Union Cattle Co. jumps off
By Dan O'Heron 03/12/2008
The restaurant owners who brought a mechanical bull to Old Pasadena have suffered a hard landing: Union Cattle Co. has closed its doors. Reached by phone at the Union Cattle Co. outlet in Hermosa Beach, co-owner George Collado said that he and his partner, Jed Sanford, had no comment about the surprise closure of the popular restaurant on South DeLacey Avenue.
The business has been purchased by Mark Kim and William Lim, who own the Hill Street CafÈ in La Canada Flintridge. Kim said that by May they plan to open a Japanese and American fusion restaurant called Dena House.
Competing with hundreds of other restaurants in a town of a size that should normally accommodate fewer than 100, Union Cattle stood out from the herd by serving thick steaks and stiff drinks since its opening in June 2005.
Some would say the business was doomed from the start thanks to what appears to be a hex on 42 S. De Lacey Ave., home to five other tenants in the previous 11 years.
Brignole's Gym closed in 1994 following a steroids scandal and accumulation of debt. Jerry's Famous Deli moved in, but closed in May 1999 when the operators of Pause Restaurant gave them a staggering $4.12 million for the property.
Pause, which dubbed itself a "museum restaurant," made a relic of itself after only three months of operation, closing in June 2000. The property stood vacant many months before being sold for an undisclosed sum to the Parker family, which opened the Pasadena Brewing Co.
The Parkers spent big money installing brew tanks and showing off swanky contemporary California cuisine, but quit in August 2004. They sold the place to a new group who reopened the PBC as a sports bar but lasted only a few seasons.
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