Some say Sunset Strip feels empty after string of businesses closed. But is that really the case?

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (KABC) -- If you've watched your favorite restaurant disappear from the Sunset Strip, you're not alone. Dozens of restaurants have closed in the last year -- Pink Taco, Charcoal, Le Petit Four, just to name a few.

"Gut reaction is always kind of scary, because you always wonder, it's like, 'Hey, can that be us?'" said Tadeh Ghazalian, the CEO of Dialog Cafe.

But, if you walk into Dialog Cafe, it's buzzing. The family-owned spot has operated at the corner of Sunset and Holloway for 18 years.

They say staying creative, excelling in service, and using artificial intelligence to streamline costs are the keys to their success.

"A lot of the people that we feed are actually people who work in West Hollywood, so as much as we have tourists and everybody else, you know, everybody who works in the hotels, everybody who works in retail, they come and eat here every day, get their cold brew before they go to the bar at night and work all night," Ghazalian said. "So you gotta keep that like, quality there and keep the price point right."

In an effort to help the industry, the City of West Hollywood has extended the deadline by another year for restaurants to transition their temporary outdoor dining setups to permanent ones.

But, the solutions aren't one-size-fits-all, and some of the expenses are obvious -- like high rent and high minimum wage.

In a post-COVID era, the mayor of West Hollywood is pointing to a lack of foot traffic as another factor.

"For us as a city, it's about what we can continue to do to make sure that West Hollywood reads as a business-friendly community, has people walking around, coming out, wanting to spend their dollars," Mayor Chelsea Byers said.

The beloved Chinese restaurant Chin Chin is joining the list of restaurants that are closing. The restaurant announced on social media that the Sunset location will close in July.

But, according to the mayor of West Hollywood, the number of businesses that have opened in West Hollywood has far surpassed the number of businesses that have closed in the last year.

"It's not up for every business to have to stay open forever and ever," Byers said. "It does bring sadness, but we're seeing that turnover happen as well."