The team behind the estate of late Los Angeles rapper and activist Nipsey Hussle just completed its dining room revamp and will debut the new space on March 1. Though open since 2024, Marathon Burger’s team kept diners on the patio while operating during the remodel. The restaurant resides in the former Nomoo and Peach Pit pop-up restaurant on Melrose and Gardner, a half mile from the Marathon clothing store, with a smash burger and diner menu.
Hussle launched his Marathon brand in 2010 and was active in opening businesses in Los Angeles until he was murdered in 2019. He spoke frequently about building businesses centered around music, fashion, entertainment, and restaurants. Hussle’s team and brother, Sam “Blacc Sam” Asghedom, debuted Marathon Burger as a pop-up in October 2024, slinging wagyu smash burgers, fried chicken sandwiches, portobello mushroom burgers, wings, a tiger shrimp basket, and milkshakes. Los Angeles has a track record of hip hop artists opening restaurants, including Donald Glover’s (aka Childish Gambino) Jellyman in Silver Lake and Juicy Pizza by the daughters of the late Run-D.M.C.’s Jam Master Jay and Biggie Smalls.
Marathon Burger hours are 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday and until 10 p.m. on Sundays at 7507 Melrose Avenue, Fairfax, Los Angeles, CA, 90046.
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More details on the Original Pantry dispute
The Los Angeles Times dug into the contract dispute between the Original Pantry owners and its longtime staff. While trying to sell the restaurant, the trust that owns the Original Pantry has threatened to close it on March 2 unless employees give up their union protections.
Classic LA chef pays homage to Citrus
Meteora chef Jordan Kahn will collaborate with notable chef Alain Giraud to introduce a throwback six-course tasting menu in honor of Los Angeles’s classic restaurant Citrus and its former late chef Michel Louis-Marie Richard. Tickets are $165 per person; full details are here.
LA’s tasting menu boom
As more fine dining restaurants like Seline and Somni open with fanfare, SF Gate food editor Karen Palmer asks questions about their reemergence in LA.
OC’s Spaghetti Bender to close
Newport Beach’s Spaghetti Bender will close permanently on March 2, reports the Orange County Register. The longtime restaurant opened in 1969 on the Pacific Coast Highway.
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