Editor's note: A previous version of this article erroneously reported the City Council on Tuesday approved the terms of a lease with the California Roadhouse.

By Jorge Casuso

April 15, 2026 -- The City Council Tuesday night directed staff to continue negotiations over a lease agreement with the California Roadhouse that includes rehiring all former employees at a City-owned site on the Pier.

The verbal offer by the leaseholder -- which must be incorporated into the final agreement the Council is expected to approve in open session -- would end a six-month standoff over the space vacated after Rusty's Surf Ranch shut down amid a unionizing effort.

The seemingly routine item approving the "price and terms of payment" for the lease had been held up since October 20, when the Santa Monica Pier Corporation voted to recommend that the Council lease the space to the Roadhouse.

In the ensuing months, UNITE HERE Local 11 -- the hospitality workers union that was organizing the previous tenant's workers at the site -- mounted a campaign that included demonstrations, legal threats and at least one meeting with top City officials.

The drama played out as the pro-labor City Council delayed approving a union-backed "labor peace agreement" that required businesses on City-owned property, including the Pier, to remain neutral during organizing efforts.

The proposed ordinance -- which also required the employers to offer open positions to laid off workers -- was met with stiff opposition from nearly three dozen local businesses, who called it "unnecessary and harmful" ("Businesses Warn Pro-Union Ordinance Could 'Destroy' Pier's Character," August 22, 2025).

"Santa Monica restaurants, hotels and local businesses are struggling with rising costs and customer decline," the businesses wrote in a letter to top City officials. "We have not rebounded since the pandemic and in fact, 2025 has been the hardest year yet."

With no notice or explanation, the ordinance proposed on July 8 by Councilmembers Caroline Torosis, Ellis Raskin and Jessie Zwick failed to appear on the Council's September agenda, as scheduled.

On October 20, the Pier Board approved the Leasing Committee's recommendation to select the California Roadhouse for the lease at 256 Santa Monica Pier and forward the recommendation to City staff.

One month later, on November 19, UNITE HERE announced it had filed a formal complaint alleging the Board violated the Brown Act when it acted on the California Roadhouse lease without giving proper notice.

"The complaint demands that the Pier Corporation cure and correct its violations by rescinding the actions," union officials wrote in a press release. "If the Corporation fails to act within 30 days, the organization may seek judicial invalidation of the actions taken."

The press release noted that "earlier this year, Rusty’s Surf Ranch, a longtime fixture on the Santa Monica Pier, abruptly closed its doors.

"This closure left devoted workers, some with more than a decade of service, suddenly unemployed," the union wrote.

"Workers have been taking action and speaking out at The Santa Monica City Council and the City Manager about working to ensure these workers are not left behind if a new tenant moves in."

On December 11, the union intensified its public pressure during a seasonal posada that made its first stop "at the shuttered Rusty’s (on the) Santa Monica Pier, where the community will call on the city to ensure that fired workers have an opportunity to return to work."

Four days later, on December 15, the Pier Board rescinded its formal action taken at the October 20 meeting and voted again to approve the Leasing Committee's recommendation to select the Roadhouse.

On January 27, the City Council took up the Roadhouse lease during the closed session before approving a scaled-back version of the long awaited labor ordinance in the public part of the meeting.

The measure's dramatically reduced scope did not include a union-backed "labor peace agreement" that requires employers to remain neutral during organizing efforts.

It did, however, include a provision that requires hospitality businesses on the Pier and nearby hotels on City-owned property to offer open positions to laid off workers ("Council Approves Narrowed Labor Policy," February 2, 2026).

The provision did not apply to the Roadhouse, which had entered into negotiations with the City long before the ordinance was approved.

The Council took up the lease again in closed session at its meetings on February 24 and March 10, before finally taking action in Tuesday night's closed session.

Before the meeting, City Manager Oliver Chi and City Attorney Heidi von Tongeln met with Unite HERE representatives, who "requested a meeting to provide their feedback regarding lease details," Chi told The Lookout.

"Pursuant to that request, the City Attorney and I met with representatives from Unite Here to hear their perspectives," Chi wrote in an April 1 email.

"Of note, we did not seek or consult with Unite Here regarding the proposed California Roadhouse lease terms," Chi added.