On Ventura Boulevard, the Old Addresses Are Getting New Keepers
In 2026, most of the changes on Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks have happened at the same addresses. A 1988 French bistro has new owners who kept the menu and named the next room after the founder. A pizzeria is moving into the space of a pizzeria that served the block for nearly 20 years. A liquor store that held its corner for close to half a century has handed it to another liquor store. On the Ventura and Woodman corner that just lost its Mediterranean restaurant, a chef who already cooks a short walk down the Boulevard has signed the lease.
Taken together, these handoffs say something useful about the Boulevard. New operators are buying into what these places already meant to the neighborhood. The bigger breaks with the past are showing up on corners that are newly built, and at the one longtime address that has no successor yet.
Henri Abergel opened Mistral in 1988 and ran it until he retired in 2025. Restaurateur Jonah Freedman and his business partner and culinary director, Josh Migdal, took over late that year. They kept the menu exactly as it was until a temporary closure, and used that time to plan what came next. The restaurant reopened on Monday, August 10.
Matt Epstein, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association, wrote about the reopening in SOHA's August newsletter as someone who has loved the restaurant his whole life. He remembered Henry, the owner who made the room feel like his living room, and Raoul, who seemed to know your order before you did. After a sneak peek, his verdict was that "the soul of the place is intact." The tuna tartare, crab cakes, Mistral Caesar and French onion soup are all still on the menu. Freedman told Eater the kitchen now finishes more dishes with vinegars and citrus zest for a little more acid and freshness. Steak frites now comes four ways, from an 8-ounce hanger to a 24-ounce cote de boeuf for two. The room has new custom red leather booths, glass chandeliers and artwork by French American painter Guy Buffet.
"We really feel like this is an homage to the original Mistral rather than just an updated Mistral," Freedman told Eater. The clearest sign of that is still to come. Freedman plans to open Henri's, a raw bar named for Abergel, later this fall in what used to be Mistral's private dining room. It will serve oysters, cocktails, and raw and cooked seafood.
"I love the idea of someone going and having a cocktail and some oysters over there and then coming next door for their reservation or vice versa." That is Jonah Freedman, describing to Eater how Henri's will work alongside Mistral.
As of early October, we could not find any report that Henri's has opened, so treat it as coming soon.
Mistral changed hands in late 2025 and reopened this summer, which makes it the best-known handoff on the Boulevard. The same pattern shows up at smaller addresses.
Santino's NY Pizza spent nearly 20 years on Woodman Avenue, just north of Ventura, serving New York-style thin crust from a family-run kitchen. It closed in March. The next tenant is Greco's New York Pizzeria, which already runs locations in Hollywood and Tarzana. Sherman Oaks will be its third, in the former Santino's space. Co-owner Nico Grasu told What Now LA in April that he was aiming for early June at 4319 Woodman Ave. Greco's online ordering page for the Sherman Oaks location now offers scheduled pickup and delivery from that address. We found no report of an exact opening date.
At Ventura and Sunnyslope, Tony's Liquor Store held the corner for nearly fifty years. Its replacement, Eagle Liquor, is open and sells wine, beer, cigars and lottery tickets. Next door is the newcomer worth the stop. Mother's Bread is run by a baker named Nick from the country of Georgia, who works from his grandmother's recipes. He bakes just three kinds of sourdough from a starter made with grapes. The loaves are shaped like long paddles or oars, and Epstein reported in June that the shop makes about a hundred a day, many of which sell out before closing.
In every case so far, the new tenant does what the old one did: French bistro to French bistro, pizza to pizza, liquor to liquor. The Boulevard's mix stays largely the same while the people running it change.
The Ventura and Woodman corner tests that pattern most directly. Samos opened a Mediterranean restaurant there, and Epstein wrote that its owners had invested heavily in turning the space into a beautiful room. By his estimate, it was open about two years before closing this year.
SOHA's September newsletter reported that Ludo Lefebvre, the chef behind Petit Trois, has signed a lease on the corner. According to the newsletter, early word is a sandwich concept. Lefebvre asked to check back in a month or so, once he has a clearer vision and a name. We have not found a second source confirming the project. Until he announces it himself, it should be treated as early-stage.
If the project goes ahead, the corner goes to a chef who is already part of the neighborhood. Lefebvre's restaurant list shows Petit Trois Le Valley at 13705 Ventura Blvd., on the same stretch near Woodman. That would make the Samos space the second Lefebvre address within a short walk.
One longtime space has no successor yet. Boneyard Bistro at 13539 Ventura served its last meal on September 12 after more than twenty years. Owner Aaron Robins gave no details about what comes next, and no new tenant had been announced at the time of writing. Epstein described it as a rare place that could do slow-smoked brisket and eclectic bistro food with equal confidence.
A few other storefronts have been reused for something different. At 13711 Ventura, the building with the painted front that many people remember as the Green Queen dispensary is now Florahound, a rare-plant shop. It is built around horticulturist Leon Massoth, who has spent decades finding and growing tropical species that commercial growers do not carry. At 13443 Ventura, just past Casa Vega, a play studio called LLAMA offers art and sewing classes, workshops, birthday parties, and Grown-Up Nights. In September, SOHA also reported that the longtime Le Pain Quotidien space is becoming a bagel shop, without naming the brand.
The biggest departure from the old Boulevard is a corner that is newly built. At Ventura and Fulton, across from Casa Vega, SOHA describes a new mixed-use project called Fulton Crossing, with shops on the ground floor, offices above, and a vintage Airstream trailer parked on the corner. Its anchor is Blank Street Coffee at 13273 Ventura, which opened in August as the Brooklyn-born chain's first location in Los Angeles. The design was inspired by L.A.'s Case Study houses, and the café is open daily from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. "Studio City felt right for our California debut," co-founder and CEO Issam Freiha told Los Angeles Magazine. The Studio City stretch to the east has a similar run of outside arrivals. PopUp Bagels opened at 12184 Ventura in late August, and Highly Likely opened its fourth L.A. location at 12401 Ventura.
Several Sherman Oaks projects have been announced, but we have not found confirmation that they are open as of early October:
Epstein counts more than thirty sushi restaurants on Ventura already, which puts the two sushi entries in context.
The 34th annual Sherman Oaks Street Fair takes over Ventura Boulevard between Kester Avenue and Van Nuys Boulevard on Sunday, October 18, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Through November 1, Tina's Pumpkin Patch is set up at Westfield Fashion Square, 4725 Woodman Ave., with a free straw maze, a petting zoo and pony rides. On Sunday mornings, the Studio City Farmers Market runs year-round at 1 Ventura Place, between Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Radford Avenue, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Many of the Boulevard's best-known places have passed to new owners without anyone selling off what made them matter, and the same can be true of a well-loved house. When a home has history like that, how it changes hands deserves the same care. If you're thinking about what comes next for a property like this, Nancy Ellin Realty Group handles those transitions privately and with that history in mind. Request a Private Consultation.
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