Same Rooms, New Hands: Who's Taking Over Sherman Oaks' Long-Running Spots on Ventura Boulevard

"Making something old feel new, but still old, is what we were going for," restaurateur Jonah Freedman told Eater LA in August, just before Mistral reopened at 13422 Ventura Boulevard.

That line describes most of what has changed on the boulevard in Sherman Oaks this year. A lot of familiar storefronts have changed hands since spring. Few of them have stood empty for long, and many of the new tenants are doing the same kind of business the old ones did. Room by room, this season has mostly been a handoff.

Mistral changed hands and kept its menu

Henri Abergel opened Mistral in 1988 and ran it until he retired in 2025. Freedman and his business partner and culinary director, Josh Migdal, took over in late 2025. They kept the menu exactly as it was until a temporary closure, and they reopened on Monday, August 10, 2026, as Eater reported.

The menu still reads like Mistral. There are crab cakes, bluefin tuna tartare, the Mistral Caesar and a French onion soup now topped with Comté grilled cheese. Confit duck leg à l'orange is on it, along with four versions of steak frites, from an 8-ounce hanger to a 24-ounce côte de boeuf for two. Sommelier Julia Djaoui runs the wine list. The room itself got the update: new custom red leather booths, artwork by French American painter Guy Buffet, glass chandeliers and warm wood paneling. Matt Epstein, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association, saw the new menu early and spotted one newcomer, a Mistral Burger.

The next step stays in the family, too. Freedman plans to open Henri's, a raw bar named after Abergel, in what used to be Mistral's private dining room. It will serve oysters, cocktails and both raw and cooked seafood. Eater gave the timing as "later this fall." No opening date has been announced yet, so call before planning a night around it.

The same handoff, corner by corner

Epstein's monthly Comings & Goings column for SOHA has tracked one closure after another this year, and nearly every time a successor shows up within a few paragraphs.

The pizza handoff follows the Mistral pattern almost exactly. Santino's served New York-style thin crust on Woodman, just north of Ventura, for nearly 20 years before it closed in March. What Now Los Angeles reported in April that Greco's New York Pizzeria was taking the same address and aiming for early June. Greco's already runs locations in Hollywood and Tarzana. Same address, same style of pizza.

At Ventura and Sunnyslope, Tony's Liquor gave way to Eagle Liquor, which sells wine, beer, cigars and lottery tickets. Right next door is Mother's Bread, run by owner and baker Nick, who is originally from the country of Georgia. He bakes just three sourdoughs from a grape-based starter, shapes the loaves like long paddles, and makes roughly a hundred a day. In June, Epstein reported that many sell out before closing.

The Samos corner at Ventura and Woodman is the one room getting a different job. Samos had turned the space into a Mediterranean restaurant and lasted about two years. In September, Epstein reported that Ludo Lefebvre of Petit Trois had signed a lease there. Lefebvre is leaning toward a sandwich concept and told Epstein he'd have a name and a clearer plan in about a month. The longtime Le Pain Quotidien space is being turned into a bagel shop, though the operator hasn't been named.

The one room nobody has claimed

Boneyard Bistro has no successor. Owner and chef Aaron Robins announced a final service on September 12, the New York Post reported in late August. The Boneyard Bistro website now just reads "Thank you for an amazing 21 years" and "On to the next chapter." Epstein described it as a place that "could do slow-smoked brisket and eclectic bistro fare with equal confidence." No new tenant has been announced. This is the empty room to watch over the winter.

Where the boulevard is actually adding something

The genuinely new arrivals are mostly away from the old rooms, at the two ends of the stretch.

At the east end, the corner of Fulton Avenue and Ventura is turning into Fulton Crossing, a mixed-use building with shops on the ground floor and offices above, across from Casa Vega. A vintage Airstream trailer parked on the corner marks the spot. Its anchor is Blank Street Coffee. Epstein reported in September that it was already drawing a line out the door. Blank Street's own locator lists the shop as Studio City, at 13273 Ventura Boulevard, with daily hours. The corner sits right on the line between the two neighborhoods.

A short walk west, just past Casa Vega, LLAMA at 13443 Ventura is a play and art studio. It offers art and sewing classes, workshops, birthday parties and Grown-Up Nights for adults. Closer to Woodman, Florahound at 13711 Ventura is a rare-plant shop in the storefront with the painted facade that some neighbors will remember as Green Queen. It's built around master horticulturist Leon Massoth, who has spent decades growing rare tropical plants from seed.

Farther west, the new places are mostly about food and drinks:

• Gilbert Pérez Bar, 14633 Ventura Blvd. A Mexican rum bar upstairs from Daisy, from the Mirate team, with chef Alan Sanz and beverage director Max Reis. LAeats listed October 8 as its opening date and notes a strict no-photos policy inside. The Infatuation covered it in September as an upcoming spot upstairs from Daisy.
• Sumi Sushi, next to Burger She Wrote. Sumi's website offers reservations and online ordering, plus lunch sets, nigiri, sashimi, rolls and a sake list. Epstein says the restaurant gets fresh fish every day and joins more than thirty sushi restaurants already on Ventura Boulevard.
• Burger She Wrote, 14245 Ventura Blvd. Oklahoma-style smash burgers from pro skateboarder Don "Nuge" Nguyen and restaurateur Steven Arroyo. It was slated to open in late May.
• Gloria LA, 13944 Ventura Blvd. An artisanal pan dulce bakery, announced in May as "opening soon."

Fashion Square turned outward

The mall is following the same pattern of reusing what was already there. In his October column, Epstein recalled that Sherman Oaks Fashion Square started out as an open-air center where people walked from store to store outside, before it was enclosed. He wrote that some of its busiest spaces are now on the outer edge facing the parking lot.

Noodle St, its eighth location, serves hand-pulled noodles. In June it was still "coming soon." By October, Epstein described it as frequently crowded. Next to it are Kura Revolving Sushi Bar, which he said sometimes has a wait, and Panini Kabob Grill. The fitness side includes BoxUnion's 45-minute boxing classes, which don't require experience, and Orangetheory Fitness right next door. This time of year, Tina's Pumpkin Patch at Fashion Square, 4725 Woodman Ave, adds a straw maze, train, pony rides and a petting zoo. Its site doesn't list 2026 hours.

Before you head out

Several places in this post were last reported as plans or targets. Henri's, Greco's, the Le Pain Quotidien bagel shop, Gloria LA and the still-unnamed Ludo Lefebvre sandwich shop are all worth a quick check of their own pages or a phone call before you go. Mistral, Mother's Bread, Blank Street, Sumi and the Fashion Square perimeter are already up and running.

New tenants in old Sherman Oaks spaces affect more than where to eat. They change how a block feels and what nearby homes are worth to buyers. If you'd like to know how this year's changes on Ventura Boulevard look from your own street, Tammy Jerome is happy to talk it through. Let's Connect.