Best Restaurants in Santa Monica, California: Where to Eat Now

Last Updated on July 30, 2026 by Daniel Globe

Santa Monica’s restaurant scene works best when you choose by occasion: reserve a tasting menu for a celebration, arrive early for brunch, order ahead for an iconic deli sandwich, or pick an Ocean Avenue terrace when the view matters as much as the food. This guide focuses on current, verifiable restaurants and practical planning details as of July 2026.

How to Choose a Santa Monica Restaurant

Start with the part of town and the kind of meal you want. Downtown and Ocean Avenue are convenient for the Pier, hotels, municipal parking structures, and ocean-view dining. Main Street is stronger for neighborhood restaurants, patios, brunch, and a relaxed evening. Ocean Park has destination spots such as Layla Bagels and Ghisallo, while Montana Avenue is useful for coffee, burgers, and quieter neighborhood dining.

Price also varies sharply. A tasting menu can take more than two hours and cost several hundred dollars before drinks, tax, and service charges. A deli sandwich, omusubi, taco plate, or bagel breakfast is faster and easier on the budget. For groups, children, allergies, or mobility needs, contact the restaurant before booking instead of assuming every patio or dining room has the same setup.

Top Fine Dining Spots Worth a Reservation

Santa Monica’s strongest special-occasion restaurants range from formal tasting menus to polished French bistro dining. The 2026 Michelin Guide lists Mélisse with two stars and Citrin and Seline with one star each.

• Mélisse: Choose this intimate tasting-menu experience for the most formal meal on this list. The format and exact number of courses can change, so review the current menu and reservation terms before committing.
• Citrin: The one-star sister restaurant offers modern Californian cooking in a more flexible format, with à la carte and prix-fixe choices shown on its official site.
• Seline: Awarded one Michelin star in 2026, Seline serves a seasonal tasting menu of roughly 14 to 17 courses. Its official menu listed a $295 price and about two and a half hours for the experience in July 2026.
• Pasjoli: This is a French neighborhood bistro, not an Italian restaurant. Order à la carte from dishes such as cordon bleu chicken wings, or reserve the limited tableside pressed-duck experience for a larger celebration.
• MUSE: Pick this intimate, Art Deco-inspired restaurant for contemporary French and European cooking in a romantic setting.

In the 2026 Michelin Guide, Mélisse holds two stars, while Citrin and Seline each hold one.

Best Brunch and Breakfast Places

For breakfast, decide whether you want a full sit-down brunch, a fast savory bite, or coffee and baked goods. Weekend waits are common, especially at small counters.

• Blue Daisy: A broad brunch menu with Benedicts, pancakes, savory plates, and a 90-minute bottomless-mimosa option that requires a food purchase. Drink promotions and prices may change.
• Bru’s Wiffle: The correct name is “Bru’s Wiffle.” It specializes in sweet and savory waffles and is a good choice when you want a hearty breakfast rather than a light pastry stop.
• Urth Caffé: Useful for all-day brunch, organic coffee, bakery items, and savory dishes. The Sunrise Pizza currently combines sausage, pancetta, mozzarella, potatoes, a poached egg, and sage butter.
• Layla Bagels: Hand-rolled sourdough bagels baked fresh daily, with open-faced smoked-salmon, egg, vegetable, and seasonal fruit combinations.
• Sunny Blue: A compact Main Street stop for Japanese omusubi. Current fillings include Sunny Blue Curry, Spicy Salmon, Miso Beef, Miso Mushroom, and Shiso Ume.

Must-Try Casual Eateries and Sandwich Shops

Santa Monica’s best casual meals are often the most specific: one famous sandwich, a family recipe, a waffle specialty, or a portable Japanese rice ball.

• Bay Cities Italian Deli: The Godmother includes prosciutto, ham, capicola, mortadella, Genoa salami, and provolone. Order online when possible, but understand that peak pickup periods can still be busy.
• Cha Cha Chicken: A family-owned restaurant operating since 1996, known for Caribbean flavors with a Latin twist. Jerk chicken, jerk enchiladas, ropa vieja, rice and beans, and plantains make this a filling post-beach stop.
• Bru’s Wiffle: Best for a breakfast or lunch built around waffles, with both sweet and savory options.
• Casa Martin: A locally owned, family-operated Mexican restaurant serving dishes from the Jalisco tradition, including fish and shrimp tacos.
• Sunny Blue: Choose two or three omusubi for a quick, portable meal. It is an omusubi shop, not a fish-taco restaurant.

