The world of Vanderpump Rules has undergone a lot of changes in recent weeks, and now there is reportedly one more. According to Screen Rant, Lisa Vanderpump's Beverly Hills restaurant Villa Blanca has permanently closed.
Screen Rant reports that Villa Blanca is now boarded up and has a handwritten note taped to its door indicating that the restaurant is closed for good. Though the spot was not the Vanderpump-owned restaurant that serves as the main focus of Bravo's VPR, it did make frequent appearances on the show as the backdrop of drama. It was also featured heavily on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, back when Lisa Vanderpump was a castmember.
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Earlier this week, Kyle Richards, LVP's former RHOBH co-star appeared on Watch What Happens Live, and host Andy Cohen asked her about her reaction to the news that Villa Blanca had shuttered. Richards said, "All the restaurants are so hard hit in Los Angeles, so it really didn't surprise me at all."
Way back at the start of March, Villa Blanca posted a statement on its official Instagram page stating that due to COVID-19, it would be closed until further notice. "These are scary times right now, but nothing is more important than the health and safety of our employees and guests… Together we will get through this and come out stronger on the other side. Keep following us for updates and we hope we can welcome you back again soon." The restaurant has yet to post an update addressing its permanent closure. Likewise, Lisa Vanderpump has yet to address the news on her personal social media channels. Refinery29 has reached out to her reps for comment and will update this piece if we receive a response.
Villa Blanca is one of many restaurants around the world to be taken down by the COVID-19 pandemic. Last month, Yelp released a Local Economic Impact Report, which stated that 23,981 restaurants have been marked as closed on Yelp since March 1, 2020. Additionally, 53% of those restaurant closures are indicated as permanent on Yelp. In a WWHL interview with Andy Cohen in April, Vanderpump called the pandemic's effect on her many businesses "devastating." "It's not just our business, it's our life as well," she shared. "Hopefully, we'll be one of the businesses that survives this because a lot of people won't. It's a real worry if we can resurrect it and give everybody their jobs back. I have very close relationships with a lot of my employees so it's been really, really difficult. Very sad." As of right now, at least, LVP's other restaurants, bars, and lounges seem to be holding on.