The plant-based Hart House Hollywood opens Tuesday on Sunset and Highland, complete with a drive-thru in an old McDonald’s
Actor Kevin Hart is preparing to make a big statement on one of LA’s busiest fast-food stretches. On Tuesday, May 23, Hart House opens its flagship location on the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Highland Avenue, with a fast-food plant-based menu and drive-thru.
In a moment where some conclude that Angelenos are shying away from plant-based dining, Hart House CEO Andy Hooper’s vision is clear. “This is no accident,” says Hooper. “[Opening] on the corner of Sunset and Highland, across the street from Hollywood High School, adjacent to a Chick-fil-A, a couple 100 yards from an In-N-Out, [and inside] a former McDonald’s building is about as emblematic as you can get of our aspiration to be the future of quick service restaurants.”
Hart House isn’t going for subtlety. While construction at the Hollywood outlet was still underway, a sign read, “We’re open Sundays.” This was a shot across the bow at Chick-fil-A, which closes one day every week. The Hart House team reworked a shuttered McDonald’s into a modern fast-food den with white and green colors, a drive-thru, 24-seat dining room, and a 16-seat patio. Hart House Hollywood serves plant-based chicken sandwiches, nuggets, and burgers that range from $5.99 to $7.99, and combo meals that are well under $15. Not a single Beyond or Impossible patty is found, as Hart House developed its own proprietary patties.
This is the third location for Hart House with the first and barely one-year-old Westchester outlet and one in Monrovia which opened in November 2022. There’s a fourth Hart House coming that will service USC and the California Science Center. The opening date is TBD.
Hollywood’s vegan restaurant field is a fairly competitive one with two established locations for Veggie Grill. San Diego chain Plant Power Past Food near the Paramount studio lot is less than two miles away from Hart’s newcomer, plus there’s Doomie’s, the Gray Zebra, and Mr. Charlie’s. Shake Shack recently dipped a toe into the plant-based market by introducing three permanent additions to the menu: a vegan burger, shake, and frozen custard.
Source: la.eater.com
