The pandemic has not been friendly to the restaurant business, and especially not to Lisa Vanderpump’s West Hollywood empire. Unfortunately for the Vanderpump Rules star, she had to permanently shut down her restaurant Villa Blanca. Lisa’s other establishments, SUR, Pump, and TomTom had closed their doors, while many others in Los Angeles remained open for take out. Lisa also had troubles when a former employee sued her for allegedly not paying SUR employees.
As time passed, things began to turn around for LVP. She started a new podcast, and booked a new show for her rescue, Vanderpump Dogs. Who wouldn’t want to watch cute dogs for an hour? However, I’m sure most people will fast forward through the staged scenes of Lala Kent pretending to stock dog food and clean up poo. There is more good news for Lisa; one of her restaurants has finally reopened! And some of the Pump Rules gang are back as well.
If you are a fan of fried goat cheese balls, this is your lucky day. US Weekly reported that SUR has reopened for business! A source shared, “There will only be outdoor seating available and reservations required.” As of now in Los Angeles, all restaurants are outdoor seating only. I wonder where all the tables will be set up? They absolutely have to take advantage of having people eat in the infamous back alley.
With SUR back open, who from the VPR cast will be returning? Most of the OG’s either don’t work for SUR anymore, or were fired from the show for racist behavior. The source said that, “Peter [Madrigal] will be managing and Lisa and Ken [Todd] may make an appearance.” Of course Peter will be there! Lisa needs to hand the keys over to him already.
RELATED: Lisa Vanderpump Confirms That Her Restaurant Villa Blanca Has Closed
As for SURvers, the source noted that Dayna Kathan, Charli Burnett, and Danica Dow, “will be back to work in sections.” All waitstaff have to wear face shields, masks, and gloves, so it might be a bit challenging to know if you are being served by your favorite SUR cast member or not. Although, you could probably tell which one is Danica if you see her berating her ex in the corner for not cleaning up a dish.
But what about Lisa’s other restaurants? US Weekly shared that Lisa dished on her restaurants during a recent episode of the Give Them Lala… With Randall podcast. She said, “We’re lucky with the fact that when we do decide to open we have really good-sized patios, which is very unusual. Pump is, you know, 90 percent garden.”
RELATED: Lisa Vanderpump & Ken Todd Sued For Not Paying SUR Employees
Lisa continued, “TomTom has two big gardens; we’d be able to put the tables and chairs outside. It has a great big garden in the back, and we’d probably be able to go out on [the] pavement as well. So, we’re very fortunate with that, but we’ve just been waiting for it to be safe. … When I keep seeing the numbers going up, I want every single person — do not let this be political — [to] wear a mask.”
Hopefully Lisa is able to open up Pump and TomTom sooner rather than later. I’m guessing that SUR will be the testing ground for how well this goes. Best of luck to Lisa and the SUR staff; I’m sure fans are happy to be back and sipping Pumptini’s once again.
RELATED: Vanderpump Rules Stars James Kennedy, Raquel Leviss, & Danica Dow Defend Lisa Vanderpump Amid Claims She Doesn’t Pay Employees
TELL US – ARE YOU EXCITED THAT SUR IS NOW OPEN? DO YOU THINK THIS MEANS THEY WILL START FILMING ANOTHER SEASON OF VPR? DO YOU THINK PUMP AND TOMTOM WILL REOPEN NEXT?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]
