Roughly one year after closing its doors, the Brite Spot diner on Sunset Boulevard in Echo Park has a new owner.
Restaurateur Stuart Weisfeld, the owner of Burbank's Lancer's Family Restaurant, and a former owner of the Brite Spot himself, confirmed with L.A. TACO over email that Breakfast Republic, a chain of restaurants that serves breakfast and booze, is the new owner of this beloved local diner.
The 70-plus year-old restaurant has traded hands three times since businesswoman Dana Hollister sold it in 2018 to an investment group after owning it for more than a decade. A couple of years later, the business was sold to Weisfeld during the pandemic. He was able to keep the lights on as Brite Spot for a year before closing last summer.
Breakfast Republic is a modern chain of restaurants specializing in "the most important meal of the day," and owned by Rise & Shine Hospitality Group. Currently, they have more than a dozen locations in the Southern California area, and in Los Angeles County, they have locations in West Hollywood and Culver City.
Reached for comment via Instagram, Johan Engman, Rise & Shine Hospitality's CEO, confirmed that the location will be rebranded into a Breakfast Republic. When asked if the interior would be "gutted and redesigned," Engman responded, "not gutted."
In a follow-up email asking for further clarification, Engman said, "We don't have all plans finalized yet."
Engman did not respond to questions regarding the Brite Spot's sign or if the new Breakfast Republic will rehire employees who previously worked at the diner.
Earlier this month, Eastsider L.A. reported that they asked the owners of Breakfast Republic if they planned to "keep the name, as have previous owners of the diner," but it does not appear that the publication heard back from them.
Also earlier this month, a change of ownership notice was posted to the front door of the Brite Spot facing Sunset Boulevard. It did not appear that the interior of the space had been altered.
