On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Categories: Nightlife, Restaurants [Edit]
256 Santa Monica PierOur experience here was a positive one. We came in late from Magic Mountain and were hungry as soon as we hit the pier and could smell all the food. We got a nice spot outside for the five of us where we could enjoy the nice evening breeze and the sound of the waves. :)
We started with the Garlic Toast appetizer, which was a little heavy handed on the garlic, but good none-the-less.
As for our entrees we had:
The Lime Chicken was good. It had two nice size pieces of chicken with vegetables and mashed potatoes. Not overly Lime tasting, just a hint, which is good.
The Special, which had Mahi Mahi, Chicken and Shrimp with vegetables and mashed potatoes. The menu didn't mention that all the items would be blackened, so not expecting the pepper taste was a drag as the person who ordered it doesn't especially like pepper.
BBQ Chicken Breast was good. Again nice size portions of chicken along with vegetables and mashed potatoes, and the BBQ sauce was yummy too.
Banana Leaf Wrapped Salmon was cooked as requested and tasted good. It was served with jasmine rice and vegetables.
Western Bacon BBQ Burger was cooked as specifically ordered, medium well, and came piled high with toppings and fresh french fries. It tasted good as well.
Our waitress earned a nice 20% tip as she kept us refilled on our drinks and checked on us often. We would be more than happy to try them again on our next trip.
Well, first off I love the name! Its not really much to look at but the decor fits the place, after all, its on a pier on a beach.
They have pretty good concerts and they're usually either free or $5. You can come in right off the beach, its that laid back.
My favorite promotion is Taco Tuesdays, decent $2 seafood tacos(made with grilled cod) and $3.50 margaritas during happy hour(4-7pm). Then at 9:30 they have a free comedy show with some pretty funny comics. Most have appeared on tv shows and pro comedy clubs, so its quality stuff.
Friday's happy hour includes $5 Mexican style ceviche as well as the same drink specials. On Friday nights they also have 3 different concerts, at 8:30 / 10:00 / 11:30.
They have a large menu, but that shouldn't put you off. Most of it is just different things with a few ingredients(like fried shrimp, grilled, in tacos, with pasta, things like that). Personally, I've never eaten anything off the regular menu, just during happy hour, because the prices reflect rates aimed at tourists. You can get the same dishes for less in better restaurants.
Eh. Nothing to fantastic about this place. Kinda feels like a chain restaurant on the inside.
But hey at least they have sweet tea vodka.
Probably didn't come at the best time, which was after one of the free music performances that are going on every Thursday on the pier. The place was overly packed to the point of discomfort. Once you push your way through to the outdoor areas its not so bad. The music was fun but a bit too loud, and the bartenders were rude (although they were probably frazzled by the massive influx of people).
After finishing one drink, our group wandered up 3rd Street to Cabo Cantina. The service over there was much better, we found seating, my ears weren't bleeding by the end of the night and they have 2 for 1 specials every night. This place wasn't terrible, but it was far from the best.
Coming here during happy hour during a weekday was great. We were on vacation in LA and stopped by the Santa Monica pier for a day at the beach.
Order some food from the appetizer menu, and it won't be too expensive. Some of their other food is overpriced, though, like the rest of the pier.
But the food is not why you should come here. The blue margaritas during happy hour are why you should! They are only $3 each! Three dollars! They also have cheap beers during happy hour. Boy, was it ever happy!
Sitting outside in the beautiful weather on the pier, we got to do plenty of people watching and even made friends with some other travelers sitting outside. The waitress was friendly too.
Check it out if you're on the pier - it definitely beats "Bubba Gump shrimp."
I have lived next door to Santa Monica for the last 5+ years and have never set one foot upon the Santa Monica Pier until a few days ago. Thank goodness for that.
My DH and I planned to see a friend's band perform at Rusty's and decided that we'd eat dinner there and kill two birds... yadda, yadda, yadda.
After coughing up $8.00 to park we were advised that if were eating while the band played we would have to part ways with another $14 for a 'cover charge' which for some reason irked the heck out of me. The place was small and dead and as far as I could see, the only people inside the place were band members and the family/friends thereof. We hand over the $14 and Rusty's staff slaps their version of a house arrest bracelet on us. If we had been at a festival - fine, but we were in a tourist-trapy, overpriced, fish cleaning shack smelling 'restaurant.'
The menu is WAY too large for Rusty's to do a good job ensuring that their patrons will be eating a fresh meal - especially with all of the seafood offerings. Fortunately for me, I am a religious viewer of all of the Gordon Ramsey shows, and this is one of the FIRST things he points out to the restaurant owners. Apparently, whoever is in charge of the menu at Rusty's has never been engaged in conversation with dear Gordon.
I should have gone with my first instinct - a burger. I didn't, mostly due to the ridiculous prices. I figured that if I was going to pay too much for a meal, I'd go with a seafood option. BIG MISTAKE! My DH generously ordered two appetizers - their 'famous' hand-cut onion strings at $6.50, and while the pile was more than enough for 3, they were uber-thin (think breaded thread) and overcooked in oil that must have been around while Moses was wandering the desert. A dipping sauce was to accompany this, and after begging the waitress twice she obliged in bringing us some. It killed the taste of boarder line rancid oil a bit, but not enough. After a game attempt on our part to consume it, it sat untouched. Our second appetizer was the (possibly dangerous) Shrimp and Cheese Quesadilla at $10.95.
