Weekend brunch begins at 9 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays at Pawn Shop, giving football fans a place to watch morning games. (photo by Shelby Moore)

Pawn Shop gears up for football

Pawn Shop, a sports bar and restaurant at 5901 Melrose Ave., is gearing up for the 2026 NFL and college football seasons with more than 50 screens, private viewing suites and weekend brunch for early games.

Located in a restored former pawn shop building, the 7,800-square-foot venue opened earlier this year with seating for more than 400 guests. The dining room includes a wraparound 48-seat bar and 53 screens, including two large video walls. Seven stadium-style private suites are also available for groups.

James Beard Award-winning chef Tony Messina leads Pawn Shop’s culinary program. Messina, the former executive chef and partner at Uni in Boston, oversees a menu that combines sports bar staples with dishes drawing on his fine-dining background.

Lunch offerings include house-made hot dogs topped with caviar and Romanian hanger steak frites. A courtside menu offered at the bar from 3-5 p.m. includes a three-way roast beef sandwich and spicy chicken Parmesan sandwich.

Weekend brunch begins at 9 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, giving football fans a place to watch morning games. Brunch dishes include a full English breakfast, cultured whey pancakes and avocado and prawn toast.

The venue is backed by investors including entrepreneur Mark Cuban and Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. Other investors include television producer Michael Davies, Angel City FC captain Ali Riley and former NBA player Chandler Parsons.

Pawn Shop opened in a renovated building that formerly housed Brothers Collateral, which operated at the site from 1980-2020. Entrepreneur and real estate developer Diego Torres-Palma acquired the property in 2023 and developed the sports-focused restaurant and bar.

The venue’s focus on sports comes as Los Angeles prepares to host major events including Super Bowl LXI in 2027 and the Summer Olympics in 2028.

Pawn Shop is located at 5901 Melrose Ave.

For information, visit pawnshopla.com.

Yamashiro serves Japanese-inspired Sunday brunch

Yamashiro Hollywood is serving a Japanese-inspired Sunday brunch featuring seafood, breakfast favorites and cocktails from 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m., including offerings tied to National Lobster Day on Sept. 25.

Perched in the Hollywood Hills, the historic restaurant is known for its Japanese-inspired architecture, gardens and views overlooking Los Angeles. The hilltop mansion was constructed from 1911-14 and later became a restaurant.

Among the Sunday brunch offerings is a butter-poached lobster roll made with yuzu aioli and Japanese pickles on a milk bread roll and served with sweet potato chips. Diners can also order Bloody Marys customized tableside with a selection of garnishes.

Other brunch dishes include blue crab Benedict served over crispy rice; matcha French toast with matcha whipped cream and strawberry sauce; lemon ricotta pancakes with red bean cream and yuzu maple syrup; and a Wagyu breakfast burger topped with bacon, avocado, fried egg and wasabi aioli.

Yamashiro also offers a Japanese-inspired afternoon tea tower with mini tea sandwiches and desserts served with sencha or hojicha tea.

Yamashiro Hollywood is located at 1999 N. Sycamore Ave.

For information, visit yamashirohollywood.com.

Rokusho unveils new fall menu

Rokusho L.A. is introducing a new fall menu at its Sunset Boulevard restaurant, adding Japanese-inspired shareable plates, hand rolls and seasonal dishes from Executive Chef Alex Suzuki.

The restaurant, which is approaching its second year on Sunset Boulevard, draws inspiration from Rokusho’s Tokyo roots while tailoring its menu to Los Angeles. Suzuki’s fall offerings emphasize dishes designed to be shared across the table and paired with selections from the restaurant’s cocktail program.

New dishes include king trumpet mushroom with butter soy, crispy shallots and smoked Maldon salt; soy-glazed pork cheeks with butter lettuce, house pickles, lime ponzu and chili bean paste; and roasted Okinawan sweet potato with kelp salsa macha, black garlic mayonnaise and lime.

For dessert, the restaurant has added yuzu pavlova with miso crumble, raspberry sorbet and yuzu custard.

Several existing dishes have also been reworked for fall. The charred bonito Caesar is served with smoked sweet gem lettuce, furikake shokupan crumble and Parmesan. Uni noodles return as uni mazemen, prepared with uni butter, guanciale, egg yolk, marinated ikura and Parmesan.

The seasonal menu complements a cocktail program led by Bar Director Joe Honda, who previously worked at the original Rokusho in Tokyo. The program incorporates Japanese ingredients, house infusions and rare spirits.

Rokusho L.A. is located at 6634 W. Sunset Blvd., first floor.

For information, visit rokushola.com.

Chain opens residency at Topanga Social

Chain, the food concept founded by actor, writer and producer B.J. Novak, opened a six-month residency at Topanga Social inside Westfield Topanga on Sept. 2, bringing together dishes from chefs Roy Choi, Calvin Eng, Mason Hereford and Mei Lin.

Each chef created a dish exclusively for the residency, drawing inspiration from familiar American chain restaurant and food-court fare.

Choi created a charred chicken teriyaki bowl with chicken thighs, California white rice, scallions and toasted sesame seeds, finished with Kogi Sweet Garlic Teriyaki sauce. Eng’s crispy Cantonese Fishwich combines a Cantonese-spiced wild cod and shrimp patty with scallion tartar sauce and American cheese on a toasted potato bun.

