This ocean-adjacent street, according to the official municipal association that defines such things, stretches a not-so-insignificant 13 blocks from Pico Boulevard to Navy Street. Main Street, USA, this isn’t—the assemblage of sandwich shops, Irish pubs, trattorias, a restaurant run by a culinary legend and a pretty sweet farmers market is far more eclectic and amusing than anything you’d find in Peoria—or Wasilla, Alaska.
Navigating: Santa Monica's Main Street
Ocean-adjacent eating from pizza to pubs, health food to haute nouveau
By Metromix staff
October 8, 2008Amelia's Espresso & Panini
2645 Main St - Santa Monica310-396-9095
This popular neighborhood spot is actually run by a mom (yes, she’s Amelia) and pop who cheerfully greet regulars with a perfect cup of cappuccino. Panini, of course, is the house specialty, but it’s the hand-formed meatball sandwich that people can’t get enough of. Order early—the meatballs tend to run out during the lunch rush.
Bravo Pizzeria
2400D Main St. - Santa Monica310-392-7466
Bravo certainly plays up its New York roots, boasting a homemade sauce that’s both “famous” and “N.Y.,” as well as specialty pizzas with names like Bada Bing and The Forget About It. As with most pizzerias, passions run high among the patrons: They either think it’s the best thing since pizza-by-the-slice, or they call out the fraudulence of the not-thin-enough crust. But no one seems to have a problem with the stellar Belgian fries. Take that, purists!
Chinois on Main
2706 Main St. - Santa Monica310-392-9025
Asian fusion as we’ve come to know it owes much to Wolfgang Puck. Opened in 1983, just a year after the original Spago, Chinois on Main was the first restaurant fully dedicated to haute nouveau cuisine. As the name suggests, the focus is Chinese plied with French technique. Signature dishes include duck fried rice, Sichuan beef, short ribs and Shanghai lobster in curry sauce. Now the oldest Puck restaurant remaining in its original location, Chinois still boasts flamboyantly Orientalized decor (hey, it was the ’80s) and a dining room packed with the well-heeled.
Dhaba Cuisine of India
2104 Main St. - Santa Monica310-399-9452
Luckily, the two illustrated elephants flanking the Dhaba sign make it easy to find this quaint family-run restaurant. The menu traverses the Indian subcontinent with a Californian impulse for fresh farmers market ingredients, and the offerings are served on white linen. It’s dinner only, but Dhaba products are also sold at many of the city’s Whole Foods markets. We’ve heard gripes about prices, but what do you expect from a place that offers a gorgeous bougainvillea-bedecked patio?
Enterprise Fish Co.
174 Kinney St. - Los Angeles310-392-8366
Set in a historic 1917 brick building, Enterprise Fish Co. bears all the accoutrements of a wharfside fishery: exposed wood beaming, live lobster tanks, all sorts of other nautical knickknacks. You can get your seafood deep-fried, blackened or mesquite-grilled, done without pretension, just the way Red Lobster-loving Americans like it. The open kitchen with its wide grills makes for a spectacular display, while the popular bar and even more popular happy hour bring in a stellar-looking, sun-soaked crowd ready eager for stiff drinks.
Euphoria Loves Rawvolution
2301 Main St. - Santa Monica310-392-9501
This vibrant oceanside storefront is one part organic market and one part raw-food counter. Offering 100 percent raw vegan food with quick counter service and outside seating, the restaurant has a relaxed, loft-like feel. A higher state of consciousness can be had in liquid form at the self-proclaimed Alchemy of Euphoria Elixir Bar. Prices are pretty outlandish, but hey, rapture doesn’t come cheap.
Finn McCool's Irish Pub
2702 Main St. - Santa Monica310-452-1734
Authentic down to the Irish food and a bar shipped from the homeland, Finn McCool’s brazenly flies in the face of the well-established rule that if something’s got “cool” in the title, it’s anything but (see Cool World, Cool Runnings, etc.). The spacious interior pretty much guarantees a comfy leather booth and a laid-back scene—rare is the douchebag sighting here. The barkeeps, some with true Irish brogues, certainly know how to tap your Guinness. Anything from the full stock of whiskey will mess you up real good, and the popular fish ’n’ chips or corned beef will help minimize the morning-after pain.
The Galley
2442 Main St. - Santa Monica310-452-1934
Regulars sip mai tais and other tropical drinks at the laid-back pirate-themed bar in this, Santa Monica's oldest restaurant. The food—fish, yes, but also organic rosemary chicken—is regularly admired but doesn’t come cheap. Still, friendly bartenders and unpretentious crowds add to the easygoing atmosphere and ensure that no one will be walking the plank.
Hidden
3110 Main St. - Santa Monica310-399-4800
Hidden’s location is not exactly a secret. It is, after all, in the former space of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Schatzi on Main. Filling the Governator’s shoes must have posed a gargantuan challenge for management—one that was solved by gathering a coterie of celebrity investors and hiring five chefs to serve four types of cuisine (Italian, Vietnamese, Japanese and Spanish). The menu isn’t so much fusion as it is eclectic—or confused, according those who walk away with both an empty stomach and an empty wallet. If you still got extra change to burn, the menu features a $250 caviar-topped pizza.
Holy Guacamole
2906 Main St. - Santa Monica310-314-4850
Holy Guacamole is Main Street’s best attempt at a hole in the wall: a glorified Mexican food stand…in a building. But prices are cheap, portions are grande, and there’s limited seating. The walk-up window is advantageous after a night of bar-hopping. The massive carne asada super burrito will feed you tonight and your wicked hangover in the morning.