Where to Find the Best Coffee and Cafés

Choose a coffee stop based on whether the drink, pastry case, workspace, or patio matters most. One important correction: the Santa Monica Philz Coffee location closed permanently in April 2024, so older guides that send you there are outdated.

Signature Drinks and Pastries

• Demitasse: A current Downtown Santa Monica coffee bar known for espresso drinks, seasonal creations, pastries, and its lavender hot chocolate.
• Urth Caffé: Best when your group wants coffee, tea, desserts, pastries, salads, and a full meal in one place.
• Layla Bagels: A strong breakfast pairing of sourdough bagels with espresso, matcha, or seasonal drinks.
• Dogtown Coffee: A casual option near the beach with local surf history and a broad breakfast-and-coffee menu.

Cozy Outdoor Patios

For a slower café stop, Urth Caffé offers ample outdoor seating on Main Street. Layla has a bright neighborhood setting, while Dogtown Coffee works well before or after a beach walk. Demitasse is the better pick when the specialty drink matters more than a large patio.

Outstanding Seafood and Waterfront Dining

Santa Monica has several kinds of coastal dining. Some restaurants overlook the Pacific, some sit close to the Pier, and others are neighborhood restaurants a few blocks inland. That distinction matters when you are booking for a sunset.

• Sirena: All-day California-Italian dining at The Georgian Hotel, with sweeping ocean views from Ocean Avenue. This is one of the clearest choices for a scenic terrace.
• The Surfing Fox: A beach-adjacent restaurant near the Pier with an outdoor patio, cocktails, a lobster roll, grilled mahi fish tacos, and other coastal California dishes.
• The Lobster: A long-running seafood restaurant at the Pier entrance with direct views over the water and a menu centered on lobster and American seafood.
• The Galley: A historic steak-and-seafood restaurant established in 1934. It began on the Pier but now stands on Main Street, so choose it for nautical atmosphere and local history rather than a current waterfront view.
• Cobi’s: A Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant on Main Street serving South and Southeast Asian dishes. It is near the coast but is not a waterfront restaurant.
• Casa Martin: A casual option near Ocean Avenue for fish or shrimp tacos and Mexican seafood plates.

Top Mexican and Taco Destinations

Santa Monica has sit-down Jalisco-style cooking, Tijuana-style taco counters, neighborhood taquerias, and beach-adjacent fish tacos. The original list mixed in a San Francisco taqueria, a general burger-and-sandwich chain, and the long-closed Tacos Punta Cabra; those have been replaced with current local options.

Best Taco Counters

• Tacos 1986: Tijuana-style tacos with meat grilled over fire, fresh guacamole, and tortillas made to order.
• La Purepecha: A Downtown Santa Monica taqueria serving tacos, mulitas, bowls, and handmade tortillas.
• Casa Martin: Better for a sit-down meal, fish tacos, and a full Mexican menu than for a fast street-stand experience.
• The Surfing Fox: A convenient beach-area choice for grilled mahi tacos when location and patio seating matter.

Fish Taco Favorites

Casa Martin serves fried fish and shrimp tacos in a traditional Mexican restaurant setting. The Surfing Fox takes a more contemporary approach with grilled mahi, avocado crema, cabbage, and escabeche. For a Pier-side meal, compare current seafood menus at The Lobster and nearby restaurants before assuming every seafood venue serves tacos.

Margarita and Mezcal Spots

Casa Martin is the most direct taco-and-margarita pairing in this guide. The Surfing Fox offers a broader craft-cocktail program near the Pier, while Xuntos is useful when your group would rather share Spanish tapas with sherry, vermouth, or wine. Cha Cha Chicken is known for food and nonalcoholic tropical drinks; it should not be described as a mezcal bar.

