The PUMP Sign Came Down in West Hollywood, and the Brand Is Effectively Finished

Twelve years, two addresses, one rent number that ended it, and a sign coming off a gate on a Monday morning.

Workers removed the PUMP signage from the TomTom Restaurant and Bar building and its front gate on Monday, August 3, ending a dual-brand arrangement that had run for nearly three years. It is a quiet finish for one of the most recognizable restaurant names in West Hollywood.

Ken Todd told TMZ that running two restaurant identities out of the same property had become confusing for customers, and that since the space had always been the TomTom building, they decided to make it solely TomTom again.

How it got here

The timeline is worth laying out, because most coverage collapses it.

• May 2014. PUMP opens at 8948 Santa Monica Boulevard, on the southeast corner of Robertson, as Lisa Vanderpump's third Los Angeles restaurant. She designed the room herself. Penny Davidi was the opening chef. The garden patio, built around century-old olive trees strung with lanterns, became the signature.

• July 2023. The original PUMP closes. Vanderpump and Todd declined to sign another ten-year lease at a sharply increased rent, reported at roughly $80,000 a month. Their statement at the time was blunt: after successfully running more than 37 establishments over many years, this type of rent is untenable.

• August 2023. PUMP moves a few doors down into the Garden Bar beside TomTom at 8932 Santa Monica Boulevard. Vanderpump said the Garden Bar lacked its own identity and that the two brands could coexist offering different experiences. PUMP became the sit-down dining side, TomTom the bar. Menu items, cocktails, the chef and several employees moved over.

• March 2026. The business assets behind TomTom and PUMP are listed for sale through Urbanlime Real Estate and Zacuto Group, covering intellectual property, social media accounts, furniture, fixtures, equipment, goodwill and proprietary operating systems.

• August 2026. The PUMP signs come down.

What happens to TomTom

TomTom remains open under its own name while the buyer search continues. It opened in 2018 with Tom Sandoval and Tom Schwartz as minority partners, both familiar from Vanderpump Rules, and a completed sale would end that partnership. Todd has said he and Vanderpump are also concentrating on their Las Vegas ventures, which include Vanderpump Cocktail Garden at Caesars Palace and Vanderpump a Paris.

KTLA reported that marketing materials pitch the listing as a turnkey business opportunity. Whether a sale means a full ownership transfer or a restructuring has not been made clear.

The corner itself

LA Mag made a point worth repeating when the original closed: that southeast corner of Robertson and Santa Monica has chewed through tenants for decades. Before PUMP it held a Java Detour and, before that, the Voodoo Room tiki lounge. Almost nobody remembers either. PUMP lasted nine years there, which on that corner counts as a long run.

TomTom is at 8932 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA 90069. Confirm hours before visiting, as the business remains on the market.

WEHO Times first reported the signage removal, and LA Mag's farewell to the original location is worth reading for what the room meant.

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