La Vecchia Cucina
2654 Main St. - Santa Monica310-399-7979
Sit at the beautiful bar or in the muted glow of the dining room for flavorful but not too haute Italian food that's walking distance from the beach. Carbies and carnivores will love the menu, which has a wide selection for both the Atkins and anti-Atkins contingent.
Library Alehouse
2911 Main St. - Santa Monica310-314-4855
At Library Alehouse, beer is the main attraction, with over two dozen microbrews available for guzzling and a veritable shrine to vintage beer bottles erected overhead. Best of all, when someone asks where you were the next day, you can tell them you spent the night at the Library.
Lula Cocina Mexicana
2720 Main St. - Santa Monica310-392-5711
With bold marigold walls, floral tablecloths, and paintings of matadors and topless women, Lula's brings a bit of Tijuana to gentrified Main Street. Food spans all of Mexico (the menu helpfully identifies the origin of each entree) without the guaranteed side of Montezuma's revenge. And no, the kitchen is not above serving a burrito, though you’d be much better off with the Oaxacan-style mole negro. Who would argue with a happy hour that begins at 1 p.m. or a tequila library of over 175 strong (except our liver, that is)?
Mäni’s Bakery
2507 Main St. - Santa Monica310-396-7700
Though the Santa Monica offshoot no longer holds direct affiliation with the original Mäni’s (whose website strangely insists, “There is one Mäni’s Bakery Cafe Location, the original on Fairfax Avenue.”), the Westside restaurant still carries the name and baked goods with the same cult following. Its central location along the Main strip makes it an easy place for a quick cup of the excellent brew from Groundwork and a dairy- and sugar-free macaroon. Or, grab a seat and a bowl of the signature chili (they offer this Mäni’s staple too) as you eye the sparkly merchandise in the shared boutique space.
Ocean Park Omelette Parlor
2732 Main St. - Santa Monica310-399-7892
With a name like Omelette Parlor, it's no wonder there's a line out the door every weekend for breakfast—this place really has the most important meal of the day down to a science. Huge omelettes dominate most of the menu, with standard breakfast fare and a smattering of lunch items rounding up the other half. On a sunny day, request a table on the cute outdoor garden-like patio.
Panini Garden
2715 Main St. - Santa Monica310-399-9939
Panini Garden sports a few tables out front (presumably for diners with dogs in tow), but the real treat is the back patio with its fragrant lavender garden. Customers order panini and dessert crepes at the counter and find a space in the sunny, peaceful outdoor retreat from the bustle of Main Street.
Rick's Tavern on Main
2907 Main St. - Santa Monica310-392-2772
Chock-full of tchotchkes, kitsch and—why not?—a deer’s head with a sailor's cap, Rick’s is a charming local watering hole that gets bustling in the wee hours of the night. A white neon sign boldly boasts the “best damn burger in L.A.” At less than a five-spot for a burger and fries during Burger Madness (Tuesdays and Thursdays), that’s a bet you can afford to take.
Santa Monica Sunday Farmers' Market
Ocean Ave. & Main St. - Santa Monica
Sundays : 9:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Not to be confused with the Wednesday farmers market, when L.A. chef-lebrities are out in full force, this market is just as happening, drawing out Sunday’s early risers for fresh-squeezed OJ and a short stack. Frowny-faces grumble about the limited fresh produce and the mobs that don’t know any better; prepared food stalls offering omelettes, crepes, tamales and sausages are the main draw here. A pilot parking program offers free parking at the nearby elementary school and validated parking by the beach. Or be a good environmentalist and ride your bike in: There’s a bike valet on site.
Urth Caffe
2327 Main St. - Santa Monica310-314-7040
The newest and by far the nicest of the Urth Caffe trifecta, the only west-of-the-405 location has all the signature characteristics: a stunning see-and-be-seen patio, a full display of baked goods and a barista-executed leaf design atop your honey vanilla latte. Coffee and tea are organic, and the food is equally health-conscious and still surprisingly good. There may be less celebrity candy, but that doesn’t make for ready seating. Order at the counter, grab your number and keep vigilant watch; management’s seating rules mean you’ll get a table in time.
Via Veneto
3009 Main St. - Santa Monica310-399-1843
Via Veneto is the kind of intimate trattoria that cultivates a cult following, especially among Westside patrons who can afford to eat there often. Run by two brothers from Rome, it may no longer be the hottest table in town, but not for a lack of effort—after all, Posh Spice did recently celebrate her 34th birthday here with TomKat and Mr. and Mrs. Gwen Stefani. On less star-studded evenings, longtime customers are well pleased by the reliable Italian-American cuisine, such as pumpkin ravioli with sage butter sauce, T-bone steak with rosemary rub, and risotto with porcini mushrooms.
Wildflour Pizza
2807 Main St. - Santa Monica310-392-3300
The yellow wood exterior and old-fashioned signage look like they’re from a time long gone by. And they are—we have relatives who hung here in the ’70s. Even the proud display of “No. 1 Pizza Los Angeles Times” is obviously archaic. (What year, folks?) The search for a proper thin crust continues to elude, as Wildflour’s is hardly the thinnest we’ve experienced, but die-hard fans are won over by the freshness of the dough, vegan-friendly options including a variety of cheeseless pizzas, and a bargain combo meal. Even the sawdust-strewn interior is charming.
World Cafe
2820 Main Street - Santa Monica310-392-1661
It’s all about fresh air and fresh drinks at this fresh joint. Sit under the stars in World Café’s expansive, heated outdoor patio and order a Pearmo–a pear-flavored cosmo. For those who are hungry—and not just thirsty—the restaurant serves classic dishes from around the world, from Greek salad to penne pomodoro to tostadas.
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What other people are saying...
adamw from cheviot hills - October 08, 2008 at 2:43 PM
no Omelette Parlor?? the biggest crowd pleaser on the street?
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