Best Italian and Pasta Restaurants

The earlier version mislabeled French, seafood, and unverified restaurants as Italian. These current choices better match the section:

• Bay Cities Italian Deli: Best for Italian-American sandwiches, prepared foods, pantry goods, and the Godmother.
• Fritto Misto: A casual neighborhood Italian restaurant with a broad pasta menu and customizable combinations.
• Colapasta: A small pasta-focused restaurant using house-made pasta and seasonal ingredients, recognized by the Michelin Guide.
• UOVO: Traditional pasta made from fresh pasta produced in Bologna, with individual dishes and shareable tasting menus. The Santa Monica location does not take reservations.
• Sirena: California-Italian food with ocean views, suitable when scenery and an all-day menu are priorities.

Unique International and Neighborhood Flavors

• Shirubē: A Japanese izakaya with sashimi, small plates, fried dishes, noodles, sake, and late-night happy-hour periods on selected days.
• Xuntos: Chef Sandra Cordero’s Spanish tapas bar, with pintxos, seafood, shared plates, sherry, vermouth, and Spanish-focused wine.
• Cobi’s: A colorful Main Street restaurant with South and Southeast Asian influences and a 2026 Michelin Bib Gourmand.
• Layla Bagels: A distinctly Los Angeles take on the sourdough bagel, using seasonal produce and composed open-faced sandwiches.
• Sunny Blue: Japanese rice balls with meat, seafood, and vegan fillings for a quick, inexpensive meal.

Great Options for Outdoor and Patio Dining

Santa Monica’s outdoor spaces range from hidden back patios to Ocean Avenue terraces. Ask whether the table is covered, heated, street-facing, or directly exposed to wind before confirming an evening reservation.

Patio Ambiance Picks

• Ghisallo: Wood-fired pizza, salads, wine, beer, and outdoor seating in Ocean Park.
• Sirena: Ocean-facing terraces at The Georgian Hotel, best reserved near sunset.
• Layla Bagels: A bright neighborhood breakfast stop where lines and limited seating can shape the experience.
• The Surfing Fox: A stylish, beach-adjacent patio near the Pier entrance.
• Cha Cha Chicken: A colorful, casual patio that suits families and relaxed post-beach meals.

Best Al Fresco Menus

Ghisallo is the strongest pizza-and-patio combination. Rustic Canyon remains a respected seasonal neighborhood restaurant, while Sirena delivers the clearest mix of full-service dining and ocean scenery. The Surfing Fox is more casual and convenient for Pier visitors. For brunch, Layla, Urth Caffé, and Cobi’s each offer a different pace, from counter service to a longer sit-down meal.

Sunset Seating Spots

Book Sirena when an unobstructed ocean outlook is the priority. The Surfing Fox offers a lively beach-adjacent setting, while The Lobster overlooks the Pier and Pacific. A back patio such as Ghisallo’s can be calmer, but it will not provide an ocean sunset view.

Best Restaurants by Budget and Occasion

Dietary Needs, Reservations, and Parking

Vegetarian, Vegan, and Allergy Planning

Menus change, but several restaurants provide practical options. Urth Caffé marks plant-based, vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free choices. Sunny Blue lists vegan and gluten-free omusubi fillings. Ghisallo offers vegetable dishes and can provide a vegan pizza path, while Cobi’s, Xuntos, and many fine-dining restaurants can explain accommodations before you reserve.

Do not assume a tasting menu can handle every restriction. Pasjoli states that it cannot accommodate vegan diets, and Seline asks guests to review dietary policies before the meal. For serious food allergies, contact the restaurant directly and ask about cross-contact rather than relying only on menu symbols.

When to Reserve

Reserve Michelin-starred tasting menus as soon as your dates are firm. For Sirena, The Lobster, MUSE, Pasjoli, and popular weekend dinners, booking one to three weeks ahead is sensible, with more lead time for holidays and sunset tables. Counter-service restaurants usually do not need reservations, but arriving before noon can reduce weekend brunch waits.

Parking and Accessibility

Downtown diners can use Santa Monica’s municipal structures and lots, while Main Street and Ocean Park rely more on metered streets, smaller lots, valet service, rideshare, or walking from nearby lodging. The City of Santa Monica parking page lists current rates and locations.

