The 26 best restaurants in Santa Monica

Since opening in 2019, the newest member of the Rustic Canyon restaurant family has become Santa Monica’s most destination-worthy restaurant. Named for head chef Jeremy Fox’s daughter and grandmother, Birdie G’s serves market-driven New American food with Eastern European flourishes out of a large, industrial space at art gallery hotspot Bergamot Station. A matzo ball soup using carrot miso adds an umami twist on a Jewish classic, while their must-order lamb “a la Saless,” inspired by Raffi’s Place in Glendale, comes to the table on a thin bed of impossibly crispy rice flavored with dill and other Persian spices. For dessert, Birdie G’s strawberry rose petal pie overhauls the oft-ridiculed mid-century American Jello dessert by incorporating hibiscus and rose, flavors more suitable to a 21st-century dining palate.

Now relocated to Santa Monica from its longtime chili bowl-shaped home on Pico Boulevard, this Westside sushi bar run by the eponymous chef and his wife Yuko Sakurai offers a streamlined, exclusive approach to top-notch sushi in the form of a $280 omakase—one of the best in the city's upper sushi echelons. Every night of service, after a brief selection of kaiseki-style appetizers, Nakao breaks out a wood block of sliced fish, each brilliant, shining row ready to be prepared for each guest. The luxurious selection always satisfies, as does Sakurai's ultra-refined sake selection.

The Godmother at Bay Cities is one of those dishes that you have to try before you can really call yourself an Angeleno. Piled high with salami, mortadella, prosciutto, coppa, ham, provolone cheese, mild or spicy peppers and served on freshly baked, housemade bread, it’s a sandwich that draws lines almost every hour of the day. There is a shortcut, though, and you can take it by ordering from Bay Cities’ website and picking up your colossal sandwich instead. Inside, a gourmet market offers Italian specialty foods, like fresh pasta, olive oil and cheeses. But really, you’re going to come here and not get a sandwich? Fuggeddaboudit.

Once known for Spice Table in the early 2010s, chef Bryant Ng and managing partner Kim Luu-Ng have firmly established themselves in the upper echelons of Santa Monica dining with their upscale Southeast Asian restaurant, Cassia. Drawing inspiration from across the region, the husband-and-wife duo have recently added several Singaporean-leaning dishes to the menu. Alongside longtime favorites like the kaya toast, beef rendang and creamy seafood laksa, there's now an excellent Hainan chicken confit, Singaporean chili crab dip and wok-tossed lobster with chewy rice noodle rolls. The vegan-friendly mushroom satay with red chili sauce is another highlight, as is crawfish toast flecked with black and white sesame seeds. For dessert, indulge in the likes of flourless chocolate cake with black sesame ice cream, or maybe a bananas foster pudding made with Biscoff cookies and cassia-rum sauce.

L.A.’s Spanish dining scene is fairly lackluster, but this Santa Monica tapas bar serves a decent enough selection of traditional bar bites from Asturias, Catalonia, the Basque region and Galicia, where chef-owner Sandra Cordero spent her childhood summers. Pronounced “chuntos” (which means “together” in the Galician dialect), the restaurant offers hallmarks like patatas bravas and croquetas de jamon alongside harder-to-find items like bikinis (tiny grilled cheese sandwiches), Spanish-style empanadas (served in slices, unlike the ones in Latin America) and plenty of simply prepared seafood. Not every dish will impress Spanish food snobs, but Westsiders are already flocking to the lofted dining room for calimocho (red wine and Coca-Cola) and a well-appointed list of Spanish wines, sherries and vermouths.

Located off Main Street, Cobi’s offers pan-Southeast Asian cuisine and natural wines in a cozy neighborhood setting. The grandma-chic indoor dining room floral wallpaper and antique furniture, and the lush outdoor patio incorporates plenty of greenery and vintage lampshades. The all-around excellent  Southeast Asian-inspired dishes sets the restaurant apart by far—a characterization that extends to weekend brunch, when kaya French toast and chicken rice porridge take the place of eggs Benedict and build-your-own omelets. At dinner, be sure to order the raw kampachi in coconut dressing imparts the nuanced island flavors of a Polynesian 'ota 'ika and the black sugar boba-topped Thai tea pudding.

Beautifully plated, locally sourced and utterly delicious seafood are on the menu every night at Crudo e Nudo, a tiny, charming Main Street restaurant that keeps sustainability and ethics in mind. First launched as a pop-up during the pandemic, the restaurant's cozy, built-out parklet hosts the bulk of the restaurant's seating, where servers will dole out gorgeous small plates of seafood that will likely change how you look at crudo. Here, chef Brian Bornemann—formerly of Michael's, also on this list—and partner Leena Culhane add bright, modern tweaks to the typically stalwart oil-and-lemon Italian raw dish, for a casually artisan seafood meal that'll definitely upstage your everyday sushi joint. Vegan dishes and natural wines round out Crudo e Nudo's offerings for a laidback gourmet experience you won't soon forget.

