West Hollywood restaurant grants are now available for struggling businesses, with the City handing out up to $12,500 per location starting Thursday. Applications open up Thursday, February 5 at 8 a.m. and close February 19 at 5 p.m. Grants get awarded first-come, first-served once the City verifies eligibility and reviews financial documentation.
The City Council approved $250,000 for the program last month. Before that, city staff met individually with more than 70 restaurant owners to hear what they were dealing with. The feedback was consistent—costs keep climbing, customers aren’t coming in like they used to during slow seasons, and staying in business is getting harder.
Not many cities doing this
Most neighboring cities aren’t running similar programs right now.
Pasadena helped coordinate $10,000 fire recovery grants from the California Restaurant Foundation to 51 Pasadena restaurants after the Eaton Fire, though that money came from the nonprofit rather than city funds.
Culver City doesn’t appear to have any current restaurant grant programs.
LA County ran COVID relief grants back in 2020 that provided up to $30,000 per restaurant, but those programs ended years ago.
West Hollywood’s program stands out because it provides struggling businesses direct cash for operating expenses. The City already runs WeHo Loves Locals, a digital gift card program with 50% bonus promotions and resident-only discounts at local businesses. The restaurant grants take that support a step further with direct financial relief.
Restaurants and food services rank as the second-largest employment sector in the West Hollywood and Beverly Hills area with 2,694 employees, behind only the film industry at 4,824.
Who can apply
Restaurants need to have been operating before January 1, 2025, and maintain a current West Hollywood business license. The business also needs a brick-and-mortar location customers can visit in person. Hotel-based restaurants don’t qualify.
Applicants have to demonstrate financial hardship related to lease obligations, operating costs, or revenue decline.
Grant amounts
The grants are tiered by restaurant size. Spaces under 1,250 square feet qualify for $7,500. Restaurants between 1,251 and 2,000 square feet can receive $10,000. Anything larger than 2,000 square feet gets the full $12,500.
Application requirements
Required documents include Form W-9, current business tax certificate, public eating business license, signed California Levine Act statement, most recent tax returns, and a 2025 profit and loss statement. Applicants also need to submit a written statement describing their restaurant’s current financial position.
Approved restaurants must sign a grant agreement before receiving funds. The City will notify applicants of their status in March.
The online application will be available here starting Thursday at 8 a.m. Questions can be directed to Paolo Kespradit, the City’s Business Development Manager, at (323) 848-6556 or email them here.
It’s come to this.
The Council created this mess and is now offering a band aid. One restaurant I go to places an Ordinance Tax on their bill. And that tax is the result of the Council’s foolish decisions.
The city council enacted multiple ill-advised policies that placed these businesses at risk and council is now using the public treasure as a band-aid on the lacerations those policies caused. Politicians expend public dollars like drunken sailors on shore leave.
Most cities do not have West Hollywood’s rich tax base so they can’t afford to have programs like this. While I am sure the help is welcome, it does not really address the larger issues the City is facing. A lot of residents are feeling the need to cut back and eating out is the easiest place to save. Historically we have depended upon visitors to patronize our restaurants and bars so if people are less likely to go out, WeHo feels the impact.
There were a lot of people that said when they implemented this wage increase for low skilled jobs that this would happen… That businesses would struggle and businesses would close. They think all businesses have deep pockets and are rich. Now these kids on the council that have no business background are learning just how devastating their progressive policies are. They might’ve increased the minimum wage, but they eliminated a lot of jobs. In the end, it hurt the low skill worker.
Most other cities did NOT raise the minimum wage to such a high extreme with benefits that make profit margins inadequate to survive. Putting a band-aid on an issue city council pushed and refused to reverse is why businesses struggle. Shame on a city to act as if they are here to help