Playa Betty’s

Californian cuisine had a moment in 2015, from the reincarnation of Jonathan Waxman's Jams to the expansion of SoCal-inspired health-food café Dimes and now this beach-ready eatery from Reunion Surf Bar owners Tom Wilson and Eugene Ashe. Like its sister haunt, this 3,000-square-foot space taps into a sunny West Coast aesthetic with house-made pine communal tables, surfboards from the owners' personal collections and walls papered with beach-themed movie posters (Ride the Wild Surf, Beach Ball). The menu likewise takes cues from the Golden State, with coastal dishes inspired by the food trucks of Mendocino County (pimiento cheese fritters) as well as the soulful fusion cuisine of Baja (tempura-battered mahi-mahi tacos, butter-bacon chicharrones). Los Angeles’ health-minded ethos is captured in a selection of Dharma bowls, built fast-casual style with a choice of grain (brown rice, white quinoa), beans (pinto, black) and proteins such as grilled steak, roasted chicken and Veracruz fish. At a white-ash bar, beverage director Aviram Turgeman serves fittingly tropical cocktails, including a mescal-based Smokey Playa (passion fruit, smoked salt) and a blue curaçao-built Wipe Out (gin, mint and citrus).