Santa Monica · Dining

California
on a Plate

From Michelin-recognized farm-to-table pioneers to the legendary Bay Cities sandwich — Santa Monica's food scene is one of the finest in America.

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All Fine Dining Casual Oceanfront Breakfast Date Night Family Farmers Market
Rustic Canyon restaurant interior — warm, candlelit fine dining

Editor's Choice

Rustic Canyon

California Seasonal  ·  $$$$  ·  Wilshire Blvd

In a city that invented the farm-to-table movement, Rustic Canyon remains its reigning champion. Under the visionary hand of James Beard Award-winning chef Jeremy Fox, the menu changes with the seasons — sometimes with the week — driven entirely by what's extraordinary at the Santa Monica Farmers Market that morning.

The dining room is warm and unshowy, all exposed wood and soft candlelight, designed to keep attention where it belongs: on the plate. Expect revelatory combinations — roasted stone fruit with aged sheep's milk cheese, hand-rolled pasta with foraged mushrooms, heritage pork with heirloom grains — each dish a quiet argument that great ingredients need very little intervention. Book weeks in advance; this is Santa Monica's most beloved table.

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Our Recommendations

Top Restaurants

Curated by our editorial team — the very best tables in Santa Monica and beyond.

Nobu Malibu Japanese-Peruvian

Nobu Malibu

$$$$

Perched on Pacific Coast Highway stilts above the crashing waves, Nobu Malibu delivers Matsuhisa's legendary omakase with a panoramic Pacific backdrop that defies description — 20 minutes north of Santa Monica.

Reserve
Fia Restaurant Santa Monica Italian-American

Fia

$$$$

A love letter to Italian-American cooking on 3rd Street — from the handmade pasta and wood-fired whole fish to the impossibly good tiramisu, Fia earns its place among Santa Monica's finest dinner experiences.

Reserve
FIG Restaurant at the Fairmont California

FIG at the Fairmont

$$$

Set within the iconic Fairmont Miramar on Ocean Avenue, FIG blends California cuisine with European sensibility — an ideal setting for Sunday brunch or a languid dinner before a sunset stroll on the bluffs.

Reserve
Bay Cities Italian Deli Italian Deli

Bay Cities Italian Deli

$

No visit to Santa Monica is complete without the Godmother — Bay Cities' legendary sub of Italian meats, provolone, and housemade dressing that has made this 1925 institution a pilgrimage destination for food lovers worldwide.

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Santa Monica Wednesday Farmers Market Local Produce

Wednesday Farmers Market

$

Every Wednesday from 8am, the corner of Arizona and 3rd Street becomes the most exciting food destination in California — where the city's finest chefs arrive early to source the produce that defines LA's restaurant scene.

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Cassia Restaurant Santa Monica Southeast Asian

Cassia

$$$

Bryant Ng's stunning Southeast Asian brasserie on Wilshire combines Vietnamese and Singaporean flavours with California produce in a soaring, loft-like space — the kaya toast and Singaporean chilli crab are unmissable.

Reserve

Find Your Table

Dining by Occasion

The right restaurant for every mood, moment, and milestone in Santa Monica.

🌹

Date Night

  • Rustic Canyon
  • Fia
  • Nobu Malibu
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👨‍👩‍👧

Family Friendly

  • Bay Cities Italian Deli
  • FIG at the Fairmont
  • Wednesday Farmers Market
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☀️

Best Breakfast

  • Huckleberry Café
  • FIG at the Fairmont
  • Mélisse (weekend brunch)
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🌊

Oceanfront Views

  • Nobu Malibu
  • The Lobster
  • Catch & Release
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A Santa Monica Institution

The Wednesday Farmers Market

Every chef in Los Angeles has a story about the Wednesday Farmers Market. It's where Suzanne Goin sources her heirloom tomatoes, where Jeremy Fox finds the foraged mushrooms that make it onto Rustic Canyon's menu that evening, where the best of California agriculture arrives in one glorious intersection on Arizona Avenue.

Running since 1981, the market has become the defining expression of California cuisine's philosophy: extraordinary ingredients, grown close by, changed by the seasons. Arrive before 9am to find the full selection of over 80 certified-organic vendors — stone fruit, dry-farmed tomatoes, fresh-caught seafood, and more varietals of citrus than you knew existed.

Don't miss the prepared food stalls — the tamales from Maria's stand, the warm pastries from La Monarca, and a cold-pressed juice made from whatever's ripest that morning. This isn't just a food market. It's the beating heart of Santa Monica's culinary identity.

📅 When: Every Wednesday, 8:00am – 1:00pm
📍 Where: Arizona Ave & 3rd Street, Santa Monica
💡 Insider tip: Arrive before 9am for the best selection — chefs clear out the finest produce by mid-morning.
🅿️ Parking: 2nd Street Parking Structure — free first 90 minutes.
Plan Your Visit
Santa Monica Wednesday Farmers Market — fresh produce and local vendors

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