At Ventura and Fulton, the Oldest Restaurants Made the Biggest Bets of 2026

Every year, Ray Vega wrote a letter to the landlord who owned the land under his restaurant. And every year he asked the same question: would she sell? That's how Los Angeles magazine told the story in May.

His daughter Christy kept writing the letters after she took over running Casa Vega in 2012. Last year she sent the biggest one yet. She was about to put serious money into the property, so she asked for an unbreakable 50-year lease or the chance to buy. According to the same Los Angeles magazine piece, the landlord said yes.

That deal set the tone for this whole corner in 2026. On Ventura Boulevard at Fulton Avenue, the long-running restaurants spent the most money this year, and they spent it on staying. The newer arrivals are filling in around them.

The Patio Ray Vega Wanted

Ray Vega had two dreams for the restaurant he opened at 13301 Ventura Blvd. in 1956. One was owning the property. The other was an outdoor patio. With the landlord's yes in hand, Christy built the patio. The Ray Vega Patio opened in early March. It's the first expansion in the restaurant's history.

Here's what the patio has, based on reporting from Los Angeles magazine and Eater LA:

• About 3,000 square feet behind a set of huge antique doors
• Seating for 100, plus its own 18-seat bar
• Smooth plaster walls, ironwork, gas lamps, and fountains
• A retractable roof with heaters built in, so it works year-round

Those built-in heaters matter right now. Plenty of LA patios close down or empty out by mid-November. This one was built for a chilly Valley evening.

Out front, Casa Vega still has its white exterior and red script sign. Its regulars range from Marlon Brando and Cary Grant years ago to longtime Valley residents today. Christy described the restaurant this way to Los Angeles magazine:

"I always say we're [where] Old Hollywood and Chicano culture come to meet."

The family's restaurant history goes back further than Sherman Oaks. Christy's grandparents opened Café Caliente on Olvera Street in 1936. Twenty years later, their son Ray opened his own place on Ventura Boulevard.

The City Gave the Corner a Name

Two months after the patio opened, the City of Los Angeles made the restaurant's place on the corner official. The City Clerk's file for "Rafael Ray Vega Square" covers permanent ceremonial signs at Ventura Boulevard and Fulton Avenue in Council District 4. Final action is recorded on May 5, 2026.

The Daily News reported that the naming ceremony started at 8:30 that morning in front of Casa Vega. Mayor Karen Bass, Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, and members of the Vega family attended. It kicked off an all-day event called "Casa Vega Legacy Day: A Cinco de Mayo Celebration." Christy told the paper that the name carries the family's name, but the day was "really about honoring my dad," including "what he built, what he stood for."

The anniversary itself fell on Thursday, September 10. For that one day, Casa Vega rolled back prices to 1956: the house combination plate cost $2.15, served from 11:30 a.m. to midnight, Eater LA reported. That deal is over. The patio and the street signs are the parts that last.

Across the Street, a Renovation That Kept the Old Mistral

Mistral sits at 13422 Ventura Blvd., just across from Casa Vega. It went through its own changeover this year, and the owners took the same approach. Henri Abergel opened the French bistro in 1988 and ran it until he retired in 2025. Restaurateur Jonah Freedman, who also owns Greekman's in Silver Lake, took over late that year with business partner and culinary director Josh Migdal.

They kept the menu as it was for several months. Then they closed for a refresh and reopened on August 10. Freedman described the goal to Eater LA as "an homage to the original Mistral rather than just an updated Mistral."

The dining room shows it. It now has custom red leather booths, artwork by French American painter Guy Buffet, glass chandeliers, and warm wood paneling. Here's what came through the renovation and what's new:

Sommelier Julia Djaoui runs the wine list. Matt Epstein, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association, previewed the menu in SOHA's August "Comings & Goings" column. His verdict was that "the soul of the place is intact."

The next piece is planned for next door. Freedman's team is turning the former private dining room into Henri's, a small raw bar named for Abergel, with oysters, cocktails, and both raw and cooked seafood. Freedman told Eater LA he pictures guests having "a cocktail and some oysters over there and then coming next door for their reservation or vice versa."

The Newcomers Are Opening Around the Anchors

With two of the corner's oldest restaurants reinvesting right where they stand, the new businesses are building around them.

The biggest is Fulton Crossing, a two-story retail and office building at 13273 Ventura Blvd. that was completed in 2025. Its listed address is in Studio City, 91604, while Casa Vega's is Sherman Oaks, 91423. Vega Square sits right on the seam between the two neighborhoods, which is why some write-ups put the new building in one and some in the other.

Fulton Crossing's anchor is Blank Street, which opened on August 21. Los Angeles magazine reported it was the New York chain's first West Coast café. The interior takes its cue from LA's Case Study houses, with wood paneling, sage green accents, and silver metal touches. In the August SOHA column, Epstein wrote that the corner "is finally becoming something," and noted the vintage Airstream trailer parked on the corner to mark the development.

Just past Casa Vega, LLAMA Play Studio at 13443 Ventura Blvd. is a play-based art studio for all ages. It offers classes, workshops, open studio time, and evening events for adults. Its current six-week series for ages 7 to 14, "Our Many Ways of Being," meets Thursdays through December 17. Epstein called it "a charming idea for a block that could use more places to simply make something."

None of these businesses compete with the anchors for the same evening. A coffee in the morning, a kids' art class on Thursday afternoon, dinner across the street: they give people more reasons to stop at a corner whose two oldest restaurants just reinvested in place.

One Evening at Vega Square

All of this is within a short walk of the Fulton intersection. If you want to see what changed this year, here's an easy order:

1. Late afternoon at Blank Street, 13273 Ventura Blvd., inside Fulton Crossing.
2. A drink on the Ray Vega Patio at Casa Vega, 13301 Ventura Blvd., under the heated retractable roof.
3. Dinner at Mistral, 13422 Ventura Blvd., where the Caesar and French onion soup are still on the menu next to the new steak frites lineup.

On a Thursday with kids along, swap the coffee stop for LLAMA at 13443 Ventura Blvd. Its series wraps on December 17.

If you keep heading west toward Woodman, Florahound at 13711 Ventura Blvd. is a rare-plant shop built around the work of horticulturist Leon Massoth, in the storefront with the painted front.

If you're curious how the changes at Vega Square fit into the bigger picture for this stretch of Sherman Oaks and Studio City, Michelle and Nicole at Artinian Realty Group are happy to talk it through over coffee at Fulton and Ventura. Let's Connect.