A beautiful, impossibly crackly focaccia crust bookends the delicious creations at this blink-and-you’ll-miss-it sandwich pop-up inside Santa Monica’s JuneShine. Despite the limited hours (Wed–Fri noon–5pm), the distinctive housemade bread—plus the prospect of a proper Bread Head storefront along Montana Avenue by summer 2024—translates into a superb Westside lunch destination and soon-to-be top L.A. sandwich shop. Made fresh daily by Jordan Snyder and Alex Williams—formerly of Ludo Lefebvre’s now-closed Trois Mec—each bread slice’s golden, buttery half combines with high-quality meats, luscious cheeses and a mélange of flavorful spreads. Though the pair rotate through six menu items at a time, our go-to evergreen option is the Mozzarella, which pairs the namesake soft cheese with pickled red onions, sliced avocado, alfalfa sprouts and a creamy za’atar mayo.

This buzzy burger pop-up dates back to the early days of the pandemic, when owners Max Miller and Danny Gordon first began selling short rib smashburgers in the driveway of Gordon’s Mar Vista home. Now, Heavy Handed has gone fully brick-and-mortar on Santa Monica’s Main Street, where lines form daily for the pair’s juicy short rib patties topped with American cheese, beef tallow fries (no breaks for vegetarians here) and brand-new Straus Creamery soft-serve. Combine all that with wine and beer, plus the casual patio and parklet, and you’ve got a great new Westside gourmet burger option.

Is there anything Jeremy Fox can’t do? Since 2006—long before farm-to-table menus became fine dining de rigueur in L.A.—Rustic Canyon has been serving the best locally sourced meat and produce to tourists and neighborhood regulars alike. Grass-fed short rib is served with broccoli and a sprinkling of curried macadamia nuts. On the starter menu, there’s an amberjack crudo brightened with dragonfruit and cilantro, and a time-tested Baja sea bass freshened up with carrot escabeche. No matter what you order, Rustic Canyon's dishes are fresh, comforting and comfortable—there's not a lot of pomp and circumstance in these plates, though the flavor's always there (vegetable or no).

This neighborhood staple from renowned chef Sang Yoon is always loud and jam-packed—and it probably has something to do with the famed Office burger (we’ll get to that later). Don’t let the crowd discourage you; just grab a beer from the list that’s almost three times the length of the food menu, and mingle with friends while you wait for a table. The name of the game here is upscale bar food, including garlicky mushrooms and some excellent fries. But the star is the messy, delicious, cult-favorite Office burger, made with applewood bacon, arugula, gruyère and maytag blue cheese, and a heap of caramelized onions. No substitutions, but trust us: that’s A-okay.

This Tokyo-based restaurant chain quietly serves some of L.A.'s tastiest Japanese drinking fare from the former Musha space in Santa Monica. The Westside location is the family-run company’s first location outside Japan, and the well-priced array of sashimi, fried and grilled dishes and more unconventional pairings (think negitoro over garlic bread) put Shirubē’s on the shortlist of L.A.’s best izakayas. Highlights include the signature flame-seared mackerel, shoyu butter corn ribs and the dan dan udon, all of which make the long trek to the ultra-touristy Third Street Promenade area feel very much worth it. Best of all, the kitchen stays open until 10pm—so you count on a later evening meal here.

Vibes: the only word that comes to mind after the elevator ride up to this Tulum-like, all-day rooftop restaurant and bar serving seasonal California Italian cuisine and top-notch cocktails. Located upstairs from the Laemmle Theater, Elephante boasts one Santa Monica’s best indoor-outdoor spaces, with resort-like interior design that feels ripped from the pages of Conde Nast Traveler, including chic modern wood furniture and a stunning view of the ocean from the aptly-named Sunset Room. Meet friends during the day for brunch and lunch, then bring a date at night for low-lit romance. Our go-to is the whipped eggplant dip with puffy house-made flatbread, but there’s also excellent pizza, pasta and a sunny weekend brunch with the likes of soft polenta with eggs, crab and sweet corn.

