The 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 Jewish and 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, and there’s a must-order lamb “a la Saless,” which comes to the table on a thin bed of impossibly crispy rice flavored with dill and other Persian spices. We also enjoy their koji-marinated flatiron steak, pickle-marinated fried chicken and dishes that incorporate seasonal produce. For dessert, the chilled chocolate layer cake and delightfully retro rose petal Jell-O pie hit the spot every time.

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. For something different, Shunji-san has begun offering a $190 oryori pop-up dinner at 6:30pm on select evenings—albeit with no sushi.

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.

West of La Cienega, there's nothing like the Georgian Room, a stylish speakeasy-style joint hidden away in the basement of the Georgian Hotel in Santa Monica. Restored to its former Old Hollywood glory (the space once served the likes of Judy Garland and Dick Van Dyke), the upscale Italian steakhouse serves premium cocktails and Mozza alum David Almany's impeccably finished dry-aged steaks, plus a standout seasonal ravioli. The live jazz singers and a pianist manning the vintage Steinway might translate into a higher bill at the end of the night, but the sultry ambience here is unmatched. In our humble opinion, you won't find a more glamorous and delicious way in Los Angeles to enjoy a New York strip and a dirty vodka martini. (And yes, we're throwing shade at the kitchen at Musso’s right now.) At night's end, former All Day Baby pastry chef Thessa Diadem whips up a swoon-worthy rendition of baked Alaska, plus other polished takes on classic desserts.

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.

After a year-long delay, Jordan Snyder and Alex Williams’s artisanal sandwich shop has finally opened its doors on Montana Avenue—and while the square footage might be limited, the ample flavors and attention to detail make Bread Head a worthwhile daytime dining destination. The beautiful, impossibly crackly focaccia crust and high-quality ingredients make every bit of difference here. Made fresh daily, each focaccia slice’s golden, buttery half combines with high-quality meats, luscious cheeses and a mélange of flavorful spreads. The duo have also added newer items like the Combo Grinder (Bread Head’s take on a classic Italian sub), plus weekday-only hot sandwich specials, housemade Arnold Palmer and excellent chocolate espresso crinkle cookies.

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). On Tuesday evenings, look to the chef’s $75 set menu for a more affordable way to experience Rustic Canyon.

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.

Run by Clémence de Lutz, one of the main pastry masterminds behind the Gourmandise School, and Friends & Family alum Tony Hernandez, this newer gourmet bakery in Santa Monica serves some of the absolute best pastries on the Westside as well as some of the best croissants in Los Angeles. Lines tend to form early, and while the croissants often run out early, there’s always something delicious in one way or another behind the glass (and yes, these pastries are often made with the same exact dough). Lutz and Hernandez pride themselves on using locally sourced flour varieties, milk from Straus Family Creamery, fruit from the Santa Monica Farmers Market, imported French butter and more ethically sourced chocolate, for higher quality you can taste. Savories like ham and cheese croissants and seasonal fruit danishes round out the tiny pastry case here, and while we can’t guarantee everything will be available when you come in, we can guarantee it’ll be delicious—and worth the wait.

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.

Housed in the former Stout space in Santa Monica, this Parisian-inspired upscale burger bar has caught our eye with its attention to detail, excellent cheese and charcuterie selection and some seriously great between-bun action. Our favorite of the six burgers is the La Vivianne, a decadent mix of bone marrow butter, melted raclette cheese and sweet tomato jam that hits all the right notes. While you can opt for the namesake La Burgette, which adds grainy Dijon mustard for a touch of French flair, La Vivianne impressed us most. We'll be curious to see how Burgette holds up in the long run, but so far La Vivienne has impressed us so much it's already landed a spot on our best burgers guide.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.