Pawn Shop looks to become Los Angeles’ clubhouse for sports fans as football season arrives

LOS ANGELES — When Diego Torres-Palma envisioned Pawn Shop, the new sports bar and restaurant on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, he wasn't interested in simply putting televisions on the walls, serving wings and calling it a sports bar.

He wanted to create something closer to a clubhouse — a place where sports, food, hospitality and media could intersect in a city that will be at the center of the sports world over the next several years.

Pawn Shop opened June 26 inside the longtime home of Brothers Collateral Pawn Shop at 5901 Melrose Avenue, transforming the historic 1930s building into a 7,808-square-foot sports destination featuring a 48-seat bar, 53 screens, two video walls and seven stadium-style private mezzanine suites.Torres-Palma, the founder and CEO of Pawn Shop, spent years developing the concept. But even he wasn't quite prepared for what happened when the doors finally opened during the World Cup.

"Honestly, it was insane," Torres-Palma said.

Before opening to the public, Pawn Shop had held six soft openings, with its largest crowd reaching roughly 200 people. Once the World Cup crowds arrived, that number quickly doubled.

"All of a sudden we were having 400 people," Torres-Palma said. "I mean, there was a line every day."

The private suites sold out multiple times during the tournament, while television crews descended on the restaurant for live shots. Torres-Palma said the attention gave Pawn Shop immediate momentum and, more importantly, confirmed his belief that there was an appetite in Los Angeles for the type of sports experience he was attempting to build.

Now comes what Torres-Palma considers the real test.

Football season.

"I think during football season is really where we'll finally showcase what Pawn Shop is really about in a really amazing way, just because of the numbers of TVs and the hospitality," Torres-Palma said. "We really want to hit football. We're more excited about football. We like the rivalry."

The distinction is important to Torres-Palma. During the knockout rounds of the World Cup, there was generally one match commanding everyone's attention. Football Saturdays and Sundays are different. With dozens of college and NFL games unfolding throughout the day, Pawn Shop's 53 screens allow fans of different teams to watch their games in the same building without the restaurant having to choose one or two games for everyone.

"That's when we really shine," Torres-Palma said. "We can have four different games on all at the same time, all in one venue. We can show literally every single game."

That approach extends to the early kickoffs that are a fact of life for West Coast sports fans. Torres-Palma said morning sports were part of Pawn Shop's plans long before it opened. While working through the restaurant's liquor license, he pointed to early World Cup matches along with college football and European soccer as reasons Pawn Shop needed the ability to open in the morning.

With college football and the NFL arriving, the restaurant has launched a brunch menu featuring blueberry pancakes, avocado toast, blueberry crumble cake and a breakfast pizza. James Beard Award-winning chef Tony Messina, a partner in Pawn Shop and the former executive chef at Uni in Boston, oversees the kitchen and has also developed an English breakfast for Premier League mornings.The regular menu takes a more ambitious approach to traditional sports-bar food, with items including hot dogs topped with osetra caviar and Japanese mayonnaise, charbroiled oysters with XO butter, sticky pork spareribs and a dry-aged 40-ounce tomahawk.

Pawn Shop is also beginning to establish relationships with fan bases and teams throughout Los Angeles. Torres-Palma said the Michigan alumni association has been particularly proactive about making Pawn Shop a gathering place, while USC has also expressed interest.

The professional football allegiances may prove more complicated.

Torres-Palma is a Rams season-ticket holder, but he said approximately 15 members of the Chargers front office toured Pawn Shop and have discussed ways of making the restaurant a destination for Chargers fans.

"They want this to actually be a Chargers bar, not a Rams bar, which is so fun," Torres-Palma said.

Rather than declaring the restaurant exclusively aligned with one team, Torres-Palma wants to work with organizations on experiences ranging from ticket giveaways to signed memorabilia while keeping Pawn Shop primarily Los Angeles-centric.

Fantasy football is another major part of the restaurant's football push. Pawn Shop partnered with TrophySmack, which creates customized championship belts and trophies, and is marketing its seven private suites as fantasy draft rooms. Each suite has two televisions, Wi-Fi and the ability for guests to connect their computers to the screens, with draft-day packages also available.

The suites also fit into Torres-Palma's larger ambition for Pawn Shop to become a gathering place for the sports media industry. Radio stations have discussed broadcasting live from the restaurant during Dodgers games, while podcasts have already recorded there.

"The vision was to become like a clubhouse for sports, and media is a part of that layer," Torres-Palma said. "We're starting to see a lot of that naturally happen, which is great."

Torres-Palma has some prominent supporters helping amplify that vision. Pawn Shop's investor group includes Mark Cuban, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, television producer Michael Davies, former Angel City FC captain and Olympian Ali Riley and former NBA player Chandler Parsons.

Cuban's involvement, in particular, has generated attention well beyond Los Angeles. Torres-Palma said some coverage has characterized Pawn Shop as "Mark Cuban's bar," and visitors have arrived specifically because they heard Cuban was involved.

"Mark's honestly been the best," Torres-Palma said. "From just a pure megaphone and just trying to help something he invested in, he's honestly been tremendous."

Torres-Palma said Cuban has shared Pawn Shop content on social media and the two communicate regularly about the business. Cuban had not yet visited when Torres-Palma spoke with The Sporting Tribune, but Torres-Palma said a visit was being planned, along with a potential podcast appearance at Pawn Shop with renowned sports photographer Andrew Bernstein.The first two months have also provided lessons.

Torres-Palma quickly discovered that sports fans aren't accustomed to making reservations at sports bars. Pawn Shop's popularity during the World Cup occasionally left walk-up customers outside while the venue operated near capacity. The restaurant also learned that customers wanted game audio turned on more often than Torres-Palma initially expected, even for regular-season games.

There were the usual opening challenges as well. It took roughly two weeks to fully stock the bar, a process complicated by World Cup crowds consuming inventory almost as quickly as it arrived. Handling crowds of roughly 400 people also helped management determine which employees thrived in a packed sports environment.

The response, however, has given Torres-Palma reason for optimism. Pawn Shop had approximately 200 people on its email list during its lengthy construction process. Following the opening, that number jumped to more than 3,000, giving the restaurant a direct way to alert fans about games, events and watch parties.

Pawn Shop's "Wall of Founders," another way early supporters could become part of the restaurant, has also sold out. Torres-Palma said roughly 60 spots were sold over the previous two years before the remaining 140 were claimed in a three-month rush. A membership program is expected to launch later this year.

The timing of Pawn Shop's arrival is hardly accidental. Los Angeles hosted World Cup matches this summer and will host Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium in February before welcoming the Summer Olympics in 2028.

But for Torres-Palma, those global events aren't necessarily the best measure of whether Pawn Shop can become what he envisioned.

The World Cup supplied the crowds, television coverage and opening buzz. Football season will tell him whether Pawn Shop can become part of the weekly routine for sports fans across Los Angeles.

"I think we really shine when there's multiple sports," Torres-Palma said. "We'll have all of it. We'll see you wherever you want."

After years of planning and a frenzied opening summer, Torres-Palma believes Pawn Shop is finally about to show Los Angeles exactly what it was built to be.

"We're just poised and ready for the football season."