The original Gladstones was opened by Robert J. Morris on the site of the former Ted's Grill in Santa Monica Canyon in 1972[1] and then moved to its home on the beach at 17300 Pacific Coast Highway in 1981. Morris sold the restaurant in 1984 to W.R. Grace Co.[2] but repurchased it in 1990.[3]Richard Riordan, the former Mayor of Los Angeles, owned Gladstones since the mid-1990s. In 2008, Gladstones was the 37th highest grossing independent restaurant in the country.[4] In 2009, the private company SBE assumed day-to-day operations as part of a management contract with Riordan which expired in 2014. Gladstone's re-assumed management of day-to-day operations thereafter.[5]
The beachfront restaurant has undergone several name changes. When Robert J. Morris opened the restaurant at the site of Ted's Grill, he named it Gladstone's 4 Fish. The restaurant is frequently cited as Gladstone's or simply Gladstones.
The restaurant sold 35 tons of crab, 65,000 lobsters and 19 gallons of clam chowder each year as of 2002[update].[6]
On August 8, 2016 Los Angeles County officials were said to press California state officials to allow a 40-year lease of the site of the restaurant to attract a new restaurant to take the place of Gladstones at Malibu.[7]
