The Cat & Fiddle Restaurant and Pub has been a staple at the historic 6530 Sunset Blvd. building in Hollywood, known for its large outdoor patio courtyard catering residents and industry clientele. But that run has come to an end, the restaurant’s owners said.

Customers have only a few weeks to enjoy the Sunset Boulevard restaurant and pub. (photo Jonathan Van Dyke)

On Dec. 15, The Cat & Fiddle will close its doors at the location where it has entertained patrons for more than 30 years. Owner Ashlee Gardner (who runs it with her mother Paula) said the family was not able to come to terms on a new lease with the owners of the building.

“[The building] has a lot of character and it just kind of works really well with our model,” Gardner said. “But we have a lot of things we do well and customers have continued to come even after our original location.”

The Cat & Fiddle was opened by Gardner’s father, Kim, who was part of the musical British invasion of the 1960s and 1970s, playing for bands like The Creation, The Birds and Ashton and Gardner & Dyke.

Kim met Paula in New Orleans, and the couple moved to Los Angeles to continue their careers. In 1982, Paula became pregnant with twins and Kim opened the pub, which family members said was unique to the Hollywood area at the time. Within a few years, the family pub had outgrown its first location, so they moved to 6530 Sunset Blvd. Kim died in 2001, and the family pitched in to run The Cat & Fiddle since.

“We’ve been around for thirty-two years,” Gardner said. “I went to middle school across the street. The neighborhood has changed immensely. When we moved to Sunset, there was nothing here.”

Gardner said she was told by the owners of the building about six months ago that they had another buyer for the location, who likely would remodel the space.

“We were planning on doing some remodels as well, but didn’t want to without an extended lease,” she said.

Details to extend the lease didn’t pan out. Gardner said she originally planned to get married at the pub in March.

“There was a lot of miscommunication, and that might come from the fact [that the building owners] weren’t sure what they were doing,” she added.

Jesse Shannon is manager of a group of investors that formed an unnamed LLC that owns the building. He said his group and the Gardners have had numerous discussions about the possibility of a lease renewal, but it just didn’t work out. He also noted they have leased the space at a rate that is significantly under market value for a long time.

Shannon said the group is in talks with first class restaurant operators — not a chain — and that they hope to fill the space soon after The Cat & Fiddle vacates the property. There are also plans to renovate the interior.

“I think the location is highly appealing,” he said. “There are not many courtyards like that in Los Angeles — period. We intend to dramatically improve the courtyard and to restore it to its late 1920s form — what’s there today is really not what was there in the 1920s and we have countless photos we’ve given to help our architectural design team.”

The ownership group also owns some houses behind the building, and there were rumors that those parcels might be combined with the 6530 Sunset Blvd. building.

“We have not made any plans to that effect at all,” Shannon said. “We have no immediate plans to develop on those residential parcels.”

Shannon continued that his group’s intentions are to bring someone in who will continue to embrace the historical significance of the building and embrace the neighborhood.

Gardner said her family is continuing to assess their options and find as many possibilities for a new location as they can — with an eye toward staying in Hollywood, if possible.

“I’m not sure about the timeframe, but we’ve put a couple of offers on some places,” she said, noting the hope is to be open in six months to a year from now, maybe sooner. “The places we are looking at would be great if it went through, but at the end of the day, who knows if or when they will come through.”

Staff members at the 13th District Council Office said they have spoken with The Cat & Fiddle’s owners and have offered to help identify potential suitable locations.

Hollywood Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Leron Gubler said he was sorry to hear the news.

“It’s become kind of a Hollywood institution, and they were here when I first got here so many years ago — great ambiance there and a great venue,” he said. “It’s safe to say we’re all going to miss them there, and we hope they can move somewhere else within Hollywood.”

Until Dec. 15, Gardner said everyone is welcome to come and say goodbye at the Sunset location — and people have.

“It’s been so busy already and we haven’t really done any promotions, in general,” she said. “My recommendation is to come sooner because it’s only going to get crazier as we near that date.”

As for the business, she said they will soldier on, and hopefully people will follow.

“It will hopefully not be just about the location but the people behind it,” she said. “That is the hope for us.”