Tag Archives: Santa Monica

Burgers N Brews Throws Open Its Doors

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A great many of you have been carefully tracking the progress of an eatery taking shape at 3021 Lincoln Blvd. in Santa Monica (formerly Santino’s) that I first told you about back in April.  Burgers N Brews recently opened, and is brought to you by the people behind its sister restaurant, The Britannia Pub in Downtown Santa Monica.  It’s all about the burgers here, with choices ranging from veggie, chicken, cod, pork, lamb, angus, and grass-fed, all to be washed down with a selection of, you guessed it, craft beers served in frosty glasses.  It seems to be off to a good start, and Yelpers are raving about it.  We wish them the best of luck.

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The Commons Ale House Bids A Colorful Goodbye To Santa Monica

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The Commons Ale House has had its share of troubles in the past, but all that is behind them now.  A letter, hand-penned in marker and affixed to the front door at 129 Broadway, bids a colorful goodbye to Downtown Santa Monica and a thank you to its erstwhile customers.  It appears that they closed down after last weekend, and no reason for the abrupt closure is given.  I’ll keep my eye on the space to see what develops.

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The Gallery Slowly Coming Back To Life In Santa Monica

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Back in March, I told you about the opening of the food hall The Gallery at 1315 Third Street Promenade after a two-year renovation.  While there appears to be a great deal of activity, almost all the stalls are still without tenants.  However, joining McDonald’s, Subway has returned to the The Gallery and is now open.  I’ll keep watching the other spaces…

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Spinfish Poke House Dropping Anchor In Santa Monica Soon

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It’s poke mania on the Westside!  It wasn’t that long ago that I told you about the demise of Santa Monica’s short-lived branch of pie shop Simplethings, at  808 Wilshire Blvd. (corner of Lincoln).  Wasting no time whatsoever, signs have gone up on the space indicating that a branch of Pasadena’s Spinfish Poke House will be rapidly moving in.  Their website alludes to a new location (“We are dropping our anchor on another port!”) and encourages us to follow clues, but I think we’ve solved the mystery.  The windows are papered over so I can’t assess the progress, but I’ll keep watching…

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Gelson’s Santa Monica Raises The Bar…

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The sparkling brand new Gelson’s that took over the old Haggen (Albertson’s) space on the corner of Ocean Park and Lincoln in Santa Monica is just about to make grocery shopping a whole lot more interesting.  According to signs posted in the store, they will soon be adding a wine and craft beer bar, thereby considerably increasing their chances of higher revenue due to impulse spending.  No word on when the drunk shopping will commence, but believe me, I’m watching this one closely…

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Chez Tex Brings Coffee, Food, And Wine Soon To Main St. In Venice

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So, I’ve been watching the tiny space at 218 Main St. in Venice (Santa Monica adjacent) ever since I noticed a small notice pasted on the front that indicated the storefront was being outfitted as a restaurant.  But I couldn’t get any info until this week…  Paper covering the side of the plywood tells us that the new eatery will be something called Chez Tex.  A quick search directed me to the still-developing website, informing us that Chez Tex will be an “all-day eatery” serving coffee, food, and wine.  I’ll keep my eye out for more information.

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LDH Kitchen Takes Over The Cadet Space In SM

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Ambitious wood-fired restaurant Cadet closed earlier this year after a short run at 2518 Wilshire Blvd. in Santa Monica.  And now we have a  clue as to what may be replacing it.  An ABC license application went up on the space on Friday informing us that something called LDH Kitchen will be taking over.  Hard to find much information about what kind of establishment this will be.  The man behind LDH is someone named Eugene Nomura according to the ABC app.  I’ll keep watching for further developments…

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Burgers N Brews Brings A New Sports Bar To SM

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I’ve been watching the space at 3021 Lincoln Blvd. in Santa Monica that used to house tapas place Santino’s, after a reader sent me an inquiry asking about all the recent activity.  Somebody was hard at work for the last few months doing a complete renovation.  Signs have recently gone up informing us all exactly what the new restaurant will be: Burgers N Brews.  Except for their very recent ABC application, I can find very little information about this new establishment.  According to their awning, we can expect craft beer and wine, grass-fed burgers, and pizza in a sports bar atmosphere.

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Rawvolution Runs Into A Spot Of Trouble…

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Champions of uncooked cuisine Rawvolution, at 2301 Main St. in Santa Monica was closed yesterday due to a violation of the Health and Safety Code, or at least that’s what the official notice, dated 3/31 and posted on the front door says.  A much less formal, handwritten note accompanying the notice attempts to explain that the issue appears to be a plumbing problem.  As of Friday, they were very busy remedying the situation and the sign suggests that they may possibly reopen by Saturday, but as you can see, an official health officer must reopen it.  We wish them the best of luck.

