Vanderpump Rules stars Tom Sandoval and Tom Schwartz announced on Monday that after two years in business they're closing down their bar, which was a highly publicized point of contention on the Bravo reality show, Schwartz and Sandy's.
“There's no easy way to say this but after careful consideration, Greg, Tom, and I made the decision to close Schwartz and Sandy's by the end of the year,” Schwartz wrote in an Instagram post. “There's some peace in knowing I gave my absolute all into S&S, fully committed to every fiber in my being. To all the patrons who came in & supported us, showed me love every single night I was in there, you kept me going through some of the harder times.”
Located in the Franklin Village neighborhood of Los Angeles, Schwartz and Sandy's was a major plot point on Vanderpump Rules in its later seasons. Viewers watched Sandoval and Schwartz opine on the reality show about their hardships and difficulties getting the business up and running, from disagreements with their partner Greg Morris to sinking more than one million dollars into the lounge before they even opened their doors.
Schwartz and Sandy's finally opened to the public back in November 2022, just months shy of the news breaking that Sandoval was having an affair with former VPR cast member Rachel Leviss. The cheating scandal, popularly known as Scandoval, took over the internet and national news cycle, with fans cementing Sandoval as the most hated man on reality television. In response to Scandoval, Schwartz and Sandy's was impacted; in March 2023, fans flooded the bar's Yelp page with negative reviews, customers stopped showing up, and the duo even talked about how someone vandalized the bar's bathroom.
Following Monday's announcement about Schwartz and Sandy's closing up shop, some of the fellow Vanderpump Rules cast chimed in with their own comments on Schwartz's Instagram announcement, including his ex-wife Katie Maloney.
“I have an idea… it's rhymes with Katie Maloneys bar and grill. JUST KIDDING. I'm looking forward to what's next for you,” she wrote.
Scheana Shay also said, “I'm really sorry to hear this. I know you gave this your absolute ALL and you should be so proud of that! This place was beyond the coolest aesthetic in all of LA.”
TheValley's Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright, who recently filed for divorce, also supported their friend in the comment section. The former couple own their own sports bar in Studio City aptly titled Jax's and recently announced they're going to open another bar in West Hollywood called Britt's.
“Love you man, you literally poured your heart into that place,” Taylor wrote, with Cartwright saying, “So sorry Tom, we love you!”
Kristen Doute, their fellow cast member on TheValley and longtime Vanderpump Rules legend, also supported Schwartz by saying, “love you tommy 🩵 so proud of you.”
The news comes at a time when the future of the long-standing Bravo series is in limbo. After Vanderpump Rules aired its Season 11 reunion episodes in May 2024, it was clear to fans that the group reached a standstill. The fallout from Scandoval left some irreparable relationships and shifted dynamics between the cast members, friends, and former partners. Instead of picking up cameras to film another season in the summer months, which is the show's typical filming schedule, Bravo and production company Evolution Media took a break to give the cast members some room to breathe and see how things would naturally unfold between them all . As of November 2024, the group dynamics are still fractured with some of the cast members saying they'll never be friends again and there still hasn't been an announcement regarding a Season 12 update.
