A Big Downtown Space Gets Overhauled With Garden Restaurant and Dance Floor

Downtown’s bustling construction and dining scenes are about to converge with the incoming projects French Exit and Bar Menagerie. The property lands right next door to the always-busy Maccheroni Republic, and across the street from Grand Central Market.

French Exit is the work of the current Bar10 owners in West Hollywood, a longtime gay and lesbian-friendly pool and cocktails spot right on Santa Monica Boulevard. Ownership is selling off that property and now focusing on this Downtown situation, having partnered up with DTLA Proud festival co-founder Andrés Rigal to redo an empty building that had a prior life as a McDonald’s.

The plan is to repurpose the entire property into two different spaces at once. The first, French Exit, will be an event space for live music, dancing, shows, and more, with bar space inside to service the crowds. The ground-floor level space is to be called Bar Menagerie, an is described by ownership as “a garden oasis” that recreates the look and feel of a greenhouse. Think Koreatown’s Commissary, with a casual New American menu, drinks, and a lounge area.

Because of the massive build-out involved, expect both properties to come online about a year from now. The initial rendering for the building is above, though, and it already shows what is sure to be a promising newcomer for the neighborhood.

French Exit/Bar Menagerie
300 S. Broadway
Los Angeles, CA

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