Vehicles with a valid disabled-person placard or plate may use marked accessible spaces, blue curbs, and metered street spaces under applicable California and local rules. Rates in city lots and structures can differ, so check the specific facility page. Call the restaurant about step-free entry, restroom access, table spacing, and patio routes before arrival.

Where Locals Go: Hidden Gems and Classics

For a classic Santa Monica food day, start with a sourdough bagel at Layla, pick up a Godmother from Bay Cities, stop at Sunny Blue for omusubi, or end with a candlelit dinner at The Galley. Cha Cha Chicken remains a distinctive family-owned beach-area institution, while Rustic Canyon, Xuntos, Cobi’s, Shirubē, Ghisallo, and Colapasta reward visitors who move beyond the Pier.

Avoid treating “local favorite” as a permanent label. Birdie G’s closed its Santa Monica location on December 31, 2025, and The Misfit closed in April 2026. Restaurant turnover is one reason this guide relies on current official pages instead of repeating older roundups.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are there vegetarian- or vegan-only restaurants in Santa Monica?

Dedicated vegan-only choices change, but many current restaurants have useful plant-based options. Urth Caffé labels vegan and plant-based dishes, Sunny Blue offers several vegan omusubi, and Ghisallo has vegetable-forward choices. Contact fine-dining restaurants before reserving because some tasting menus cannot accommodate a fully vegan diet.

Do any restaurants offer prix-fixe or tasting menus regularly?

Yes. Mélisse and Seline focus on extended tasting menus, Citrin offers prix-fixe and à la carte choices, and UOVO lists shareable pasta tasting menus. Formats, prices, and included courses change, so review the current official menu before booking.

Which spots are best for large groups or private events?

FIG has the Potting Shed private dining room, Sirena offers terrace, dining-room, and full-buyout options, and Pasjoli handles private and semi-private events. Seline accepts online reservations for groups up to 12 under its current large-party format. Contact the events team for minimum spends, menus, accessibility, and cancellation terms.

Are there notable late-night dining options after 10 p.m.?

Late-night food is limited compared with central Los Angeles. Shirubē currently keeps its kitchen open until about 10:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and advertises a late happy hour. Some bars and Downtown restaurants serve later on weekends, but verify same-day kitchen hours because bar closing time and food-service time are not always the same.

Where can I find accessible parking near popular restaurants?

Downtown municipal structures and lots provide marked accessible spaces, and valid disabled-person placards or plates receive specific parking privileges under city and state rules. Check the City of Santa Monica parking page for the nearest facility and current rate, then call the restaurant to confirm a step-free path from the street or garage.

How far ahead should I book a Santa Monica restaurant?

Book Michelin-starred tasting menus as soon as your trip dates are set. For popular weekend dinners and sunset terraces, one to three weeks is a practical starting point. Walk-in counters such as Sunny Blue, La Purepecha, Bay Cities, and Layla need less planning, although peak lines can still be long.

Which Santa Monica restaurants have the best ocean views?

Sirena at The Georgian has sweeping Ocean Avenue views, The Lobster overlooks the Pier and Pacific, and The Surfing Fox offers a beach-adjacent patio near the Pier entrance. Request outdoor or view seating when reserving because an indoor table may not provide the same outlook.

Conclusion

Santa Monica can deliver a formal tasting menu, a sunny bagel breakfast, a classic deli sandwich, fish tacos, handmade pasta, or a sunset terrace within a few miles. The best plan is to match the restaurant to your neighborhood, budget, and time: reserve fine dining early, arrive before the brunch rush, order Bay Cities ahead, and verify current hours before crossing town. Try one established classic and one newer neighborhood spot to experience more than the tourist-facing waterfront.

Sources

1. Michelin Guide: Santa Monica Restaurants — current 2026 Michelin selections and distinctions.
2. Visit Santa Monica Restaurant Guide — official destination overview of the city’s dining scene.
3. City of Santa Monica Parking — municipal parking locations, rates, and accessibility information.
4. Citrin and Mélisse — official dining formats and restaurant information.
5. Seline — official tasting-menu format, timing, price, and dietary information.
6. Pasjoli — official French-bistro menu, reservations, and private-event information.