Sunnin has permanently shuttered its Santa Monica location and the now-vacant space has been listed for rent at more than $20,000 per month. Owners of the Lebanese restaurant had a hard go at it this year, most recently being looted during the George Floyd riots and in March temporarily closing to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Sunnin’s Owner Nicole Chammaa at the beginning of June told Los Angeles Times shortly after the restaurant was vandalized that she was “attempting renegotiations with her landlord” over the restaurant’s “more than $26,000 a month” in due rent (Sunnin was looted on May 31).
Chammaa on Thursday did not immediately respond to a request for comment by What Now Los Angeles (WNLA) but a rep for 525 | SMB, the five-story apartment community where the restaurant was housed, confirmed the closure.
The 3,410-square-foot restaurant, at 525 Santa Monica Blvd., sits adjacent to Southland Credit Union and Philz Coffee.
“Available for lease is the former Sunnin Cafe, fully built out restaurant space,” a for-lease listing that was updated on Wednesday states. “Priced competitively with a full kitchen buildout completed when the building was constructed in 2014, the space is now vacant.”
A rep for the landlord told WNLA Friday that the space became available on July 8. Sunnin has one remaining open and operating restaurant in Westwood, at 1776 Westwood Blvd.
