According to California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control records dated February 25, 2026, a new entity, BR Los Angeles LLC, managed by JEDL Restaurants LLC and listing Johan Engman as a member, has filed for a Type 47 On-Sale General Eating Place license at 5930 York Boulevard in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. The license remains pending as of February 24.
The address sits in the heart of one of LA’s trendier dining corridors. A recent Instagram post from Urban Lime Real Estate celebrated the lease at 5924–5930 York Blvd, describing it as a “second-generation restaurant space” surrounded by Highland Park Bowl, Hippo, and Café de Leche.
The move signals continued Southern California expansion for Breakfast Republic, even as the brand’s hometown of San Diego tells a more complicated story. In San Diego, the past two years have been defined less by growth and more by retrenchment.
Breakfast Republic locations in Hillcrest, La Jolla, and Carmel Valley have closed. The Carmel Valley location, which operated for nearly a decade, shuttered in September 2024. The Hillcrest outpost quietly went dark in 2025. Other Rise & Shine concepts have disappeared entirely, including El Jardin in Liberty Station and Como Ceviche in East Village, once heavily promoted projects that no longer exist. The Fig Tree Café in Mission Valley, Hillcrest and East Village also closed.
More concerning were repeated forced closures by San Diego County health inspectors. In October 2025, the original North Park Breakfast Republic location was ordered closed due to a “major” vermin violation. In December 2025, the East Village branch was also shut down after inspectors documented a major vermin infestation along with additional sanitation failures. This also occurred at the Pacific Beach outpost in late 2024.
Health officials do not designate “major” vermin lightly; the classification indicates active infestation posing a direct food safety risk. The recurrence of such violations across multiple locations raised questions within the local restaurant community about operational oversight and whether the group’s rapid expansion model had begun to strain internal controls.
Despite these setbacks, Breakfast Republic still lists multiple operating locations across Southern California, including Encinitas, Ocean Beach, Liberty Station, Mission Valley, Pacific Beach, Scripps Ranch, Irvine, Costa Mesa, Palm Desert, Culver City, Long Beach, Echo Park and others. The Highland Park filing suggests Engman is betting that the LA market remains fertile ground, even as his San Diego footprint contracts.
Expansion into Los Angeles is not new territory for Engman. Breakfast Republic already operates in Echo Park and Culver City. The York Boulevard location appears to deepen that investment at a time when some San Diego observers have described the brand as being in strategic retreat locally.
Johan Engman once represented one of San Diego’s most ambitious restaurateurs. The first Fig Tree Café opened in 2008, and Breakfast Republic launched in North Park in 2015, quickly scaling to nearly 20 locations at its peak. The company received national media praise and became synonymous with San Diego’s boozy brunch boom.
But aggressive growth has come with volatility. Over the past several years, Rise & Shine Hospitality Group has closed or restructured multiple concepts. Several once-celebrated projects now exist only in press archives.
The pending Los Angeles license raises a central question: Is Breakfast Republic entering a new chapter of disciplined expansion or doubling down on a growth strategy that has already shown signs of strain? As of publication, neither Engman nor Rise & Shine Hospitality Group has publicly commented on the York Boulevard filing.
What is clear is this: while San Diego has watched multiple locations shutter and inspectors lock doors, Breakfast Republic is preparing to serve pancakes 120 miles north. Whether Los Angeles gets the polished brand once promised in North Park, or inherits the operational challenges that have surfaced more recently, remains to be seen.
Despite these setbacks, Breakfast Republic still lists multiple operating locations across Southern California, including Encinitas, Ocean Beach, Liberty Station, Mission Valley, Pacific Beach, Scripps Ranch, Irvine, Costa Mesa, Palm Desert, Culver City, Long Beach, Echo Park and others. The Highland Park filing suggests Engman is betting that the LA market remains fertile ground, even as his San Diego footprint contracts.
Expansion into Los Angeles is not new territory for Engman. Breakfast Republic already operates in Echo Park and Culver City. The York Boulevard location appears to deepen that investment at a time when some San Diego observers have described the brand as being in strategic retreat locally.
Johan Engman once represented one of San Diego’s most ambitious restaurateurs. The first Fig Tree Café opened in 2008, and Breakfast Republic launched in North Park in 2015, quickly scaling to nearly 20 locations at its peak. The company received national media praise and became synonymous with San Diego’s boozy brunch boom.
But aggressive growth has come with volatility. Over the past several years, Rise & Shine Hospitality Group has closed or restructured multiple concepts. Several once-celebrated projects now exist only in press archives.
The pending Los Angeles license raises a central question: Is Breakfast Republic entering a new chapter of disciplined expansion or doubling down on a growth strategy that has already shown signs of strain? As of publication, neither Engman nor Rise & Shine Hospitality Group has publicly commented on the York Boulevard filing.
What is clear is this: while San Diego has watched multiple locations shutter and inspectors lock doors, Breakfast Republic is preparing to serve pancakes 120 miles north. Whether Los Angeles gets the polished brand once promised in North Park, or inherits the operational challenges that have surfaced more recently, remains to be seen.
Originally published on February 24, 2026.