Hereford contributed a spicy chicken Chainwich with Louisiana habanero sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and mayonnaise. Lin’s Mapo Wagyu Cruncho Perfecto features mapo-spiced Wagyu ragù, chili crisp queso, wonton crunchies and lettuce in a pan-fried flour tortilla, served with chili crisp sour cream.

The chefs’ creations are joined by dishes from previous Chain menus, including the Wagyu ChainBurger, Cruncho Perfecto Taco Salad and Chicken Tender Wrap-Ups.

“Chain is an experiential company with food at its core,” Chain CEO Steve Milton said. “We’ve seen what’s possible at our events and festivals: people coming together over food, sharing memories and creating new ones.”

The residency also marks the debut of Chain Snacks, a dessert and beverage concept developed in collaboration with General Mills. Menu items incorporate several of the company’s cereal brands, including Lucky Charms, Honey Nut Cheerios, Reese’s Puffs and Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

Offerings include a Lucky Charms Taco Frío made with cereal-flavored milk ice cream in a vanilla waffle taco shell; a Honey Nut Cheerios Matcha Cloud with matcha, honey cereal-flavored milk and salted honey cold foam; Reese’s Puffs churros with hot fudge, peanut butter and cereal-flavored milk icing; and Cinnamon Toast Crunch tiramisu.

The residency is scheduled to continue for six months at Topanga Social inside Westfield Topanga at 6600 Topanga Canyon Blvd. For information, visit eatatchain.com.

Oktoberfest brings Baravia to Big Bear

Big Bear Lake Oktoberfest opens its 2026 season on Sept. 12-13 at the Big Bear Lake Convention Center, beginning a fall run of German food, beer, live music, dancing and contests.

Opening weekend entertainment includes The Ladyhosen Band and Die Sauerkrauts on the indoor Bier Hall Main Stage on Sept. 12. DragonWolfe and the Mary Dyer Band will perform in the outdoor High Altitude Bier Garten. Die Sauerkrauts return Sept. 13, with Winslow performing outdoors. The festival also holds log-sawing and stein-holding contests throughout the weekend.

Oktoberfest begins at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12, with The Ladyhosen Band scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and Die Sauerkrauts at 6 p.m. DragonWolfe performs outdoors at 1:30 p.m., followed by the Mary Dyer Band at 6 p.m. On Sunday, Die Sauerkrauts perform from 12:30-6 p.m., while Winslow takes the outdoor stage at 1 p.m.

The festival features German-style food including bratwurst, knockwurst, kielbasa, sauerkraut, pretzels and apple strudel, along with German beers.

Visitors to Big Bear on Sept. 12 will also find the final installment of the 2026 Big Bear Lake Summer Concert Series in The Village. Latin Rock & Funk Night runs from 5:30-8:30 p.m. and features Bardo and Mestizo Beat. Admission is free.

The concert series is presented by the city of Big Bear Lake and Visit Big Bear. Performances are held at the corner of Village Drive and Pine Knot Avenue.

Big Bear Lake Oktoberfest is held at the Big Bear Lake Convention Center, 42900 Big Bear Blvd. For information, visit bigbearevents.com.

Lawry’s carves out September specials

Lawry’s The Prime Rib in Beverly Hills is offering a series of September dining specials, beginning Sept. 10 with a limited-time dry-aged prime rib and followed by a Rosh Hashanah dinner, National Cheeseburger Day offering and new menu items.

From Sept. 10-27, the restaurant will serve 45-day dry-aged Linz Heritage Angus roasted prime rib. The beef is carved to order in the dining room.

Lawry’s will offer a prix fixe Rosh Hashanah dinner from Sept. 11-13 in recognition of the Jewish New Year. The meal begins with challah and sliced apples with pomegranate and honey, followed by matzo ball soup and Lawry’s Original Spinning Bowl Salad.

For the entrée, diners may select California-cut roasted prime rib with mashed potatoes and creamed corn or pomegranate-glazed branzino with pomegranate salsa and a potato latke. An almond-crusted puff pastry is served for dessert. The dinner is $75 per person and $40 for children younger than 12.

On National Cheeseburger Day, Sept. 18, Lawry’s will offer a limited number of 8-ounce cheeseburgers made with Angus chuck and prime rib. The burger is topped with vintage sauce, American cheese, white onion and pickles on a toasted sesame bun. Twenty burgers will be available each evening in the bar and dining room while supplies last.

The Beverly Hills restaurant has also added several items to its regular menu, including Oscietra caviar chips with crème fraîche and chives, a Prime Burger made with beef ground in-house and a tableside baked Idaho potato with bacon, traditional toppings and 30 grams of Oscietra caviar.

A new $29 Mini Meal is available during weekday happy hour from 4:30-6:30 p.m. in the bar. It includes a mini cheeseburger, crispy potato bite with crème fraîche and caviar and a full-size Meat & Potato Martini.

Lawry’s also offers weekday happy hour from 4:30-6:30 p.m., with $5 off bar bites, $7 select draft beers and $10 select wines and cocktails. On Wednesdays, select bottles of wine are offered at half price.

Lawry’s the Prime Rib is located at 100 N. La Cienega Blvd.

For information, visit lawrysonline.com/lawrys-the-prime-rib-beverly-hills.

Lawry’s is offering a special prix fixe dinner with matzo ball soup for Rosh Hashanah. (photo courtesy of Lawry’s)