Next to Ghisallo, this Ocean Park storefront is helping meet the city’s overflowing demand for Montreal-style bagels. Though lines are, for now, nowhere as long as the more eastward Courage Bagels, those hoping for a taste of Layla’s delicious open-face creations should arrive early and anticipate at least a half-hour wait to order. Once at the counter, you’ll find a mix of savory and sweet options like the must-order Pre-Jam (seasonal fruit, cream cheese and honey), plus coffee and a small “not bagels” section that includes muffins, challah bread and overnight oats. 

After a tenure at Smorgasburg L.A., chef Tezeta “Tete” Alemayehu flipped her vegan Ethiopian food concept, T&T Lifestyle, into the brick-and-mortar Berbere, a mostly daytime eatery serving delicious, plant-based food near the Third Street Promenade. Also run by Alemayehu’s partner, Tsega-Ab “Bicko” Fenta, Berbere bills itself as an “unusual vegan restaurant,” which it is—in the best way possible. Here, Alemayehu offers an expanded menu of flatbreads, burritos and tacos, in addition to her signature Eat the Rainbow, a quartet of colorful vegetable and legume stews served with spongy housemade injera. Tip: Order the strong, citrus- and spice-infused Ethiopian coffee and tea.

One of the Westside's finest breakfast and brunch spots, Huckleberry offers straightforward farm-to-table plates like a fruit-studded porridge bowl and a breakfast bowl topped with housemade chorizo. If you're in the mood for umami, it's hard to go wrong with the fried egg sandwich that features the trinity of gruyere cheese, Niman Ranch bacon and housemade aioli on country toast. Both the crowds and menus thin on weekdays, but you'll also get a chance to breathe at this Santa Monica stalwart while still enjoying equally delicious breakfast food.

Though the ranch-to-table ethos might no longer generate as much buzz today, Salt's Cure's pancake-oriented offshoot, Breakfast by Salt's Cure, is one of the best breakfast options in the city. Head to Montana Avenue—one of Santa Monica's toniest streets—for chef-owner Chris Phelps's effortlessly delicious griddle cakes and a casual order-at-the-counter situation. Once you take a bite, you'll immediately understand; somehow salty, sweet, doughy and crispy all at the same time, they give your normal pancakes or griddle cakes a run for their money. Oh, and there's no syrup served with the griddle cakes. You'll get over it after the first bite, we promise.

Once the only standalone onigiri spot on the Westside (they’ve since opened a Culver City location), this tiny but mighty Japanese omusubi shop on Main Street is the perfect place for a light lunch or afternoon snack. Sunny Blue’s free barley tea and perfectly shaped triangles of nori, rice, and meat, seafood and vegetarian fillings have made it our favorite Santa Monica lunchtime spot. With each onigiri around $5, they’re also budget-friendly. To upgrade from snack to meal at Sunny Blue, order some of their thoughtfully executed side dishes, like kinpira gobo (burdock roots and carrots) and daikon salad with ponzu dressing. It’s also worthwhile to check their daily chalkboard for seasonal flavors of onigiri and Japanese soups.

A brewery is an odd first place to land, but the built-in Santa Monica Brew Works clientele has done wonders for Emmy Squared. The NYC-based, Detroit-inspired pizza chain offers a mash-up between Long Island grandma pies and Detroit-style squares that would make even the staunchest local pizza partisan break into a smile. Made with fluffy, focaccia-like dough laced with a crispy baked cheese “frico crust,” the pies here easily beat out any of L.A.’s other Detroit-style pizza operations. Available for dine-in, takeout and delivery, these mouthwatering rectangles of cheese, sauce and toppings are the reason to order from Emmy’s, but other delicious menu items like cheesy garlic sticks, baked ziti and pretzel bun burgers make sure every meal is an absolute blast.

Now with two locations on Montana Avenue and Venice’s Main Street, Forma is a neighborhood Italian dinner spot with two major reasons on the menu to visit: their beautifully plated cheese and charcuterie boards, and their pasta dishes involving cheese, all of which are tossed by a designated scraper in giant wheels of Parmesan, pecorino romano and other types of hard Italian cheese. In the sea of Montana Avenue’s so-so chain restaurants and Santa Monica’s countless Italian eateries, Forma stands out as a go-to dinnertime spot for a date, get-together with friends or somewhat upscale family reunion.

Who really invented “California cuisine”? Turn your attention to Michael McCarty and his charming bungalow restaurant, which has been a SaMo staple since 1979. Much of the food is sourced from the neighboring farmers’ market, and there’s a high importance placed on colorful combinations and locally-sourced ingredients—resulting in some of L.A.’s most, well L.A. dishes. There’s persimmon gazpacho, and sunchoke gnocchi, and rib eye served with Japanese cauliflower. There’s also a stunning, verdant back patio draped in lights, for a bit of romance just blocks from the beach.