Signature Dishes of Santa Monica

Signature dishes

The Godmother

Santa Monica's defining sandwich: prosciutto, ham, capicola, mortadella, Genoa salami and provolone on a Bay Cities roll, best with the hot pepper works.

History: Bay Cities Italian Deli opened in 1925 and its house-baked crusty rolls became the Godmother's foundation: five Italian cold cuts and provolone, dressed with mild or hot pepper salad. The lunchtime line down Lincoln Boulevard is a Santa Monica institution in itself, and locals long ago learned to order online and skip it.

Where to try it: Bay Cities Italian Deli

Watch out for: Gluten, Dairy

The corn dog

A hot dog dipped in sweet cornbread batter and fried on a stick, hand-dipped on the Santa Monica sand since 1946 and still made fresh at Muscle Beach today.

History: Dave Barham opened a stand called Party Puffs on the Santa Monica beachfront in 1946 and turned his mother's cornbread recipe into a batter for skewered hot dogs. The stand became Hot Dog on a Stick, spread nationwide, and the rebuilt original at 1633 Ocean Front Walk still hand-stomps its lemonade beside Muscle Beach.

Where to try it: Hot Dog on a Stick

Watch out for: Gluten, Egg

The Office Burger

Sang Yoon's dry-aged beef burger with caramelised onion, applewood bacon, Gruyere, Maytag blue and arugula on a roll, served with zero substitutions.

History: Father's Office opened on Montana Avenue in 1953, and after Sang Yoon took over in 2000 he rebuilt it around one burger: dry-aged beef, a bacon-onion compote, Gruyere and Maytag blue on a soft roll, arugula instead of lettuce and no ketchup in the building. The no-substitutions rule became as famous as the burger itself.

Where to try it: Father's Office

Watch out for: Gluten, Dairy

The breakfast burrito

Eggs, cheese, potatoes and salsa rolled tight in a flour tortilla, the default surfer's breakfast along the Santa Monica beach from dawn onwards.

History: The breakfast burrito is a Southern California invention that Santa Monica's surf culture made its own; Dogtown Coffee serves its version from the old Zephyr surf shop where the Z-Boys skate team formed in the 1970s, and beach cafes and juice bars across the city roll theirs for the dawn patrol crowd.

Where to try it: Dogtown Coffee, Alfalfa, FIG

Watch out for: Gluten, Egg, Dairy

The poke bowl

Cubed raw fish over rice with citrus and soy dressings, the beach-city lunch format Santa Monica's counters build with bamboo rice and kale noodles.

History: Poke travelled from Hawaiian fish counters into California fast-casual in the mid-2010s, and Sweetfin, which opened its first shop near the Santa Monica beach in 2015, helped define the LA build-a-bowl version: spicy tuna over bamboo rice, gluten-free sauces and vegetable bases in place of the Hawaiian deli case.

Where to try it: Sweetfin

Watch out for: Fish, Soy, Sesame

The toro hand roll

Warm loose sushi rice and fish rolled in crisp nori and eaten in three bites, the format Santa Monica's counter bars serve the second it is rolled.

History: The hand roll became a Santa Monica genre when the Sushi Nozawa group brought KazuNori, its self-billed original hand roll bar, to Broadway, serving set menus of toro, blue crab and yellowtail across a plain counter. The form rewards speed: rice still warm, nori still crackling, eaten in the seconds after rolling.

Where to try it: KazuNori, Sugarfish

Watch out for: Fish, Shellfish, Soy

Fish and chips

Beer-battered fish with thick chips and malt vinegar, kept honest in Santa Monica by the British pub that has fried them for the expat crowd since 1974.

History: Ye Olde King's Head opened a block from the Santa Monica Pier in the mid-1970s and built its name on fish and chips, becoming the anchor of the city's British expat community, complete with afternoon tea and a gift shop bakery. The pub's fryer remains the standard the boardwalk stands get measured against.

Where to try it: Ye Olde King's Head

Watch out for: Fish, Gluten

Canard a la presse

A whole roasted duck finished tableside in a silver press, its juices built into a sauce, the 350 dollar centrepiece of Santa Monica's French dining.

History: Canard a la presse is a nineteenth-century Parisian ritual from La Tour d'Argent, and Pasjoli on Main Street made it Santa Monica's signature splurge: the duck roasted whole, carved, the carcass crushed in a duck press and the juices mounted into a sauce at the table. The dish survived the restaurant's recent loosening into bar-food territory and remains its calling card.

Where to try it: Pasjoli

Watch out for: Dairy

Oatmeal griddle cakes

Salt's Cure's cult breakfast order: nubby oatmeal pancakes with crisp butter-fried edges and a soft middle, griddled daily on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica.

History: Salt's Cure created its oatmeal griddle cakes in the original restaurant, and the recipe grew a following big enough that the group opened Breakfast by Salt's Cure as a dedicated daytime counter, including the Montana Avenue room in Santa Monica. The shop sells the dry mix to take home and runs gluten-free and vegan variations daily.

Where to try it: Breakfast by Salt's Cure

Watch out for: Gluten, Dairy, Egg

Jerk chicken

Chicken marinated in allspice, scotch bonnet and thyme then grilled dark, plated with plantains beside the beach at Santa Monica's Caribbean stalwart.

History: Jerk seasoning is Jamaican, built on allspice and scotch bonnet, and it has anchored Santa Monica's beachfront since Cha Cha Chicken opened its painted patio at Ocean and Pico in 1996. The family-run kitchen's jerk and coconut fried chicken plates, eaten outdoors with BYOB bottles, made the dish a local beach-day ritual.

Where to try it: Cha Cha Chicken

Omusubi

Japanese rice balls pressed warm around fillings like miso beef and curry, wrapped in nori and made to order at Santa Monica's Main Street counter.

History: Omusubi are Japan's everyday rice balls, and Sunny Blue brought the made-to-order version to Main Street in Santa Monica, pressing each one warm around fillings from miso beef to vegetarian miso mushroom rather than selling them cold from a case. The tiny counter turned a convenience-store staple into a beach-town lunch.

Where to try it: Sunny Blue

Watch out for: Soy

The smashburger

A thin patty pressed hard onto a hot griddle for a lacy crust, stacked with American cheese, the post-pandemic burger style Santa Monica took to Main Street.

History: The smashed patty came out of American griddle culture and swept LA during the pandemic pop-up era; Heavy Handed started as one of those pop-ups before opening on Main Street in Santa Monica, smashing short-rib-blend patties, frying in beef tallow and finishing with Straus soft serve. The style is now the city's default casual burger.

Where to try it: Heavy Handed, HiHo Cheeseburger

Watch out for: Gluten, Dairy