Has anyone heard of the new restaurant, Fifteen, in Echo Park?

[Emily227]

It was opened by a friend's BIL. I'm going tonight (I think it just opened?) to meet my friend. I don't know anything about it. Has anyone heard anything?

[geckopark]

I ate there twice. And I think the food is more than great. We had brandade which is a cod, potato kind of spread that you want to take a bath in. The pork belly blt was crazy and the sausage was like something incredible I've dreamt of eating. It's made out of lamb and I can't remember what it's called, but it was dense and spicy. I read posting that really seemed to rip the place a new one and I just couldn't agree more. We all thought the service was excellent and as for calling the wines TJ caliber, heath, well I don't know what Joe's you go to, but the one in Silverlake doesn't have anything like the wines I saw on their list.

[Cubancoffee]

We ate there in mid-October (had a great meal, decent service) and heard straight from the owner's mouth that he was selling the place and closing down the following week. Whatever is there now is not the 15 that any previous reviews critiqued. For some, apparently, that's not a bad thing.

[heathmitch]

We ate at the "new"-15-soon-to-be-Allston-whatever a couple weeks ago, and I'm sorry to say it was truly awful -- tough little short ribs, calamari with a gross dipping sauce (I mean, really, how do you f**k up a simple, soy-and-ginger-based dipping sauce?), a stingy little portion of stringy duck confit, just-OK soup. We ordered more than half the menu, and everything was overwhelmingly just not very good -- halfway through the meal, we were debating whether to leave and finish up with bar snacks at Prado.

15 is/was the only "nice" restaurant we can walk to, and we really tried to love it -- all we want is a walking-distance place with decent food and an interesting wine list to to eat at a couple times a month -- but I have to agree with a previous poster who called the old 15 "mediocre high-end wedding food," and the new 15, sadly, is a step down from that, with the same clueless-to-crappy service in full force.

The wine list, FYI, was pretty much the same TJ-caliber wines 15 used to sell, plus some nice-sounding cocktails -- maybe their bartender knows what he's doing. I hate to be such a jerk, and I take no pleasure in writing a bad review, but with the high caliber of neighborhood bistros in other rapidly-gentrifying neighborhoods -- everywhere in Brooklyn, Portland, Austin, Baltimore, etc. -- it's mystifying to me that Echo Park can't have a decent local restaurant along with its obnoxious hipsters and insane real-estate prices, y'know?

[lotta_cox]

Unfortunately, or fortunately (depending on who you are) our real estate prices are rapidly falling. Have you tried Park? I liked the original 15 when it first opened. They had a green bean salad I still think about. I never found anything on the wine list to enjoy, but always got a good martini.

[Local]

Perhaps all of this is accurate? and does seem to be consistent with the LA Times, Eater LA reports noted above.

In Echo Park, Restaurant 15 has re-opened as more of a small plates and wine bar concept with new owners and a stylish revamp, though within a few weeks the name will change to the Allston Yacht Club. Source: Gayot (Los Angeles Restaurant "News")

[lotta_cox]

I have been many times (I live around the corner) and always love the food. I am distressed at both the idea that they might be closing and at the rumors. I think rumors of this nature keep people from visiting.

[LaLa Eat]

Not rumors-http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/daily...

[lotta_cox]

The "rumors" have been flying about its imminent closure for months. And it still has not changed names. Either way, I will be glad when the changeover occurs once and for all so the informed/uninformed can stop the guessing games.

[alkylyou]

check la.eater.com.
they've updated several times on restaurant15 no longer existing.
alex eusebio (current season of top chef) used to be exec there, but has moved on to catering since it changed hands (saltcatering.com).

[JeMange]

15 is apparently staying open with an abbreviated menu while the place is being converted (according to another site), which makes me wonder why they keep the old website up. Ate there twice and enjoyed the food, but service - as you can see by reviews here and elsewhere - was often atrocious - servers were both clueless and surly. Apparently, the place is becoming a wine bar, which seems to be the way of things theses days. Two years ago, you couldn't get a decent slice of pizza or a decent glass of wine (aside from Cafe Stella, maybe) in this part of town. Now, we're suffering from something of a glut.

[Vaya Con Carne]

Uh oh - I was supposed to be headed there this weekend. I had heard it reopened, changed names and chefs, but was similar to the place known as 15.

[Vaya Con Carne]

Is it still Fifteen, or is it something Yacht Club now? I had heard there was a name change. Wonder if the menu is similar?

[Emily227]

I'm fairly certain it is still called Restaurant 15. See the website above. According to my friend (who lives in Portland but is here this weekend to go to the restaurant), it is called 15.

[annalulu]

That's the old website, not updates since 9/28. Doesn't mean they aren't keeping the name, but I thought there would be some menu changes at least. It's been open almost a year, I thought.

[Emily227]

Just found this website:
http://www.restaurant15.com/

[rickym13]

thought they closed? are they open?

[Emily227]

Perhaps they are re-opening? My friend made it sound like this was an opening of sorts, so I thought it was brand new. I will report back after tonight.