The abrupt closure of one of the city’s most famous restaurants has left guests with canceled reservations and its future unclear. Horses, which was at the center of a scandal in 2023 when its owners’ divorce filings involved accusations of animal abuse and domestic violence, closed its doors indefinitely at the end of December citing building maintenance.
It marks yet another notable closure in a year that saw more than 100 major restaurant shutterings.
Customers with a reservation at Horses for late December or early January received a text canceling their reservations, with restaurant staff citing building repairs and unsafe conditions due to rain.
“This is the team at Horses,” the text read. “Due to heavy rain over the past few days, our restaurant has experienced unexpected structural issues. While we have been working as quickly and carefully as possible to address them, we’ve made the difficult decision to close for service tomorrow out of an abundance of caution. The safety of our guests and staff is our top priority, and unfortunately it would not be safe to open this weekend…We look forward to welcoming you back as soon as it is safe to do so. We will be in touch once we have a confirmed reopening date.”
Executive chef Brittany Ha confirmed the closure to The Times and of reopening said, “Nothing is for certain yet, but that is definitely the goal.”
Named after one of the space’s earlier incarnations — long-running pub Ye Coach & Horses — the West Hollywood restaurant electrified the L.A. dining scene with stylish clientele, seasonal Euro-tinged California cuisine, a thrumming energy and a throwback playlist since its launch in September 2021.
L.A. Times Food critic Bill Addison called it “a new modern L.A. institution” and “the city’s most exhilarating new dining experience in the last year.” The New York Times labeled it “that rare animal in Los Angeles: a hot reservation with serious cooking behind the scenes.” It was recognized in the Michelin Guide, saw a weeks-long waitlist for tables and garnered celebrity regulars.
Founders Liz Johnson and Will Aghajanian, left, departed the restaurant following the scandal of their divorce proceedings. Brittany Ha, third from right, served as Horses’ executive chef. Also pictured: chef Lee Pallerino, former manager Terence Leavey and pastry chef Hannah Grubba.
(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)
Horses debuted with a “co-chef system” that involved four chefs in equal standing, including its founding chefs and former co-owners, Liz Johnson and Will Aghajanian. Their divorce filings, first revealed by The Times, included accusations of repeated assaults against Johnson along with the claim that Aghajanian killed the family’s cats. Aghajanian denied these, calling them “false allegations.”
Despite the national attention and shock of Johnson and Aghajanian’s divorce proceedings, guests still filled the wooden seats of Horses and continued to do so through December 2025. Aghajanian left the restaurant in late 2022, according to the staff, while Johnson stayed on to cook before shifting focus to a since-shuttered New York City restaurant, the also-buzzy Frog Club. She eventually exited Horses entirely, according to staff.
Horses’ other “co-chefs” included husband-and-wife team Lee Pallerino and Brittany Ha, the latter of whom took the reins of the kitchen after Johnson and Aghajanian left the restaurant following the scandal. Ha, a Roberta’s alum, continued to lead Horses with many of its signatures — the endive Caesar, the burger, the off-menu Herman vodka-sauce pasta — along with new items such as nettle-laced stracciatella, panzanella with stone fruit, and gnocchi with walnuts under a shower of truffles.
Ha did not respond to request for comment regarding the reason for Horses’ abrupt closure, but cryptically told local publication L.A. Taco that it was “due to protect staff from further damage.”
According to multiple staff members, it is unclear whether the restaurant will reopen.
