Locol’s Oakland, LA Locations Close for Holiday Break

“Revolutionary fast food” restaurant Locol, which closed its original downtown Oakland location last summer and shifted its focus to its West Oakland bakery, has paused its operation there and at its Los Angeles location in Watts. According to a message from the business, they’ll both return some time after the holidays, following “tweaks” and “improvements” to both stores.

Chef/restaurateurs Roy Choi and Daniel Patterson founded Locol two years ago with the goal of shifting the fast food paradigm through better quality, healthier options. Business has grown at a slower clip than Choi expected, as he admitted in an interview this year. “We built this project to grow and to eventually be in like five cities by now,” he said.

A note announcing the temporary closure alludes to the roller-coaster ride that Locol has been so far, with downs like a zero-star review from the New York Times critic Pete Wells (for its original Oakland offering) and ups including a restaurant of the year award from Los Angeles Times critic Jonathan Gold (for the Watts location).

“That was a wild 2 years,” the note reads. “LocoL and our families are gonna’ take a breather.”

Here’s the message in full, including the promise of “additional news” in the New Year:

Locol via Twitter

• Locol Goes on Holiday Hiatus in Both Watts and Oakland [ELA]
• Locol Responds to News of Uptown Oakland Closure [ESF]
• Locol’s Slow Growth Keeps it Local, Not National [ESF]