The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Vanderpump’s iconic Pump restaurant is closing its doors after 10 years.
The famous West Hollywood eatery will be ending its service on 5 July 2023 when the restaurant’s lease ends, the reality star confirmed in a statement to TMZ on Thursday 4 May.
“It’s with heavy hearts that we announce that the lease at Pump Restaurant is expiring, and we will be closing its doors on July 5th, after 10 years of beautiful evenings under our olive trees,” the statement said.
It appears an increase in rent is to blame for the restaurant’s closing.
“While we have loved our time operating Pump, to take on another 10-year lease with a huge increase in rent by the landlords, is not something we are ready to commit to,” the statement continued. “After successfully running 37+ establishments for many years, this type of rent is untenable.”
The rent for the restaurant, which is located in prime Los Angeles, reportedly reached nearly $1m per year. According to TMZ, Lisa Vanderpump and husband Ken Todd’s former Beverly Hills restaurant, Villa Blanca, also closed in 2020 due to an increase in rent.
While the Pump location will be closing in West Hollywood, the couple currently has plans to open two more restaurants at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
However, Pump isn’t the only restaurant Lisa Vanderpump operates in the Los Angeles area. Tom Tom Restaurant and Bar and SUR Restaurant and Lounge serve as the backdrop to the scandal-filled Bravo show, Vanderpump Rules.
The reality show, which premiered on Bravo in 2013, follows the lives of the employees at SUR in West Hollywood. Most recently, Vanderpump Rules stars Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss made headlines in March when news broke of a cheating scandal that rocked both the cast and fans of the Bravo series.
The Tom Tom co-owner, who was in a relationship with fellow cast member Ariana Madix for nearly 10 years, had reportedly engaged in a months-long affair with Leviss. Back in March, TMZ was the first to report that Sandoval, 39, and Madix, 37, had called it quits after she learned of his alleged affair with Leviss, 28.
Following the cheating scandal, Tom Sandoval issued two statements to social media apologising for the affair, as well as appearing on the Howie Mandel’s podcast, Howie Mandel Does Stuff.
Meanwhile, Leviss said that she will be using the fallout of the cheating scandal to reflect on her own actions, including seeking counselling for her “patterns of codependency and addiction to being and feeling loved.”
Vanderpump Rules is currently airing its tenth season on Wednesdays at 9pm ET on Bravo.
