While a specific date has not been set, it is anticipated that Andre’s will reopen at its new Miracle Mile location within weeks. (photo courtesy of Stephanie Gagliarducci)

The Town and Country development on Third Street and Fairfax Avenue spelled the end of Andre’s near-60-year home in 2022. The Italian restaurant had been in operation since 1963. A delivery and pick-up location has operated on Washington Boulevard since June 2023, as the search and preparation to move to a new permanent location continued.

Now, Andre’s is ready for business at its new Miracle Mile location and will open within weeks, co-owner Stephanie Gagliarducci said, adding it was now up to the chef as to when the restaurant will begin what she is calling a “soft opening.”

“We finally have the final inspection,” she said. “So, we can open anytime, but he’s been bringing in all his stuff to the kitchen. I’m hoping to try to open next week.”

Andre’s has taken up residence in the former Eleven City Diner space at the Dominguez-Wilshire Building, located at 5400 Wilshire Blvd. The Art Deco historic building, a Los Angeles Conservancy Preservation Award recipient, was built in 1930. According to the conservancy’s website, it was the product of spot zoning “where structures were required to be beautiful and [had] to pass design review by the Fine Arts Commission.”

The lower floors, one of which Andre’s will now occupy, were once home to a women’s clothing store called Myer Siegel, which was known for having the latest in Paris fashions.

Gagliarducci said that she had wanted to keep the restaurant in the area, and that other potential locations had fallen through prior to pinpointing the Dominguez-Wilshire Building.

“I started driving in the area, kind of looking, and then I just happened to see where we are now. And I got out, called the broker and we got the place,” she explained.

Gagliarducci is the niece of Andre’s founder Dominic Andreone, who died six months before the original location closed.

“When I went in with my cousin to see [the new location], there was all this liquor left behind because it was a bar before, and it was perfectly lined up in the front. It was basically what you need to make a Negroni, which was my uncle’s favorite drink,” Gagliarducci said.

The space will be decorated from memorabilia from Andreone’s career, including vintage news articles about his first restaurant in New York City. Murals covering the founder’s life will also cover the walls.

An Italy native, Andreone went to school and started his culinary career in Paris. He eventually moved to Los Angeles and opened Andre’s on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, then later launched another location in Westchester near the airport.

It was the unique cafeteria-style of the Third Street location, however, that cemented its neighborhood fame.

“You get in line, you get your food, you pay, you sit down – there’s no waiters,” Gagliarducci said.

She said that to start, Andre’s will be closed on Mondays, but she expects the restaurant will eventually be open seven days a week. She said former customers and neighbors are anxiously awaiting the establishment’s return.

“We have at least 10-15 people a day knocking on the door asking, ‘When are you going to open?’” Gagliarducci said.

Right now, that answer is simply, “Soon.”