New Businesses Filling Golden Triangle Vacancies

When Chipotle Mexican Grill opened its new location last week at the corner of South Santa Monica Boulevard and North Beverly Drive in the Golden Triangle business district, it filled one of the last vacant spots in what earlier this year had been a stretch of empty storefronts.

Next door to Chipotle on South Santa Monica Boulevard (so-called Little Santa Monica Boulevard), My Vienna gelato and coffee shop opened in early June, opened a in April and an adjoining Sprinkles Ice Cream in May, and Austrian eatery BierBeisl opened in February.

It seems that two years after the worst economic slowdown in recent memory, Beverly Hills food and beverage shops—at least those in the Golden Triangle—are thriving. Chipotle was confident enough to open its new location just blocks away from its established 244 S. Beverly Drive eatery.

“Little Santa Monica Boulevard has turned into snack row,” said Rachel Rosenberg, executive vice president of RKF, the retail leasing and sales brokerage firm that helped Chipotle secure its second Beverly Hills spot. “It started out with just Sprinkles and now there are many [food and snack] shops.”

My Vienna owner Spin Mylnarik told Patch he believes the dessert market is large enough to support his store, along with Sprinkles cupcakes and ice cream, as well as Menchie’s frozen yogurt, which are all on Little Santa Monica Boulevard.

“We are selling the European taste of gelato, and the experience of sitting down and having a nice dessert,” Mylnarik said, noting both the indoor and outdoor seating his eatery offers.

North Beverly Drive in the Golden Triangle is also seeing growth. Businesses that have come to the street in the last year include:

•  at 315 N. Beverly Drive.
• Yojisan Sushi at 260 N. Beverly Drive.
• Vosges Haut-Chocolat at 311 N. Beverly Drive.
• Intermix clothing store at 400 N. Beverly Drive.
• MGM Studios’ new headquarters at 245 N. North Beverly Drive.

“North Beverly Drive is becoming a one-stop shopping destination on so many levels,” Rosenberg said.

She added that easy access to parking is also helping bring foot traffic to the area, with more than a dozen city-owned parking lots in the Golden Triangle for tourists and local shoppers to utilize.

Have you tried any of the new Golden Triangle businesses? Tell us in the comments section below.

Be sure to follow Beverly Hills Patch on Twitter and "Like" us on Facebook.