Just in time for the remainder of FIFA’s 2026 World Cup tournament comes Pawn Shop, a sleek new sports bar and restaurant in Hollywood that opened on June 26. Pawn Shop has some notable backers, including James Beard Award–winning chef Tony Messina, a who’s
who of local sports talent, and a big-name billionaire. Stationed on Melrose slightly west of Vine Street inside a historic building, Pawn Shop arrives in Los Angeles as an expansive, two-level space spread across 7,808 square feet with a 50-seat bar, along with 53 television screens and two video walls.
Pawn Shop’s best local comparison may be the Los Angeles Athletic Club, Downtown’s privately owned athletic and social club — without the membership requirements and with a more modern menu. Its founders include developer Diego Torres-Palma along with investors such as Olympian and Angel City FC captain Ali Riley, former NBA star Chandler Parsons, Los Angeles Dodgers president of operations Andrew Friedman, and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. “We’re building a sports bar that the people of LA deserve,” says Torres-Palma.
Pawn Shop is Messina’s first standalone restaurant since relocating to Los Angeles from the East Coast. He introduced a bit of Boston to its menu with a reimagined Polynesian–New England pu pu platter stacked with deep-fried pork spare ribs, beef teriyaki, crab rangoon, coconut shrimp, chicken fingers, chicken wings, and egg rolls, an homage to his hometown. (Before joining the Pawn Shop team, Messina stepped away from his Boston restaurant Uni and moved to Los Angeles in 2021.) The menu also features dishes such as aged hiramasa crudo, beef tallow fries, a burger and hot dog topped with caviar, charred cabbage, hanger steak frites, a shellfish tower, pickle-brined fried chicken in a bucket, and branzino.
New York barman Jason Kilgore (Dutch Kills) concocted Pawn Shop’s drinks lineup. The names are playful, starting with a nod to the classic film Boogie Nights in the Amber Waves, which mixes blanco tequila, pandan, passion fruit, and coconut with sparkling wine. Major League Baseball fans might go for the Matsuda with sake, Tanqueray, mango brandy, Cocchi Americano, and Benedictine. Wines are available, as well as beer and cider that hail from Torres-Palma’s Lincoln Heights brewery, Benny Boy Brewing.
Omgivning, an architectural firm, converted the almost century-old building, which previously housed the 40-year-old shuttered pawn shop Brothers Collateral. In addition to the ground-floor bar and booths, the upstairs has seven private suites available to book that look onto the first floor. The design team kept a balance between old and new by preserving the original brick walls, the front facade, and the bow truss roof, while adding wood that complements the latter as well as aged woods and metals. Walls have been adorned with art curated by Sports And The Arts, featuring classic sports-celebrity photography and a mural representing the region with a colorful dedication to the University of Southern California, UCLA, the Rams, Chargers, and the Tournament of Roses. At its full capacity, Pawn Shop can seat 428 people.
The new sports bar’s timing seems ideal, given Los Angeles is a host city for the World Cup, the forthcoming 2028 Olympics, and next year’s Super Bowl. Los Angeles has seen more high-capacity, high-tech sports bars, like Inglewood’s Cosm and Downtown’s Tom’s Watch Bar, but Pawn Shop takes the luxurious factor to a level that matches even some of Las Vegas’s best sportsman lounges. The bar has committed to supporting local youth teams like the Wilshire Warriors, part of a community-based, non-profit baseball league.
“I’ve been wicked psyched about everything,” says Messina. “Everyone’s saying they’re happy we’re doing something different, especially the pu pu platter that is classic New England. It’s bar food done really well.”
Pawn Shop is open from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday to Wednesday, and until midnight Thursday through Saturday at 5901 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, CA, 90038. Starting next week, Pawn Shop will open at 11 a.m. and will show all World Cup matches. Secure a table via OpenTable.
