Eugene Kim, partial owner of the Westwood Brewing Company, remembers a different town.
Kim recalls a thriving nightlife in Westwood Village replete with five or six different bars for students and community members to choose from.
Now, Kim’s business is suffering like a number of others. Only two bars remain in Westwood, and business is weak. Students and other locals are leaving Westwood, choosing other nightlife options available all over Los Angeles, Kim said.
Barney’s Beanery, scheduled to open on Broxton Avenue in April, is supposed to reawaken the old spirit of the city, according to the regional manager A.J. Sacher.
The restaurant will be the fifth branch for the company, occupying a space held by the Good Earth restaurant earlier this fall.
Despite the dim economic forecast, Sacher remains confident in the business and optimistic of its success.
“We are trying to keep people in Westwood more than anything else to eat or have a drink,” Sacher said. “We are trying to keep the community vibrant. There are so many places that are closing their doors,” he added. “It’s going to be great for the other businesses, and it’s going to be great for the economy.”
Kim sees the arrival of competing businesses as a good thing.
He said any businesses that are opening up and encouraging people to stay in the Westwood area are good for everyone.
The problem is that businesses are catering to the wrong crowd, said third-year theater student Jason Leibovitch. “There are no good bars in Westwood, there is no good nightlife,” he said. “They need to start making things for college-age students; shops need to address college students more. Really fancy restaurants and high-end retail stores aren’t the answer.”
The wide appeal of Barney’s is what Sacher said will make the restaurant and bar successful.
He said the restaurant will have a smaller bar than their location in Santa Monica and will focus on both daytime and nighttime crowds.
The need for more bars and social options for students is clear to Stephanie Feltnor, a third-year sociology student.
“I think that I was surprised when I first came to UCLA because there is such a lack of a nightlife,” Feltnor said.
She said there is a large number of people in the Westwood area willing to spend money on dining and at bars, but very few businesses have successfully tapped into that market.
Sacher agrees. “While (Westwood) doesn’t have the number of people coming into it, there isn’t less people working there, living there or going to school there,” he said. “With that many people in the neighborhood, there is a lot of business to be had.”
Sacher said he knows the venture will be a challenge ““ but one worth taking.