What Happened to Pips on La Brea After Mystery Diners? (Los Angeles, CA)
Mystery Diners, Season 2 Los Angeles, California
Current status
As of October 2026, Pips on La Brea has closed — confirmed via Google, September 8, 2026.
What the source shows: A Google Places record lists the restaurant's business status as permanently closed, and its former domain now hosts an unrelated event site as of a September 2026 check. How we decide a status →
- Episode Season 2, Episode 3
- Aired
- Address 1356 S La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90019
- Website pipsonlabrea.com
- Show map
© OpenStreetMap contributors © CARTO
About this show's format: Described as staged/scripted by Wikipedia's article, citing a 2012 realityblurred.com report. Surface this note on every record.
What happened after Mystery Diners?
In the Mystery Diners episode "Getting a Leg Up," which aired November 2, 2012, owner Derrick of Pips on La Brea in Los Angeles, according to the episode's synopsis, had kept a former waiter on staff as a host after the employee threatened legal action, and Derrick came to suspect the employee was faking a leg injury to draw a paycheck without doing the work. Charles Stiles's investigators, including Tracy Pendergast and Shellene Reese, went undercover; Pendergast posed as a customer in visible distress to test whether the employee, identified as Bob, would break from his claimed injury to help her. The setup caught Bob failing to maintain the injury, and Derrick was advised to confront him with the footage and remove him from the payroll rather than keep accommodating the claim.
Derrick fired Bob on camera. According to the episode, Pips finished a relaunch afterward and business improved. Wikipedia's article on Mystery Diners notes, citing its sources, that the show carries an on-screen disclaimer stating some events may be staged or re-enacted for dramatic purposes, and that a television critic has described its scenarios and performances as implausible. A Google Places record checked in September 2026 lists Pips on La Brea's business status as permanently closed, and its former website, pipsonlabrea.com, no longer references the restaurant, instead hosting an unrelated community festival page as of the same check.
The episode
Also in Season 2
Season 2: 6 of 13 still open
- Closed
-
Ep 2La Traviata
Open - Closed
-
Ep 5Pina Pizza House
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Ep 6Ca'Brea
Closed -
Ep 7Parma
Closed -
Ep 8Whiskey Dick's
Closed -
Ep 9Rhythm Kitchen
Closed
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Before you go: Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.
Sources we checked
- imdb.com https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2494436/
- Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_Diners
- pipsonlabrea.com http://www.pipsonlabrea.com/
- Google https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=Pips+on+La+Brea+1356+S+La+Brea+Ave+Los+Angeles+CA
We work hard to keep every status accurate and dated, but restaurants change fast and our sources aren't perfect. If something here is wrong — a status, a name, an address, anything — tell us what you're seeing and where you saw it, and we'll check it.
Record md-011 · checked by Cal Marchetti.