One of Santa Monica’s best bars—and a dive-bar institution—is turning 60, and to celebrate, it’s going old-school with its prices for one night only.
Chez Jay first opened its doors in 1959, and the nautical-themed, beach shack of a dark throwback wants to celebrate six decades with some time travel: This Saturday, from 4pm to close, the family-owned bar is filling its space with live jazz, encouraging ’50s attire, and shaking and stirring some era-appropriate cocktails.
Hungry? What could be the biggest draw of all is the anniversary menu, where a few of the bar’s beloved steakhouse-leaning offerings can be found at their original 1959 pricing: Catch the New York cut steak for $5.95; the filet mignon béarnaise for $5.95; the grenadine of beef with mushroom sauce for $4.50; or, if you’re craving seafood, the shrimp curry with rice pilaf is only $3.95; broiled Catalina swordfish with béarnaise is but $3.75; and the surf-and-turf top sirloin with lobster tail is just $6.95.
Wash it all down with old-fashioneds, dirty martinis, margaritas, gimlets, Cuba libres and Manhattans, raising a toast to Chez Jay and more than half a century of good times and good steaks.