TV Restaurants

What Happened to The Gorbals After Best Thing I Ever Ate?

Closed verified

As of September 2026, The Gorbals has closed — confirmed via Yelp, August 2026.

Primary source
Yelp ·
Secondary source
bkmag.com ·

Last verified

What the source shows: Yelp's listing for The Gorbals was marked closed as of an August 2026 update, and BKMAG reported in a 2016 interview with chef Ilan Hall that the restaurant had already closed by then.

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What happened after Best Thing I Ever Ate?

Best Thing I Ever Ate (Food Network) featured a dish from The Gorbals in the show's 'Finger Food' episode. Chef Ilan Hall, winner of Top Chef's second season, opened The Gorbals in downtown Los Angeles on August 28, 2009, at 216 West 5th Street, serving Scottish-Jewish-inspired small plates. According to BKMAG, which interviewed Hall on 2016-02-18 about his new restaurant Esh in Brooklyn, The Gorbals had already closed by that point. Yelp's listing for The Gorbals remained marked closed as of an August 2026 update. Hall went on to open a second Gorbals location in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in 2014, according to Wikipedia.

Featured on Best Thing I Ever Ate

Season / episode
Season 5, Episode 11
Original air date
Not confirmed
Episode title
Finger Food
What was featured
a finger-food dish from The Gorbals' menu, in Best Thing I Ever Ate's 'Finger Food' episode
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
The Gorbals

Frequently asked questions

Is The Gorbals still open in 2026?

As of September 2026, The Gorbals has closed — confirmed via Yelp, August 2026.

What happened to The Gorbals after Best Thing I Ever Ate?

Best Thing I Ever Ate (Food Network) featured a dish from The Gorbals in the show's 'Finger Food' episode. As of September 2026, The Gorbals has closed — confirmed via Yelp, August 2026.

Is The Gorbals permanently closed?

As of September 2026, The Gorbals has closed — confirmed via Yelp, August 2026. We publish a closure only with a dated source behind it, and we say plainly when it has not been independently confirmed.

Where is The Gorbals located?

216 W 5th St, Los Angeles, CA 90013. That is the address on the record as of September 7, 2026.

What season and episode of Best Thing I Ever Ate featured The Gorbals?

Season 5, Episode 11 of Best Thing I Ever Ate. The episode is titled “Finger Food”.

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Visit info

Address
216 W 5th St, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Venue type
restaurant
Official website
None found

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Sources

  • Yelp — https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-gorbals-los-angeles
  • bkmag.com — https://www.bkmag.com/2016/02/18/goodbye-gorbals-talking-with-chef-ilan-hall-about-the-opening-of-esh/
  • Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilan_Hall

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Record btiea-0486 · last verified .