Michael's Santa Monica is a californian fine-dining restaurant in Downtown, Santa Monica.
Editorially verified August 18, 2026 by Lewis Vaughan, TableJourney editor. Source.
Must order: Whatever the market plates are that week; the garden room is the point
Tip: Alumni include Jonathan Waxman and Nancy Silverton; chef Job Carder now runs the hyper-seasonal menu. Book on Resy.
Address: 1147 3rd Street, Santa Monica, CA 90403
Elephante stacks a coastal Italian kitchen onto a 2nd Street rooftop in Santa Monica, whipped eggplant, pizzas and pasta with the ocean over the rail.
Order: Whipped eggplant dip with flatbread, then a pizza as the sun drops
Tip: Go before sunset for the light and stay for the DJ; weekend mornings it runs ricotta pancakes from 09:00.
Capo is Bruce Marder's almond-wood-fired Italian room on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica, open since 1998 with a cellar of more than 2,500 wine selections.
Order: Rigatoni with white truffle meat sauce and something off the wood fire
Tip: The wine list has held Wine Spectator's Grand Award every year since 2015; budget accordingly.
Chinois on Main is Wolfgang Puck's 1983 Santa Monica original, still folding Chinese tradition and French technique into California produce on Main Street.
Order: The whole sizzling catfish and the Chinois chicken salad
Tip: Executive chefs Junuen Saldana and Ramiro Saucedo keep the classics on; book OpenTable or phone the room.
The Georgian Room, in the 1933 Georgian Hotel on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica, pairs Tuscan chophouse cooking with live jazz around a Steinway grand.
Order: New York strip, then the spumoni-style baked Alaska
Tip: Friday and Saturday it runs to 02:00 with live music; Spaghetti Sunday closes the week with a set menu.
Water Grill Santa Monica works a daily-changing seafood list on Ocean Avenue, live Alaskan king crab tanks, shucked-to-order oysters and wild local fish.
Order: Live spot prawns in season, plus a dozen cold-water oysters
Tip: Ask what came off the boats that day; Santa Barbara spot prawns are charcoal-grilled when the traps are running.
1 Pico is the oceanfront dining room at Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica, coastal Californian cooking with Southern Italian leanings above the sand.
Order: Whatever the seasonal coastal tasting plates are, with a Route 66 centennial cocktail
Tip: Ask for a window table at sunset; the Coast cafe downstairs covers the casual all-day beach service instead.
Elephante stacks a coastal Italian kitchen onto a 2nd Street rooftop in Santa Monica, whipped eggplant, pizzas and pasta with the ocean over the rail.
Order: Whipped eggplant dip with flatbread, then a pizza as the sun drops
Tip: Go before sunset for the light and stay for the DJ; weekend mornings it runs ricotta pancakes from 09:00.
