investing in restaurants is a great way for a rich guy to become a poor guy. One case of food poisoning and you'll be dealing with lawsuits that will force you under.

plus it's not scalable, so it's difficult to make a lot of money, unless the food is so good or unique that you can franchise it. But I'm guessing the appeal of Elan has more to do with the atmosphere than the menu...

Anyway, it doesn't matter, the reason the landlord is raising the rent is because he/she assumes that there is someone willing to pay more for the space, which indicates that there is a more economically viable operation that can be run in that area than that particular restaurant.