Lisa Vanderpumps Pump Restaurant Closing Due to Rent Increase
All good things must come to an end? Lisa Vanderpump’s Pump Restaurant Lounge is closing after 10 years of business, Us Weekly can confirm.
“It’s with heavy hearts that we announce that the lease at Pump Restaurant is expiring and we will be closing its doors on July 5th, after ten years of beautiful evenings under our olive trees,” Pandora Todd, Vanderpump’s daughter, told Us in a Thursday, May 4, statement. “As a family, we are looking to the future of the Vanderpump establishments and will be opening at least two more restaurants with Caesars Entertainment in the coming year.”
Pandora, 36, cited a “huge increase in rent by the landlords” as the reason for the shutdown, claiming that taking on “another 10-year lease” would be something they “are not ready” to “commit” to.
“After successfully running 37+ establishments for many years, this type of rent is untenable,” her statement continued. “We will be open throughout Pride month in West Hollywood, to support the local community with one last hurrah, and we look forward to welcoming you all to TomTom & Sur in the months following! Thank you for the past decade of support, we have loved our staff, our patrons and our time together.”
Speculation of trouble at the WeHo hotspot first sparked in March when Us obtained a report from the Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) that confirmed Pump had its general eating license and its event permits suspended.
Although the documents did not cite why the restaurant was under suspension, an eyewitness exclusively told Us at the time that the business was not open the weekend of March 11, with a sign posted that read “closed due to rain issues.”
Vanderpump, 62, later clarified the reasoning behind the temporary shutdown, citing the upcoming lease expiration as the core issue.
“We’ve been in the Pump location for 10 years, have a great relationship with the landlord, but the lease is expiring. So, over the next few months we will decide whether we are going to stay, but haven’t made a decision yet,” the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum told Us exclusively in a March 15 statement. “Come by and have a Pumptini.”
The England native later took to social media to shut down any rumors of Pump closing for good. “Ok no … #PumpRestaurant will be open as normal … #fake-news,” she tweeted.
The reality star and her husband, Ken Todd — who tied the knot in 1982 and share daughter Pandora and son Max, 31 — are the owners of several restaurants including TomTom and SUR. The pair’s Bravo series, Vanderpump Rules — which debuted in 2013 — focuses on the lives of the staff of the Los Angeles-based establishments.
The Pump Rules cast recently made headlines in March when news broke that Ariana Madix called it quits with Tom Sandoval after discovering his affair with costar Raquel Leviss. The scandal sparked outrage from fellow cast members and viewers alike, leading Sandoval, 40, and Tom Schwartz’s newest restaurant, Schwartz & Sandy’s, to receive an onslaught of negative Yelp reviews and hateful social media comments.
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The backlash to their business caused Vanderpump — who co-owns TomTom with Sandoval and Schwartz, 40 — to issue a plea to viewers, asking them not to take out their frustrations on the businesses.
“It’s a show but [the cast is] all hurting. And I am not saying we should let them off the hook. Condemn their actions but don’t condemn the people,” she said during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen on March 8. “All this [online] aggression has serious ramifications. I really mean that — I think everyone should be careful.”
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