23 Best Cocktail Bars in Santa Monica

“Beyond expectations! Best meal & service in at least 10 years. I’ll be back!“

“Always a great experience and meal at Orto, strongly recommended!“

“We had a very nice dinner here inside on a Tuesday night. I loved the whiskey cocktail which is brought smoking to your table. We shared the cheese plate and gen ceasar and the servings are quite large and perfect for sharing. The BBQ scottish salmon is a real standout and the fries and blistered spinach great sides. They also have a very nice selection of wines by the glass. The staff is very attentive and we enjoyed the night thoroughly.“

“If you want to go to a bar with perfect seating, great airflow, excellent drinks, flawless service l, a fantastic DJ, a parking lot, a nyc vibe, no one rushes you and you can even reserve a table for drinks…go to the Chestnut Club. My favorite new bar. 14th & Santa Monica Blvd @TheChestnutClub same owners as scopa and black market liquor!“

“Delicious food and drinks“

“Best steak and service . Say hi to Hillary she is the best !!!“

“Service,drinks.food,ambiance.staff,etc.“

“great venue. great customer service, excellent appetizers.“

“Oh my gosh Desvelados is the best Mexican food I’ve ever had!!! And I am a native Californian where we do have access to great Mexican food 😉 And the price is so good like it seems too good to be true!! I cannot wait to come back! It was all fabulous! The food, service, ambiance, music playing, everything!! Sebastian was our server and he made it an even better experience!! Give that man a raise! 👏🏼“

“Delicious food, eclectic menu, reasonable prices, friendly waiters, bar, nice ambiance.“

“My wife and I had a delicious and memorable dining experience at Xuntos!
We are locals and have been hoping to find a quality Spanish restaurant in town; we've found our tapas bar at Xuntos!
Elegant, tasteful and understated, everything about the place - the interiors, soundtrack, service and food - exudes Spain.
Complements to the Chef, et al.
We've seen so many Santa Monica restaurants come and go; I sure hope Xuntos endures and thrives. Looking forward to many more exceptional meals of gazpacho, seafood, olives, Galician empanadas, ensaladas.and all!“

“We had the Most Amazing Experience at La Monique. Exceptional Ambience, Food & Service.“

“old school~ great food~ great host~ a treasure~“

“the service was spectacular. really fun group of servers... food = excellent - exception: chicken appetizer a little greasy/ excessively fried but everything else: salmon, hamachi, avocado fries, duck tacos, etc. was great. a little too loud at first due to boisterous group in the bar right next to our table. acoustics are not great for conversation when the bar is hopping. this is my second time and I will come back.“

“Great Bbq! Great service!“

“I recommend the Bbq chicken, Rack of Ribs and Brisket overall everything I ordered was delicious.“

“Years ago our favorite sushi restaurant from the 80’s closed. Time flies, and as Santa Monica locals we have been looking for a sushi restaurant as a regular. We tried Mikomi and were SO happy. Our server Nathan was a delight, he is professional, friendly, consistent and grounded. Much appreciated his presence. The menu is vast and everything on it that we ordered so far is excellent. Looking forward to returning to try new things and reorder favorites!“

“Friendly atmosphere Delicious meals are tasty, appetizing, scrumptious, yummy, delightful, lovely, wonderful, pleasant, enjoyable, appealing, enchanting, charming and hihgly pleasant to the taste.“

“It was fun! And pretty environment. Food was delicious“

“My husband and I ordered delivery from this restaurant last night. Ordering through their website was really easy, and DoorDash handled the delivery, which was convenient.

We ordered one carne asada taco, one duck carnitas taco, one fried fish taco, two ahi tuna tostadas, and an order of chips and guacamole.

Everything was delicious except for the carne asada taco. The way they prepare the meat just wasn’t giving carne asada. It tasted more like carne sancochada (boiled or simmered meat) rather than grilled meat. That was the only item that missed the mark for me. My husband wasn’t a fan either; he thought the meat had too many spices.

Other than that, everything was delicious, flavorful, and very filling! I would definitely consider ordering again for a special occasion, just not the carne asada taco.“

“I love it here because it’s old fashion great table service because management excels in traffic patterns with cross trained wait staff and bidders. No server leaves the kitchen empty handed and the vibe is to make their customers happy with continuous even flow table service. Disney please take note! I am not of of millennial restaurants where stand at a cash register and pay the tip upfront then assigned a number & number holder then fend & elbow for a table. This is old school service upgraded with innovative traffic management to expedite cuisines & cocktails. I love the intimacy of the raised railroad car booths where I can actually hear my guest’s conversation and speak to wait staff at eye level. And the bathrooms are so modern and spotless! The observation window to see the cooking staff hard at work is as much fun as a cooking show! Chocolate chip cookies are warm but melt in your mouth! Gavin Glynn Productions FOX Walt Disney International“

“The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Loved the indoor patio atrium. Birdie crunchy tacos are worth a return visit. Our server was excellent (wish I asked for his name.) Parking is a bit tough but that's due to popularity! Nothing Ugly. My Oauxcan Mule just hit the spot.“

“I'm a sucker for a wood fired pizza and a good drink.And this place definitely did not disappoint on either.The food was good.The drinks were good.Most of all, the atmosphere was awesome.And the staff were friendly and helpful highly recommended!! This will definitely be a place thst gets a return visit from me“