Seline is a californian fine-dining restaurant in Main Street, Santa Monica.
Editorially verified August 19, 2026 by Lewis Vaughan, TableJourney editor. Source.
Must order: The seasonal tasting menu; courses change constantly
Tip: Plan around two and a half hours for the full menu; reservations open by the month and the counter seats sell first.
Address: 3110 Main Street, Suite 132, Santa Monica, CA 90405
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.
Shunji on Ocean Park Boulevard is Santa Monica's serious omakase counter, a chef-led 295 dollar procession of aged and marinated fish booked via Tock.
Order: Omakase only; the aged marinated tuna nigiri is the anchor
Tip: The room is tiny and reservations go through Tock; aged marinated tuna nigiri is the signature move.
Michael's Santa Monica has run since 1979, Michael McCarty's garden dining room on 3rd Street where a long line of famous chefs cooked market-first food.
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.
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.
