AJA Vineyards is a bar in Downtown, Santa Monica.
Editorially verified August 18, 2026 by Lewis Vaughan, TableJourney editor. Source.
Food program: Bar menu
Tip: Happy hour knocks 5 dollars off flights Wednesday to Friday 15:00-18:00; outside food is allowed for a 15 dollar fee.
Address: 1417 2nd Street, Suite C, Santa Monica, CA 90401
Ye Olde King's Head has poured pints a block from the Santa Monica Pier since the mid-1970s, the British pub whose fish and chips built its name.
Signature drink: Imported bitter on draught
Food: Bar menu
Tip: Afternoon tea is served Monday to Saturday until 16:00 in the tea room; the gift shop bakery sells sausage rolls to go.
The Galley has kept its portholes and rope nets on Main Street since 1934 as Santa Monica's oldest restaurant and bar, steaks, littlenecks and stiff drinks.
Signature drink: Mai tai under the fairy lights
Food: Bar menu
Tip: Sit at the South Seas Bar under the year-round fairy lights; the East Coast littleneck clams are the classic starter.
Chez Jay has kept its nautical dive-bar dining room on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica since 1959, a city Historic Landmark of steaks, peanuts and lore.
Signature drink: Martini with free peanuts
Food: Bar menu
Tip: The sandy-floored front room is the landmark bit, designated by the city in 2012; the Backyard patio opened in 2019.
Father's Office on Montana Avenue is the Santa Monica gastropub where Sang Yoon's no-substitutions Office Burger was born, backed by 36 craft taps.
Signature drink: One of 36 craft taps
Food: Bar menu
Tip: No ketchup, no substitutions, 21-plus only; the burger comes one way and the bar means it.
Ye Olde King's Head has poured pints a block from the Santa Monica Pier since the mid-1970s, the British pub whose fish and chips built its name.
Signature drink: Imported bitter on draught
Food: Bar menu
Tip: Afternoon tea is served Monday to Saturday until 16:00 in the tea room; the gift shop bakery sells sausage rolls to go.
The Daily Pint stocks more than 500 whiskies behind a Pico Boulevard dive-bar front in Santa Monica, with sharp rotating taps, pool and shuffleboard.
Signature drink: Whisky flight from 500-plus bottles
Food: Bar menu
Tip: Ask the bartender to steer a whisky flight; the beer list turns over constantly and skews serious.
The Gaslite has held its Wilshire Boulevard corner in Santa Monica since 1962, a come-as-you-are karaoke dive open 06:00 to 02:00 with free popcorn.
Signature drink: Well drink with free popcorn
Food: Bar menu
Tip: It bills itself as Southern California's longest-running karaoke; sign up early because the nightly list fills by 21:00.
