'This is a reckoning': Michael Cimarusti on Connie & Ted's closure and the state of restaurants

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In 2013, eight years after he opened Providence, which earned its third Michelin star last year, chef Michael Cimarusti opened Connie & Ted’s with the idea of offering Los Angeles an easy and more affordable way to taste of his cooking and seafood sourcing.A taste of New England in West Hollywood, it quickly became known for fried clams and chowders harkening to Cimarusti’s Rhode Island childhood and plump lobster rolls filled with never-frozen lobster.

But on July 1, after years of highs, lows and financial setbacks, Connie & Ted’s will close.Like many other L.A.restaurateurs, Cimarusti alongside his wife and business partner, Crisi Echiverri, cited inflation and the high cost of labor in West Hollywood, which is one of the highest in the country at $20.25 for non-hotel employees.

But the biggest factor, Cimarusti said, was the dip in sales.The pandemic, followed by the 2023 entertainment-industry strikes and the 2025 fires led to a prolonged loss of business.“I wanted to be able to re-create that food here in Los Angeles and do it the right way, without any shortcuts, and making everything from scratch, and using the finest-quality ingredients that we can buy,” Cimarusti said.

“I feel like that cuisine deserves it.”For a long time, he added, Los Angeles agreed.The restaurant, named for Cimarusti’s grandparents — Constance and Edward — opened to fanfare, acclaim and “feverish oyster shucking.” It appeared on multiple L.A.Times 101 lists through the years and specialized in a sort of “no shortcuts” pre-World War II philosophy, with everything made from scratch, including its breadcrumbs and crackers.

New England-style lobster rolls weren’t always so plentiful in Los Angeles, and Connie & Ted’s offered some of the best and most consistent, spooning lobster shipped fresh from Gloucester, Mass., onto fluffy, griddled rolls....