Z Garden is a middle eastern budget eat in Pico, Santa Monica.
Editorially verified August 19, 2026 by Elliot Marsh, TableJourney editor. Source.
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Address: 2350 Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90405
Gilbert's El Indio has run its family Mexican dining room on Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica since 1974, taquitos, shrimp plates and jalapeno margaritas.
TryTaquitos and combo plates
TipIt won Santa Monica's 2024 Most Loved Mexican Food award; Sunday closes at 14:00, so go for breakfast burritos.
Dogtown Coffee brews organic micro-roasted coffee in the old Zephyr surf shop on Main Street in Santa Monica, breakfast burritos for the dawn patrol.
TryBreakfast burritos
TipThe building birthed the Z-Boys skate team; get the breakfast burrito before the surf crowd clears the batch.
Bay Cities Italian Deli, family-owned since 1925, bakes and stacks the Godmother on Lincoln Boulevard in Santa Monica behind hour-long lunchtime queues.
TryThe Godmother
TipOrder the Godmother online ahead and skip the queue; it is debit or cash only and closed Monday and Tuesday.
Hot Dog on a Stick still hand-dips corn dogs at Muscle Beach in Santa Monica, where Dave Barham began hand-dipping them at his 1946 lemonade stand.
TryCorn dog and lemonade
TipThe rebuilt stand pounds its lemonade by hand the way it did in 1946; corn dog and lemonade is the whole menu you need.
Tacos Por Favor has fed Santa Monica's Olympic Boulevard workshops since the nineties, a no-frills counter of hard-shell tacos and chile relleno burritos.
TryTaco plates
TipThe lunch rush peaks at noon sharp; order the chicken taco plate and grab salsa from the bar before sitting.
La Purepecha hand-presses corn tortillas on Broadway in Santa Monica, a Michoacan-style counter of asada tacos and machaca burritos without the fuss.
TryHandmade-tortilla tacos
TipTacos on handmade tortillas with cilantro and onions are the order; parking sits right beside the shop.
Gilbert's El Indio has run its family Mexican dining room on Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica since 1974, taquitos, shrimp plates and jalapeno margaritas.
TryTaquitos and combo plates
TipIt won Santa Monica's 2024 Most Loved Mexican Food award; Sunday closes at 14:00, so go for breakfast burritos.
