This popular Koreatown restaurant in LA is shutting its doors in June
The closure was announced via a heartfelt Instagram post from Ta on May 6. ' We have closed this restaurant a few painful times,' she wrote. 'You could argue that we ought to be used to it by now, but… No, we are most certainly not. To the best guests in the world, I am so sorry to say: HLAY is closing forever—no take-backs this time.' The shutdown coincides with the end of the restaurant's 10-year lease, and, as Ta notes, the end of her own chapter in the restaurant world.
Opened in 2016, HLAY quickly earned a cult following thanks to its genre-hopping menu—uni panna cotta one day, salsa-negra-crusted frogs' legs the next—and front-of-house warmth that made it feel like the coolest dinner party in town. Whitener, previously chef de cuisine at Animal, brought daring creativity to the kitchen, while Ta, a hospitality veteran, anchored the experience in deep care and community.
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Together, the duo launched All Day Baby in Silver Lake, which closed in late 2024. But it's HLAY that remained their true north, even weathering pandemic-era shutdowns, landlord negotiations, and the heartbreaking loss of Whitener in early 2024.
'Tattoo us lucky that we saw Chef through his skewer era, his chips era… all the elegance, the blood cake and, damn, the sweetbreads,' wrote Ta. 'When I thought HLAY was sure to close last spring, this tiny mighty army has kept it open with immense honor.'
In these final weeks, the restaurant will serve what Ta calls a celebration of 'my favorite living restaurant.' So if you've never made it to this Koreatown gem —or just want one last plate of something unforgettable—you've got until June 13.
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