Tadeh Ghazalian woke up Thursday morning and checked Instagram, where he saw a video of a broken water pipe and a deluge of water pouring into the street, right next to his restaurant. Then he noticed the flood of unread text messages and unheard voicemails from friends, family and staff, all concerned about Dialog Café: his popular family business located right around the corner from where a large sinkhole was opening up at a busy Sunset Strip intersection.
“All the water that came out of that line immediately went right into my front door and continued for four or five hours,” he said. “Imagine thousands of pounds of water coming in. At one point, you couldn't even see the ground. It looked like a swimming pool.”
Early Thursday morning, a 110-year-old underground pipe burst, sending 17 million gallons of water across parts of West Hollywood and flooding businesses, homes and garages, and the damage is still being tallied. The large break also caused a sinkhole on Sunset Boulevard and Holloway Drive, resulting in road closures that continue to impact businesses in the area.
Repair crews from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power are installing new pipe and officials said they hope to fully reopen streets on Monday.
But some businesses say repairs could take months before they reopen. Dialog Café, a neighborhood staple since 2007, is one of them.
Armenian immigrants from Italy, couple Rafik and Kenar Ghazalian came to the United States to follow their children, who had moved to Los Angeles, and with the hope of creating a community. They took over a West Hollywood internet cafe and gradually changed the menu and concept to fit a more European model. One of his sons, Tadeh, fell in love with third wave coffee. Although he was an accountant by profession, he began to integrate into the family business and, before his father's death, he took over the business with his brother.
Before the flood, the normally busy Dialog Café often saw full tables and a line of customers surrounding the building.
(Scott Strazzante / for The Times)
In late 2024, the family opened a Sawtelle location of Dialog Cafe, which remains open at 1835 S. Sepulveda Blvd.
When Ghazalian arrived in West Hollywood around 7 a.m. Thursday, he thought he and the staff could simply remove the layers of mud and water from the floor. He then tried to check the basement, where the bathrooms and storage room are located, and found it completely flooded. Now he plans to remove the drywall and rip out the floors completely.
“Everything is destroyed,” he said, “from the walls to the door.”
Last night Ghazalian was unable to properly close the Dialog Cafe. Due to water damage, the now warped rear door would not close; He drilled plywood into the frames to secure the restaurant. The takeout area, where half of its customers pick up their orders, now has no floor: the force of the water removed parts of the sidewalk.
After some outages, Dialog Café got its gas and electricity back on Thursday night, and on Friday used it to provide free coffee, pastries and other goods to crews working to fix the broken water line.
Customers still stop by Dialog Cafe for their usual orders of breakfast burritos, lattes, wraps and biscuits, many of which have gone viral on social media in recent years. It's distressing for Ghazalian to report that the West Hollywood restaurant is closed indefinitely, but the support, he said, has been overwhelming.
“We had one person who literally came up to me, crying and [they] He just gave me a hug,” he said. “I thought, man, this goes beyond coffee and food. It really moves me how important this is to people. “Our family is truly grateful for all the support we have had.”
Customers and other business owners have approached Ghazalian to offer the coffee shop the use of their refrigerators, storage spaces or kitchens.
Some of the best support, Ghazalian said, comes from cheerful comments, which have helped lift spirits. One fan posted: “Lord let the sinkhole take me but not Dialog Cafe!!!!” Hundreds of supportive comments have poured into the restaurant's Instagram page.
Ghazalian said he is considering a temporary relocation of the restaurant during repairs. On Friday, she launched a GoFundMe to raise money that would create an emergency fund for the cafe's roughly 90 staff members, as well as help cover repairs and a possible temporary cafe. He and his team said they want to get back to work.
“I've been at the restaurant for 17 years, where I've worked five or six days a week (18-hour days every day) and I've loved every minute of it,” Ghazalian said. “The fact that this morning I arrived and there was no one here was just strange.”
Even nearby businesses that did not suffer water damage are still affected by the water main break.
Mel's Drive-In, located just a half-mile east and up a hill from the rest stop, saw a 30 to 40% drop in sales Thursday due to road closures in the area, according to co-owner Colton Weiss. On Friday, he said, some of the Sunset Strip and its nearby roads reopened, although as of Friday afternoon business at Mel's was still slower than normal.
“I think people are avoiding the area,” Weiss said. “At least we're open. I feel bad for the businesses that aren't open, because it's a really unfortunate thing that's happened… It's a real disaster.”
