John Atkinson is the former owner of Louie's Mar Vista, an American gastro-pub located in Mar Vista.
The popular Venice Blvd restaurant recently had to shut its doors permanently - thanks to the road diet.
For four years, Louie's was on the up-and-up, pulling in $120,000 on a slow month. But once the road diets kicked in, Atkinson immediately saw his revenue take a huge dip: dropping by a third, and only bringing in about $80,000 on a good month.
Louie's Mar Vista went out of business about 4-5 months later.
A man in front of the now-shuttered Louie's Mar Vista
Originally, Atkinson had invested a million dollars into the restaurant, which quickly became a part of Mar Vista community. He had no idea what was coming next. He thought Mike Bonin was his friend, but Bonin and his bone-headed road diet stabbed Atkinson in the back and destroyed his business.
John Atkinson was kind enough to come on the show today to share his story: