SUR Restaurant Tour: Photos of the 'Vanderpump Rules' Eatery

Great food and even better entertainment! The Vanderpump Rules cast may be close-knit (or at each other’s throats) because they star on the same TV show, but one place first brought them together: SUR Restaurant.

The Los Angeles-based eatery was originally opened by Guillermo Zapata in 1998, before Lisa and Ken Vanderpump transformed it into a sexy lounge in 2005. Although SUR now stands for “sexy, unique, restaurant” – thanks to Lisa – the West Hollywood hotspot’s name has remained the same since the ‘80s.

SUR stands for “on” in French, which is Guillermo’s wife’s ethnicity, and “south” in Spanish, which is his background. Once the luxurious London native got a hold of the restaurant, however, it adopted a new, chic identity.

“It has to be a Lisa thing. I mean, she renovated the entire place. It’s all her decor – it’s her interior design,” VPR’s Kristen Doute told Bravo in February 2019. “She’s brilliant at what she does. I mean, she named her house ‘Villa Rosa’ – so, of course she would say it’s a ‘sexy, unique restaurant.’”

From catfights to “Good As Gold” performances, some of the best Vanderpump Rules moments happen at SUR. From the cast fighting in the parking lot after the annual PRIDE parades to bathroom hookups, the SUR walls have seen it all.

Vanderpump Rules seasons come and go, and the same thing goes for the SUR staff. Stassi Schroeder, for example, started working at the establishment in 2010 and remained an employee for four years. She hung up her silk paisley dress in 2014, while chasing her dream job as a writer.

“I’m very thankful for my time at SUR. It’s a wonderful restaurant, and even though so much went down there, I still have very many fond memories of it. It was just my time to go. Being a waitress isn’t a career, and I think most people want to make something of themselves and move on,” she wrote in a February 2014 Bravo blog. “ Yes, I did disappear for a while, but I was professional and got all my shifts taken care of – and then went into the office and turned in my uniforms to say I wouldn’t be returning.”

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However, some VPR alums still work at SUR, including Peter Madrigal, who is still the lounge’s manager! Peter took a step back from the show to focus his energy on the restaurant, although he still makes appearances from time to time.

“I kind of avoid everything,” Peter explained during a December 2022 appearance on the “Jamie All Over” podcast. “The thing is, I’m not going to be able to be managing SUR and [be] involved in drama. That’s not good, you know what I mean? There always has to be someone with a level head through all the chaos involved.”

Keep scrolling to get a full photo tour of SUR restaurant!