Bossa Nova Brazilian Cuisine has Left the Building on Robertson Blvd After 27 Years

The Bossa Nova Brazilian Cuisine has left the building after 27 years. The WeHo Brazilian and continental restaurant has vacated its original home on Robertson Boulevard and is currently in the process of moving up the street to its new location on Sunset Plaza.

“Today marks the official closing of Bossa Nova Brazilian Cuisine’s first location – 685 N Robertson Blvd,” reads a post on they Facebook page dated March 28, “But we will not be far; we are relocating to Sunset Plaza! We will be announcing our opening date for the new location soon. We want to thank you for being a loyal Bossa Nova patron since 1993, and we look forward to serving you from Sunset Plaza soon!”

The Brazilian restaurant where all walks of life have enjoyed some pasta, pizza and grilled dishes, is now empty. The sign on the building is gone. The patio area has been boarded up and fenced in to keep trespassers away. A banner left on building reads that the new location will be opening soon at 8630 Sunset Boulevard.

According to their website, Bossa Nova’s story started in Salvador and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the early 70’s when chef Francisco developed a curiosity in culinary while growing up in the northern state of Bahia, cooking alongside his grandparents during his young life.
After his young years of “playing in the kitchen”, Francisco started his professional career as a financial and credit adviser in one of the largest banks in Brazil. He also attended physical education college in the 80’s.

Francisco moved to Los Angeles with only $50 in his pocket, in search for new opportunities. His early jobs included working as a pizza delivery person, a residential building manager, painter, and even bought and sold used cars, doing whatever it took to honestly pay the bills.

He started his professional kitchen career in the US at Cafe Brasil, a new Brazilian restaurant his personal friends started, in 1991.

During the 90’s he attended and graduated from the prestigious Cordon Bleu Culinary School. He also worked at Sofitel Hotel and Resorts, one of the most upscale and sophisticated hotels at Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro.

Aurelio started his career by serving the Brazilian army, attending Reserve Officer Army Academy. After he graduated, he studied accounting at the University of Rio de Janeiro. While attending college, he was admitted at Coopers and Lybrand as a trainee auditor. He worked as an external auditor until 1988, when he decided to move to the US and pursue his American Dream. He started in the restaurant business in 1989, where he worked as a pizza delivery person, busser, waiter, and cashier. He also worked as a tour guide for Spanish and Portuguese speakers.

In 1993, Francisco and Aurelio joined forces and opened the first Bossa Nova restaurant in West Hollywood. The community was extremely receptive and supportive, and it became an instant success.

In 1998, a second Bossa Nova location opened on Sunset Sunset Boulevard. They served the late-night Hollywood area by staying until 3:30am every day.

In 2007, the success in Hollywood led to the a third Bossa Nova restaurant located in the Westside of Los Angeles. That location serves serves the Westwood, Cheviot Hills, Santa Monica, Culver City, and surrounding communities.

In 2018, a Bossa Nova South Bay opened following the success of the first three three restaurants.

The up and coming move puts to Sunset Plaza puts two Bossa Nova Brazilian restaurants on Sunset Boulevard.