Melisse is a californian restaurant in Downtown, Santa Monica.
Editorially verified August 18, 2026 by Lewis Vaughan, TableJourney editor. Source.
Must order: The full tasting menu; the kitchen builds it around the week's market
Tip: Around 800 dollars for two before wine, with a strict no-cancellation policy; book two to three weeks out.
Address: 1104 Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90401
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.
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.
Seline is Dave Beran's Michelin-starred tasting room on Main Street in Santa Monica, a cerebral 295 dollar procession from the Californian landscape.
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.
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.
Fia fills a big garden dining room on Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica with coastal Italian cooking, burrata with prosciutto and figs, raw fish and steaks.
Order: Burrata with prosciutto and figs, then the Wellington steak
Tip: The garden brunch with pastries and bottomless pours is the weekend play; book OpenTable for patio seats.
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.
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.
