In a season centered around gratitude, gathering and the comfort of sharing a meal, the arrival of Alphabet Bar & Grill feels especially meaningful. Following the devastating fires of January 2025, Palisades Village reopened on August 15, 2026, marking an important milestone in the community’s ongoing recovery. As residents returned to the familiar destination—now home once again to more than 40 boutiques, restaurants and entertainment offerings—one of its most anticipated new arrivals was Alphabet Bar & Grill. Created by Los Angeles hospitality and lifestyle company The h.wood Group in partnership with James Beard Award-winning chef Timothy Hollingsworth, the restaurant takes its name from the Palisades’ historic Alphabet Streets. More than a geographical reference, though, the name honors the character and resilience of the neighborhood while signaling the beginning of a new chapter. “For me, cooking has always been about how we take care of the people we love,” says Hollingsworth. “With Alphabet, I wanted to bring that personal philosophy to the Palisades.”
The h.wood Group was founded in 2008 by longtime friends and Los Angeles natives John Terzian and Brian Toll. Its portfolio includes some of the city’s best-known restaurants and nightlife destinations, including West Hollywood mainstays Delilah and The Nice Guy. At Alphabet, however, the group has created something intentionally more familiar: an elevated American grill designed to become part of everyday neighborhood life. Hollingsworth brings an equally impressive culinary pedigree to the project. The chef spent more than a decade at Thomas Keller’s celebrated restaurant The French Laundry, ultimately serving as chef de cuisine. He has represented the United States at the prestigious Bocuse d’Or culinary competition and most recently helmed Otium beside The Broad in downtown Los Angeles before its closing in 2024.
Located in the former Hank’s space beside the Bay Theatre, Alphabet features an open, airy dining room, a striking green marble bar and an expansive patio suited to everything from a leisurely lunch to cocktails and dinner. The setting feels refined without being formal, mirroring Hollingsworth’s menu of familiar American dishes prepared with thoughtfulness and exacting technique. At the center of it all is the rotisserie chicken. “I knew I wanted to build the menu around this from the beginning,” Hollingsworth says. “There’s something simple and comforting about a really well-made roast chicken but getting it right takes a lot of attention to detail.”
The team devoted considerable time to perfecting the cooking process and achieving the ideal balance of deeply developed flavor, crisp skin and tender, juicy meat. “We inject the chicken with a lemon and herb brine, which allows us to season the meat throughout and helps keep it really juicy as it cooks,” Hollingsworth explains. “From there, it goes onto the rotisserie, and while it’s roasting, we continually baste it with a white wine, garlic and herb sauce.” Available as a whole, half or quarter chicken, the signature dish is accompanied by a selection of house-made sauces, including charred scallion chimichurri and creamy roasted poblano. “We serve it with a few different house-made sauces, so people can make it their own,” he adds. “It’s exactly the kind of dish I wanted Alphabet to center on—one that offers guests a familiar, approachable and thoughtfully crafted meal.”
The goal is for Alphabet to become the type of restaurant locals visit several times a week: for dinner with the children, drinks with friends or an easy meal that still feels special. The menu accordingly includes beloved staples such as Caesar salad, a cheeseburger, a fried chicken sandwich and barbecue baby back ribs. Yet Hollingsworth also hopes guests will venture beyond the most familiar offerings “The coconut curry rice with maitake mushrooms, Carolina Gold rice and cashews is one of the hidden gems on the menu,” he says. “I also really love the hamachi crudo with mango, Virginia peanuts and chili, which brings together a really nice balance of freshness, sweetness and heat.” For dessert, the lemon olive oil cake with whipped cream has emerged as an early standout. The bar program follows a similarly timeless approach, with martinis ranging from espresso and lychee variations to classic service, along with premium Champagnes and French wines.
The return of the Palisades Farmers Market on Wednesday mornings has also become an important source of inspiration for Hollingsworth, whose cooking has long been informed by California’s extraordinary seasonal produce. “It’s another important piece of the neighborhood returning,” he says. “I walk it whenever I can, talk to the farmers and build relationships with the people bringing quality ingredients to the table. It’s such a valuable resource and influences what we’re doing at the restaurant.”
Just as meaningful has been the response from the community. For a neighborhood still moving through the complicated process of recovery, the reopening of familiar gathering places—and the creation of new ones—carries significance far beyond a meal. “There’s so much emotion tied to this community, and you can feel the energy of people coming together and seeing the Palisades come back to life,” Hollingsworth says. “We always wanted Alphabet to serve as more than a restaurant. From day one, our vision was for it to belong to the neighborhood and reinforce what makes the Palisades so special. Seeing families and friends gather around the table, make new memories and reconnect with each other has been the most rewarding part of opening.” Although Hollingsworth lives on the eastside of Los Angeles, he considers the Palisades’ unmistakable sense of community well worth the commute. “It has this unique combination of being part of Los Angeles while still feeling like a real neighborhood,” he says. “Being able to contribute to that through the restaurant, while sharing my passion for food, is such a fulfilling experience.”
Alphabet also represents a return to the westside for The h.wood Group, which operated SHOREbar on Channel Road from 2012 until its 2024 closing as well as the shorter-lived neighboring steakhouse, Mason. “We’ve had a long-standing relationship with Rick Caruso, and with our roots in Los Angeles, coming back to the westside in this way felt really natural,” says Terzian. “The Palisades has such a strong sense of community. People know their neighbors, spend time together and genuinely support the businesses around them. There’s also something special about returning to this side of town and building on our history here, while introducing a concept that feels fresh and right for the community today.”
The h.wood Group’s westside presence will expand again in early 2027 with the anticipated opening of Montana’s on San Vicente Boulevard. The project will mark the company’s first concept in Brentwood—a particularly personal milestone for Toll, who lives in the neighborhood with his family. “It will have an intimate, clubhouse feel with something that’s elevated and special, but still very much a place locals can make their own,” Terzian says. “We’re bringing together great food, cocktails, design and the energy people have come to expect from h.wood, while creating something that feels distinctly right for Brentwood.”
As Thanksgiving approaches, Alphabet’s arrival offers a timely reminder of what a restaurant can bring to a community. It is not simply somewhere to eat, but a place to reconnect, welcome old friends, form new traditions and appreciate the experience of being together once again.
Alphabet Bar & Grill
1033 North Swarthmore Ave., Pacific Palisades
310-909-8585
alphabetpalisades.com
“We always wanted Alphabet to serve as more than a restaurant. From day one, our vision was for it to belong to the neighborhood and reinforce what makes the Palisades so special.”