What BESTIA LLC does

Bestia is a privately held, single-location Italian-inspired fine dining restaurant operating from a converted warehouse at 2121 E 7th Place in downtown Los Angeles. Founded in 2012 by Chef Ori Menashe and pastry chef Genevieve Gergis, the restaurant serves dinner only from 5pm to 11pm, seven days a week, with a menu built around wood-fired cooking, handmade pastas, seasonal sourcing, craft cocktails, and an extensive wine program. The 27-person operation generates revenue from four streams: dine-in service (primary), private events and buyouts (9–25 guest terrace dinners and full/partial restaurant buyouts), daytime lunch buyouts, and gift card sales through Toasttab. Reservations are managed via OpenTable, and a 4% employee wellness service charge ("Healthy LA") is added to each check to fund health benefits for full-time staff. The restaurant has no proprietary technology and relies on standard WordPress, OpenTable, and Toasttab integrations. Marketing is predominantly organic (Instagram, Facebook, email newsletter) plus earned press and word-of-mouth.

Bestia's broader group, founded and operated by Menashe, Gergis, and Director of Operations/business partner Leah Bunch, has expanded over a decade to three concepts: Bestia (2012), Bavel (2018), and Saffy's (June 2022). The ownership structure is founder-controlled with no institutional investment, private equity, or parent company involvement disclosed. The business model is asset-light in the sense of zero proprietary software or data moats, with competitive advantage concentrated in chef talent, brand equity earned since 2012, and a physically distinctive converted-warehouse dining room (exposed brick, steel beams, fig-lined courtyard, open kitchen, covered heated terrace). Customer segments span upscale fine-dining guests, casual bar patrons, and event hosts (corporate, birthdays, business lunches), with no named enterprise accounts and highly distributed consumer demand.

Name

BESTIA LLC

Legal name

Bestia

Website

https://bestiala.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Bestia is a privately held Italian fine dining restaurant founded in 2012 in a converted downtown Los Angeles warehouse, serving upscale dinner-only service, private events, and gift card sales to fine-dining guests, bar patrons, and event hosts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Italian Fine Dining Restaurant

NAICS

Full-Service Restaurants (722511)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Fine Dining Restaurants (THAFACAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Special Occasion & Destination Restaurants (THAFACAK)

Keywords

• Italian fine dining
• Wood-fired cooking
• Private event buyouts
• Craft cocktail program
• Seasonal Italian menu

Headquarters

HQ city

TORRANCE, California

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Dine-in service: Revenue generated from customers dining at the restaurant, purchasing food, beverages, cocktails, and wine. This represents the primary revenue stream for the restaurant.
2. Private events and buyouts: Revenue from hosting large group dinners (9-25 guests on outdoor terrace) and full or partial restaurant buyouts for private events such as corporate events, birthday parties, and business lunches.
3. Lunch buyouts: Revenue from private lunch events when the restaurant is not open to the public during daytime hours.
4. Gift card sales: Revenue from gift card sales processed through Toasttab platform.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Bestia is an Italian-inspired fine dining restaurant in Los Angeles serving a seasonal menu of wood-fired dishes, handmade pastas and pizzas, craft cocktails, and wines in a converted warehouse space. Beyond standard dine-in service, the restaurant hosts private group dinners (9–25 guests) on its covered heated outdoor terrace and offers full or partial restaurant buyouts for corporate events, birthday parties, and business lunches. Ancillary offerings include gift cards, a corkage service, and outside dessert handling.

