Longtime Taix employee Joel Peña stands behind the bar as Echo Park regulars gather for final meals before the restaurant’s extended closure.
Eastsider Staff photo by Barry Lank
Echo Park—Taix French restaurant is headed for an extended hiatus, closing after 64 years at its Sunset Boulevard location. Longtime fans are lining up at the door to get in a last meal.
“We referred to Taix as our second kitchen,” said Helen McDonagh.
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She and husband, Andrew Garsten, have been dining at Taix at least twice a week for a couple of decades. It’s where they got platters for holiday parades, held a memorial for McDonagh’s aunt, and threw a retirement party for the local LAPD senior lead officer.
That tradition pauses at the end of the month, when the 99-year-old business, which started in Downtown and moved to Echo Park in 1962, closes for at least 3-1/2 years. Taix’s building will be demolished and replaced with a six-story mixed-use structure, with space set aside for the storied eatery.
As the final day of service on March 29 approaches, owner Mike Taix said customer traffic has more than tripled.
Taix restaurant in Echo Park, a longtime neighborhood staple, is set to close for a years-long hiatus as plans move forward to redevelop the site.
Eastsider Staff photo by Barry Lank
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The restaurant has also been a big part of life for Joel Peña. It was his first job in Los Angeles and, said the 64-year-old, probably his last. After a heart attack a couple of years ago, he planned to retire anyway.
“I prefer to go somewhere to spend what little money I have, to be with my family,” he said.
Peña started at Taix in 1983 doing odd jobs, moved up to busboy, then busboy captain, then, in 1989, waiter. The Jalisco, Mexico, native had to go to school to improve his English.
“People wanted me to write fast, and they speak fast,” he said.
As things wind down, Garsten and McDonagh have been looking for a substitute to visit during the coming construction—preferably a dark room with comfortable chairs and a great bar. But so far, no luck.
“We’ll come when the back lounge is reincarnated, which was our favorite part of Taix,” McDonagh said. “We’re hopeful that Taix will be back.”
Dining and Cooking