Spanish$$$downtownTue-Sat lunch 12:00-15:00, bar to 22:00 (Fri-Sat 23:00), dinner last seating 21:00; closed Sun-Mon
Xuntos fills a 1926 Art Deco building in downtown Santa Monica with Sandra Cordero's Galician tapas, razor clams, percebes and vermouth over two floors.
Signature pour: Vermouth on tap, poured over ice
Wine focus: Spanish wines, vermouth and Basque cider
Food: Galician pintxos and tapas
Tip: The menu runs from jamon iberico to Galician empanadas; ask for the mezzanine seats above the bar.
Seafood$$$main-streetSun-Wed 12:00-21:00; Thu-Sat 12:00-21:30; happy hour daily 15:00-17:00
Crudo e Nudo runs a chalkboard of daily raw fish on Main Street in Santa Monica, chef Brian Bornemann dry-aging ikejime catch from Baja up to Monterey.
Signature pour: Chilled biodynamic white with the crudo flight
Wine focus: Biodynamic small producers for raw fish
Food: Daily crudo and sustainable seafood
Tip: Wine director Simona Topuzovska pours biodynamic small growers; the daily happy hour 15:00-17:00 is the value window.
Wine bar$$$downtownDaily from 11:30
Wally's runs a wine shop, cheese counter and restaurant under one Wilshire Boulevard roof in Santa Monica, a by-the-glass list beside the retail wall.
Signature pour: Ask the floor team what is open from the retail wall
Wine focus: Deep by-the-glass list beside a retail wall
Food: Cheese counter and full restaurant menu
Tip: Anything on the retail wall can be drunk at the table for corkage; the cheese counter builds boards to order.
Wine bar$$mid-cityLunch Tue-Sat 11:00-15:00; dinner Mon-Thu 17:00-22:00, Fri-Sat 17:00-00:00; Sun 16:00-21:00
Offhand Wine Bar gives the Westside Winos crew a Santa Monica Boulevard room of their own, low-fuss pours and plates from lunch to midnight pours.
Signature pour: Rotating by-the-glass chalkboard
Wine focus: Low-intervention pours from the Westside Winos crew
Food: Lunch and dinner plates
Tip: Friday and Saturday it holds the corner till midnight, rare for this stretch; lunch service makes it a day-drinking sleeper.
Wine bar$$downtownWed-Thu 15:00-21:00; Fri 15:00-22:00; Sat 14:00-22:00; Sun 14:00-20:00; closed Mon-Tue
AJA Vineyards pours its Malibu Coast AVA estate wines in a 2nd Street tasting room in Santa Monica, flights and glasses beside boards of cheese and snacks.
Signature pour: Malibu Coast estate flight
Wine focus: Malibu Coast AVA estate wines
Food: Artisanal snacks and grazing boards
Tip: Happy hour knocks 5 dollars off flights Wednesday to Friday 15:00-18:00; outside food is allowed for a 15 dollar fee.
Italian$$montana-avenueMon-Thu 11:00-22:00; Fri 11:00-23:00; Sat-Sun 09:00-22:00
Sogno Toscano stacks an espresso bar, Italian market and wine bar into one Montana Avenue corner in Santa Monica, panini by day and aperitivo by night.
Signature pour: Tuscan red with a Bufalina panino
Wine focus: Tuscan producers and Italian classics
Food: Panini, salumi and market plates
Tip: Bookable wine tastings run in the evenings; otherwise take a Bufalina panino and a glass at the window.