Product overview

Bestia is a single-location Italian-inspired fine dining restaurant in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 2012 by Chef Ori Menashe and pastry chef Genevieve Gergis, the restaurant operates as a converted warehouse featuring an open kitchen, seasonal menu with wood-fired cooking emphasis, craft cocktails, and an extensive wine program. The core dining experience is supported by sub-products including the seasonal menu, private event services (terrace dining for 9-25 guests, full/partial buyouts), corkage service, gift cards, and OpenTable-powered reservations. Bestia also operates sister restaurants Bavel (opened 2018) and Saffy's (opened 2022) alongside business partner Leah Bunch.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Bestia Restaurant Dine-in Experience Italian-inspired fine dining restaurant in Los Angeles featuring wood-fired cooking, a seasonal menu, craft cocktails, and an extensive wine program, operating in a converted warehouse space with an open kitchen and outdoor heated terrace.
• Seasonal Dining Menu Seasonal Italian-inspired menu featuring wood-fired dishes, handmade pizzas, pastas, and desserts, with bold yet balanced flavors using locally sourced ingredients.
• Private Events and Buyouts Event hosting services including large group dinners (9–25 guests) on the covered heated outdoor terrace, full or partial restaurant buyouts for groups over 25, and daytime private events such as corporate functions, birthday parties, and business lunches.
• Corkage Service Wine service allowing guests to bring their own bottles with a $50 corkage fee per 750ml bottle (2 bottle limit) or $100 per bottle larger than 750ml (1 bottle limit).
• Bestia Gift Cards Gift cards available for purchase through the Toasttab platform for use at the restaurant.
• OpenTable Reservation Service Table reservation service powered by OpenTable for booking dine-in seating at the restaurant.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• OpenTablecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOpenTable serves as the restaurant's primary reservation platform, allowing customers to book dining reservations directly through the restaurant's website and the OpenTable network.
• ToasttabminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorToasttab provides the platform for selling restaurant gift cards, enabling customers to purchase gift cards for the restaurant online.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• OpenTable: Reservation platform that is both a distribution partner and a key demand-aggregation channel for Bestia. Industry-enabling technology provider whose penetration trends shape fine-dining traffic patterns relevant to Bestia's GTM.
• Toast (Toasttab): POS and gift-card platform powering Bestia's gift card revenue stream. Relevant ecosystem dependency for Bestia's e-commerce and operations infrastructure.

Regional players

• Jon & Vinny's: Multi-unit Italian-American concept by Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo with multiple LA locations. Comparable Italian food, broader price accessibility, and similar downtown/LA customer base; demonstrates the scale potential within Bestia's category.

Direct peers

• Pizzeria Mozza: Nancy Silverton's Italian restaurant in LA where Menashe also trained. Comparable upscale-casual Italian concept in the same metro with wood-fired cooking and Italian craft cocktails, sharing labor pool and customer base with Bestia.
• Osteria La Buca: LA Italian restaurant offering handmade pastas and wood-fired meats in a converted industrial space. Comparable Italian-craft positioning and atmosphere-driven dining experience in the same metro.
• Saffy's: Third restaurant in the founders' group, opened June 2022 in LA, focused on Middle Eastern/Israeli cuisine. Same operational playbook, reservation systems, and ownership — directly comparable unit economics.
• Bavel: Sister restaurant opened in 2018 by the same founders (Menashe, Gergis, Bunch) in downtown LA, offering Middle Eastern cuisine. Same ownership, operating model, and hospitality philosophy — the most direct comparison point for Bestia's P&L and brand leverage.
• République: Iconic LA fine-dining destination in a historic building with a celebrity chef (Walter Manzke). Comparable atmosphere-driven positioning, full-service French-California menu, similar check average and event business in the same metro.
• Angelini Osteria: Long-standing Beverly Hills Italian fine-dining restaurant where Ori Menashe was chef de cuisine for four years under Gino Angelini. Same cuisine category, same LA market, similar price point — most comparable single-unit Italian operator.
• Mother Wolf: Italian fine-dining concept by Evan Funke in downtown LA. Most directly comparable new-generation Italian competitor in the same neighborhood with similar wood-fired Italian focus and price point.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/BestiaDTLA
• Instagraminstagram.com/bestiadtla
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bestia-llc

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about BESTIA LLC