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Simplethings Disappears In SM

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It was only just back in July of last year that I told you about the opening of Simplethings on the corner of Wilshire and Lincoln in Santa Monica.  Sadly, after a few months of pushing pies, it appears that they have quietly slipped out of their location at 808 Wilshire Blvd.  There’s no official indication, but the restaurant has been gutted and all signage has been removed.  I’ll keep my eye on the space to see if anything else is moving in anytime soon.

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Vito’s Pizza Expands Into Santa Monica

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McCabe’s Bar has sat empty for a while now, and Eater has been wondering what would be moving in since August of last year.  Well now we know.  An ABC application posted high in a window indicates that a branch of West Hollywood’s Vito’s Pizza will soon inhabit the space at 2455 Santa Monica Blvd.  I had a chance to speak with the very enthusiastic and passionate owner of the eponymous restaurant, Vito DiDonato who explained that McCabe’s had left everything in poor shape.  He was looking at a fairly extensive remodel to replace virtually everything.  He optimistically projected an opening roughly in about four months.  We wish him the best of luck…

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Total Wine & More To Open A Store In Santa Monica

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With locations across California and the US, massive wine, beer, and spirits retailer Total Wine & More is opening a store in Santa Monica.  An ABC license recently went up on the chain mail fence surrounding the old Jo-Ann Fabric building  at 1637 Lincoln Blvd., near the corner of Colorado.  It looks like they’ve got a way to go before it opens, but until then, read more about the expanding chain here.

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Santa Monica Farmhouse Coming Soon To Downtown Santa Monica

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Recently I noticed a small pending development permit taped to the front of the building that used to house eclectic design bookshop Hennessey + Ingalls at 214 Wilshire Blvd in Downtown Santa Monica.  If you look carefully at the notice, you can see that the space is being redesigned to change use from a retail space into a full service restaurant.  And what will be the name of the new eatery, that will be sandwiched between Hillstone and California Pizza Kitchen?  The permit lists the applicant as Santa Monica Farmhouse.  There doesn’t seem to be a great deal of information out there yet, just some details of the trademark, but I’ll keep watching.

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The Gallery Reopens In Santa Monica

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Almost two years ago, I told you about the proposed renovation of the dusty old food court at 1315 Third Street Promenade.  Well, it has taken them long enough, but the flashy new Gallery food hall is now open.  But don’t get yours hope up yet.  Only McDonald’s has reopened and Subway is expected to soon as well, but other than that, nothing else has moved in yet.

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Orchard Flats Closed In Santa Monica, Other Locations As Well

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It’s been a week of juice news.  I recently noticed that Santa Monica’s branch of healthy drink provider Orchard Flats Cold Pressed Juicery has closed its doors at 705 Montana Ave.  And their other locations in Burbank, Studio City, La Canada Flintridge, and on Melrose have closed as well, according to Yelp.  So it looks like this is the end of yet another juice shop.  Could this be a trend?   Hmmm…

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George’s Bistro Closes In The Promenade

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2016 is turning out to be a rough year for restaurant closures.  The latest?  While there’s no hard evidence except a disconnected phone line, it appears obvious that one of Santa Monica’s long-standing fixtures, George’s Bistro has unceremoniously closed its doors at 1321 Third Street Promenade.  The windows are papered over and the furniture has been removed.  There’s no word on a replacement, but I’ll keep watch.

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Jimmy’s Famous American Tavern Coming To Santa Monica

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On a tip from a reader (thanks DS!) I went to check out what was going on in the old La Cachette Bistro space at 1733 Ocean Ave. in Santa Monica.  An ABC application posted in the window informs us that the space, which has long sat vacant, will soon be inhabited by a branch of Jimmy’s Famous American Tavern.  It looks like they’ve got a way to go and there’s no word on an opening date, but until then, you can read more about the mini-chain here.

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Go Greek Yogurteria Expands To Santa Monica

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Back in 2013, I noticed a new yogurt shop had opened on Bedford Dr. in Beverly Hills.  Since then, Go Greek Yogurteria has opened two more locations and has two more on the way.  One is coming to Corona Del Mar, and the other is set to land in Santa Monica.  Signs are up in the window of what must be a very choice location at 1431 Ocean Ave. (in the Pacific Plaza building) indicating that creamy treat shop is on the way.  Go Greek offers a menu of frozen and fresh Greek yogurt with toppings or in combination bowls that you can read more about here.

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