently known as the Pikey, this staple Sunset Boulevard bar and restaurant has a hard-to-beat Los Angeles history (it’s reportedly where Quentin Tarantino first met Tim Roth, for one) that dates back nearly a century, and now there’s life inside once again thanks to none other than Liz Johnson and Will Aghajanian. Welcome, back, to Horses.

The new Horses is not only a return in form for one of the city’s vaunted old bar and restaurants, it’s a new beginning for Johnson and Aghajanian. Angelenos will know Johnson for her award-winning work at Freedman’s in Silver Lake (and at Mimi’s in New York City before that), and the national audience will know both her and Aghajanian as the former faces of the Catbird Seat, one of Nashville’s most-celebrated restaurants.

A group of white coat chefs and cooks in an alleyway behind a restaurant.
The Horses team.
Lucky Tennyson

Together with their new culinary team, they’ve turning Horses into a playground for fresh California fare with a bistro sensibility. That means small bites, familiar flavors taken in new directions, plenty of cocktails and natural wine, and what looks to be the best new bistro burger in town. There are starters like braised cranberry beans and veal sweetbreads with frisée and capers, and mains like a roasted Cornish game hen with warm dandelion panzanella underneath, a cote de porc with baked peaches, and a steak grilled over vine cuttings — and don’t forget dessert, including a sheep’s milk cheesecake. The opening menu is below.

While Johnson and Aghajanian will be on-site often as owners and chefs, they have also tapped Brittany Ha and Lee Pallerino (both out of Roberta’s in Brooklyn) as co-executive chefs. Terence Leavey, previously of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Spago, and Cut, will run the room as general manager and wine director.

As for the space, the colorful three-room restaurant is a blend of the former tenant(s) on the right-hand side, down to the original molding and tall, skinny red booths, and a sunny new start complete with new streetside windows, skylights, and washes of yellow in the left-hand dining room. The back seating area, complete with its own wooden bar, acts as a carousel of colors thanks to artist Kacper Abolik, whose lit paintings hang throughout. The room can also be used for private parties, another nod to the quietly famous faces that long populated Ye Coach & Horses.

The new Horses opens formally on October 6 at 7617 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, keeping hours from 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday to start. Expect brunch to follow down the line, with reservations available for all on Resy.

Salmon with greens on a thin piece of bread atop a white plate.
Smoked salmon lavash with cress.
Radicchio salad with shaved cheese and yellow dressing atop a white plate..
The Horses caesar.
A direct overhead shot of a roasted chicken with burned edges on a white plate.
Cornish game hen.
A thick pub-style burger with cheddar cheese and fries, shown from the side.
A bistro staple: burger and fries.
A boozy reddish brown cocktail with a ring of lemon on top, shown up close.
Boulevardier.
A light pink cocktail with a tall green leaf and slightly foamy top.
Jungle Bird.
An artsy side shot of cheesecake and a reddish plum on a white plate.
Sheepsmilk cheesecake with roasted plum.
An off-center table set for dinner with a dark wooden background.
Set for service.
A tall older restaurant with wooden siding and bright yellow booths.
A tilted mirror overhangs a white tablecloth table with light green and yellow chairs.
A long look down the middle of an old school room with yellow booths, green seats, tile, and sunshine at the end.
Skylight clouds in the Sunshine room.
An old wooden bar area with dark red booths and tile and tall ceiling.
Remaining details from over the years.
A corner look at an older bar with lots of liquor and a bright window at the end.
A retro look at red, tall booths and white tablecloths and wood panels in an old bar.
A close shot of tall booths and white tablecloths at an aging bar.
Wine glasses set for service with a notched horse engraved on the outside.
A maximal, colorful dining room at Horses in Los Angeles with gold gilding and lots of blue and painted horses.
The back room, featuring art from Kacper Abolik.
An old dining room with lots of colorful paintings of horses and deep blue walls with wooden ball at the back.
White tablecloths and blue booths and hanging paintings in an old restaurant.
A lit, green painting of a horse inside of an aging restaurant dining room.
A small wooden bar set for service inside of a dark blue dining room at an old restaurant.
Bright blue doors and windows at a retro restaurant, shown during the day.
The original Ye Coach & Horses plaque on the door.
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Horses

7617 Sunset Boulevard, , CA 90046 Visit Website
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