Is The Cannibal restaurant still open in New York or Los Angeles as of 2026?
Executive summary
The available reporting presents a mixed picture: The Cannibal’s New York operation appears active through 2024–2025 on its own website and in recent reviews [1] [2], yet multiple Yelp listings updated in early 2026 mark specific Cannibal locations as “CLOSED” [3] [4]. The status of any Los Angeles outpost is unclear from the supplied sources — past reporting shows an L.A. location opened in 2016 [5] and plans for a Culver City expansion were reported in 2024 [6], but there is no definitive 2026 confirmation in the documents provided [6] [5].
1. The question being asked and why the sources conflict
The user seeks a simple present-tense fact — is The Cannibal open in New York or Los Angeles in 2026 — but the supplied reporting covers different moments in time and different channels: promotional material and the restaurant’s site that signal ongoing activity in 2024–2025 [1] [2], local press pieces describing openings and expansion plans [6] [5], and crowd-sourced business listings that mark specific storefronts “CLOSED” with updates dated in early 2026 [3] [4]; reconciling those requires weighing dated promotional content against real-time closure flags from third-party platforms, which may lag or reflect only particular addresses [1] [3].
2. What the corpus definitively shows about New York
Historic and profile pieces establish The Cannibal as a New York butcher-restaurant concept at 113 E 29th Street and other Midtown spots, with long-running coverage in local press and listings [7] [8] [9], and the brand’s own website was active as recently as mid-2024 [1]; a food blogger reported dining at the New York location in August 2025 [2]. Counterpoint: Yelp’s live business pages for the East 29th Street listing and a Hell’s Kitchen outpost were marked “CLOSED” with updates in January–February 2026 [3] [4], which indicates at least some physical addresses associated with The Cannibal were closed or delisted by early 2026. The sources do not provide a single authoritative operating-license record for 2026, so the simplest, evidence-based conclusion is that while The Cannibal brand and website remained active through 2024–2025 [1] [2], specific storefronts in New York show closure notices on consumer platforms by early 2026 [3] [4].
3. What the corpus definitively shows about Los Angeles
Los Angeles coverage is mixed and time-stamped: an L.A. outpost at the Platform in Culver City opened years earlier and was written up in 2016 [5], and a 2024 trade story discussed designing an expanded, fully equipped LA kitchen and a plan for a Culver City retail-first opening [6]. Those articles indicate both a prior L.A. presence and concrete expansion plans, but none of the supplied items confirm the operational, open-or-closed status of any L.A. Cannibal location in 2026; the 2024 piece presents intent and build-out details rather than a 2026 status update [6] [5]. Therefore, based on these sources alone, a definitive statement that The Cannibal is open in Los Angeles as of 2026 cannot be supported.
4. How to interpret the mixed signals and why readers should care
Consumer platforms like Yelp can reflect real-time closures, temporary shutdowns, or deliberate delistings and sometimes lag behind or misattribute closures to brand-level shutdowns [3] [4], while brand sites and press features highlight continuity and expansion [1] [6]. Reporting incentives differ: restaurant PR and local features aim to attract diners, while user-updated directories aim to signal current accessibility; neither is infallible. The supplied Reuters fact-check about a different “Cannibal Club” hoax illustrates how name confusion and online mythology can further muddy public perception of establishments tied to sensational branding [10].
5. Bottom line — evidence-based answer
The documents supplied do not permit a categorical “yes” that The Cannibal is broadly open in New York or Los Angeles in 2026: brand materials and reviews show activity through 2024–2025 in New York [1] [2], but Yelp entries for specific New York addresses were marked closed by January–February 2026 [3] [4]; for Los Angeles, past openings and 2024 expansion plans are documented but no source here confirms an open L.A. location in 2026 [5] [6]. Absent contemporaneous government records or up-to-the-minute local listings beyond what’s provided, the most accurate conclusion is: The Cannibal’s brand presence continued into 2024–2025, but at least some New York storefronts were listed closed by early 2026, and the status of any Los Angeles location in 2026 cannot be confirmed from these sources [1] [2] [3] [4] [6] [5].