A new high-end sports bar called Pawn Shop has opened in Los Angeles with billionaire Mark Cuban and Dodgers president Andrew Friedman among its investors, and a guest list that reads like an all-star roster.
The 8,500-square-foot venue sits at the corner of Melrose and Cahuenga in a building that dates to the 1930s and actually operated as a pawn shop. Now it houses more than 60 televisions, two oversized media walls, private upstairs suites, and a kitchen run by James Beard Award-winning chef Tony Messina. Founder and CEO Diego Torres-Palma timed the opening to coincide with the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and the bet paid off immediately, crowds packed the place for Mexico's Round of 16 match against England, turning the bar into a scene the New York Post profiled as one of LA's hottest new gathering spots.
Torres-Palma compared those early World Cup weeks to hosting a wedding every few days, with hundreds of customers arriving together. The energy left a mark on the founder himself.
"I'll never forget the roars in here. That feeling is why you build these things. It's such a crazy, loud, energetic feeling that everybody experiences at the same time."
That quote, from Torres-Palma, captures the pitch he has been making to investors and celebrity partners alike: Pawn Shop fills a gap between the neighborhood dive bar and the stadium luxury box.
Among the investors, Cuban has been the most hands-on. Torres-Palma said the billionaire entrepreneur and former Dallas Mavericks owner recently visited with his son and stays in constant contact.
"Of all the investors, Mark is probably the one that I communicate with the most. He's so pumped. Honestly, he's probably been our top supporter."
Friedman, who runs baseball operations for the Los Angeles Dodgers, also invested. And the list of athletes circling the project extends well beyond the ownership group. Rams defensive star Aaron Donald, who returned from retirement earlier this year, has discussed investing alongside his wife Erica, Torres-Palma said. Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts secured a brand partnership, his Tequila Providencia, run by CEO Rodd Rafieha, earned a spot behind the bar after Pawn Shop's beverage team evaluated it and placed it "in the well."
Kendall Jenner's 818 Tequila also landed a featured role. Lanay Jacobs, president of 818 Tequila, put it this way:
"We're excited to have 818 Tequila featured at Pawn Shop LA. It's a lively destination that brings together sports, cocktails, and community in a way our audience will love."
Torres-Palma said the full investor and partner list is extensive, though he did not name every participant. Former NBA player Chandler Parsons, who co-hosts the online show "Run It Back," visits at least once a week. Sportscaster Rich Eisen held his fantasy football draft there. The entire LAFC squad held theirs at Pawn Shop too. Actor Anthony Ramos has stopped by several times. Staffers from nearby Paramount studios have used the private upstairs suites as off-site work rooms.
Parsons offered a straightforward endorsement:
"Pawn Shop is exactly what LA needed. Great food, great energy, amazing people, and a genuine love for sports that you can feel when you walk in."
Torres-Palma made a pointed observation about the LA bar scene that any sports fan who has tried to watch a game in the city will recognize. Too many places treat the television as decoration.
"A lot of bars in L.A., we're learning, don't put the sound on. We will fully lean in to actually having the sound on."
The setup backs the promise. Servers can route custom TV feeds to specific screens, so different sections of the bar can follow different games. The two central media walls anchor the room. Torres-Palma described the concept plainly: "We are that clubhouse. We just want to be a sports hub."
That philosophy extends to programming beyond live games. Pawn Shop plans outdoor movie nights in October, and Torres-Palma mentioned planned original digital content pairing athletes with chef Messina, including a concept that would recreate players' childhood meals. The bar also has "Sinatra Tuesdays" on the calendar.
Torres-Palma is already looking past Los Angeles. He said a second location is likely by next summer, and the city is all but decided.
"I think we'll be opening up No. 2, or be close to opening. Probably Vegas, almost certainly."
A Vegas outpost would put Pawn Shop in the middle of the country's fastest-growing sports and entertainment market, a city where small businesses are already seeing tangible benefits from the current economic policy environment. Rick Harrison of "Pawn Stars" fame told Fox News that Trump's tax policies have been transformative for his own Las Vegas businesses, noting that at least ten of his employees reported tax returns roughly twice their normal size. Harrison highlighted the "No Tax on Tips" policy, which exempts the first $25,000 in tips from taxation, as a game-changer for Nevada's service workers, many of whom are single mothers. Full equipment depreciation write-offs, Harrison added, are pushing business owners to spend more freely.
For a hospitality venture like Pawn Shop, those policies could matter. A sports bar with high-end cocktails and a full kitchen employs exactly the kind of tipped workers Harrison described. Torres-Palma did not address tax policy directly, but his confidence about expansion into Nevada suggests the business climate there appeals to him.
Before Vegas, though, there is a more immediate milestone: the Super Bowl returns to Los Angeles in February. Torres-Palma said companies are already approaching Pawn Shop about buyouts and private events for the game. For a venue designed around live sports energy, a home Super Bowl is the ultimate proof of concept.
The founder does not romanticize the restaurant business, but he does not whine about it either. When people warn him the industry is brutal, his answer is blunt.
"When people say the restaurant business is brutal or very tough, I always ask them, 'What's an easy business so I can go do that?'"
He had sharper words for anyone who gives up.
"Let them quit. They should have never played the game."
That competitive edge runs through the entire Pawn Shop project. Torres-Palma said his ultimate measure of success is not revenue or celebrity foot traffic, it is whether the place generates stories.
"I just really want people to talk about Pawn Shop as a place where, like, 'Oh, this crazy thing happened to me here.'"
Several questions remain unanswered. The exact size of Cuban's and Friedman's stakes has not been disclosed. Whether Aaron Donald's discussions have moved beyond the talking stage is unclear. And the full investor list, which Torres-Palma implied is long, has not been made public.
What is clear is that Pawn Shop opened with momentum, celebrity backing, and a founder who treats the hospitality business the way his athlete investors treat their sports: no excuses, no quit, and a scoreboard that tells you where you stand every night.