Lisa Vanderpump’s Pump Restaurant & Lounge in West Hollywood is closing its doors after 10 years of business on July 5.
“It’s with heavy hearts that we announce that the lease at Pump Restaurant is expiring,” Vanderpump told E! News on Thursday.
The “Vanderpump Rules” star explained that they had previously signed a 10-year lease, but when it came time to renew, the price had increased too significantly, and it wasn’t “something we are ready to commit to.”
“After successfully running 37+ establishments for many years, this type of rent is untenable,” she continued.
Vanderpump, 62, didn’t specify how much the rent would increase, but sources told TMZ that it would cost $1 million a year to lease the space.
However, Pump’s landlord denied both the source and Vanderpump’s claims, telling Pvnew that it is “not accurate.”
“We did not raise the rent and in fact have been nothing but supportive as they tried to catch up on lease obligations including forgiving some rent during Covid,” the landlord claimed.
Vanderpump didn’t immediately return Pvnew’s request for comment.
Villa Blanca – another one of Vanderpump’s beloved restaurants – also had to close in 2020 because of heightened rent.
“Thank you for the past decade of support, we have loved our staff, our patrons and our time together,” Vanderpump told her fans.
The “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” alum previously gave fans an inside look at creating the business from the ground up on “Vanderpump Rules.”
She also opened Tom Tom with Tom Sandoval and Tom Schwartz — who used to work at her other restaurant and bar SUR — a few doors down from Pump in 2018.
Both Tom Tom and SUR appear to still be going strong — so much so that Sandoval and Schwartz, both 40, opened a new bar and lounge called Schwartz & Sandys.
The “Vanderpump Rules” stars faced several challenges while opening the restaurant without Vanderpump, but they eventually opened their doors in November 2022.
Not too long after starting to serve customers, fans began boycotting the lounge when Sandoval’s affair with Raquel Leviss was exposed on March 3.
The restaurant asked fans to “take into consideration” that there are more employees that work there who “have had nothing to do with this unfortunate situation.”
Schwartz & Sandy’s has not shared an Instagram post since then.