This arrived at our table steaming (must have been 400 degrees HOT) on a plate - obviously just out of the MICROWAVE! Smelled weird, and tasted BAD. The shrimp was cut into small pieces and was spoiled. You could smell it and taste it. The one bite taken by me was promptly spit into a napkin and tossed on top of the rest of the plate. I'm surprised the napkin didn't ignite this stuff was so hot.
Main course - We both wanted lobster, but after sending our waitress into the kitchen to ask if the lobster was fresh or frozen (she had no clue) she returned to cheerfully report that the lobster was FROZEN and came in small pieces the size of postage stamps (this is my spin on the size based on her hand gestures.) In the end, DH had the Marinated Skirt Steak $18.95 and I foolishly went for the Shrimp Scampi $15.95. The steak was actually good and came with another pile of the onion threads on top of the mashed potatoes, only this time they weren't burnt. The Scampi on the other hand was just gross. The shrimp while not fresh were edible but that's where it ended - the pasta was waterlogged, mushy and tasteless and the few capers on top hardly count as a vegetable.
The waitress did not check back with us (even though the place was only about 40% full and the other waitresses constantly circulated back to their customers) after she dropped off our main courses. She was in such a hurry to get away from us, we were not able to tell her that we suspected the shrimp in the quesadillas was spoiled.
After my DH went and tracked her down to get the check (which he carried back to our table on his own) we had about another 15 minutes waiting for her to come and collect payment. It was at this time we informed her about the shrimp and her response was (I kid you not) "Oh, that's too bad." We were SURE she'd tell the kitchen and someone would come and speak with us. NOPE! We were charged full price with not even so much as an "I'm sorry."
No way on earth I'd EVER recommend this place to anyone. It's apparent that the owners, cooks and wait staff consider this place a 'one time only dining experience' catering to out of towners who will never return anyway based on geographic location.
I was a little hesitant to go here since I've never eaten on the Pier but my bf suggested it so I just went with it. It was a Sunday afternoon and we were seated immediately. We started off with a few drinks and chips & salsa. He got chicken wings and I got a chicken sandwich. My meal was alright, nothing super fantastic, and the drinks were really good. The waitress was awesome and the service was really good. We returned later that day and sat on the back porch. I don't know if I would eat there again, but I'd definitely stop by for a drink.
I'm giving it 4 stars soley because i had such a good time. I came for a friends birthday and it was so fun.
the food was not that good, but also not terrible (let's just say it wasn't 4 stars good.)
Some random bands were playing and some were actually really good! i was very impressed. Absolutely everyone is plastered, and you get your drinks served inside of a coconut! haha and the coconut is yours to keep as a souvenir/coin bank.
I still have mine and it makes me really want to go back again sometime soon. I'm going to. :]
Pretty good jerk chicken sandwich. The bun was bigger than the chicken but it was tasty.
I stopped in for lunch after some pier fun and well...it completely ended my fun. Most of the food is over priced and our server was just so out of it. The clam chowder is really watery, so just avoid. I would just avoid this place all together. Maybe they have a great nightlife, but I will not be coming back to check it out. Oh yes, I found a FLY in my drink when I got my refill! Lovely.
I got to Rustys about once a month or so because I am always at the pier. The food is ok, but nothing I crave so bad that I HAVE to go there. Me and my boyfriend go mostly for drinks and the bands. I do like that they have reasonable prices for drink, and they have pool. If you are just chillin' on the beach and want to drop by, it is perfect.
As you can tell, I can't rave about this place, but it isn't horrible. Just OK!
I went there with my boyfriend yesterday for the first time. First off the waiter was in space to say the least. It took him three tries to deliver TWO drinks. It took forever to get our appetizers (we ordered crab cakes) but when we finally got them they were really good, but there was only four and they were small... I mean, REALLY small, tiny is a better word. I had the fish and chips and they were good, he had the fish tacos which were also very good. Again the fish tacos were tiny. Overall, if you want something quick, and you don't have hours to wait... do not eat here.
I went to Rusty's because a couple of college groups rented out the place. When you clear out the main floor and turn into a dance floor, it's ok. The sound equipment isn't that great, but for college students, who cares? The drinks were decent and decently priced. And good thing there's parking. There were a couple arcade games and a pool table to hang around for those less dance inclined.
On a normal night at Rusty's, it's not that great and pretty mellow.
Went here last weekend to see my friends band play "Random Ninjas" didn't last there too long. I liked the pool tables they had..I think that was the most crowded spot with like everyone facing the pool tables. Kinda small was surprised they were able to fit in a stage there for the bands. The patio is coolest part I like how the heaters came from above you. Nice location by the pier. I don't think it's worth the drive but if your a local to Santa Monica pier then I can see this being a cool shooting pool place besides that I'd go somewhere else.
this place is really not that bad at all! my boyfriend and i went here for a quick bite. we had the seafood platter, which was a mix of calamari, fries, onion strings, and fried fish. everything was cooked to perfection. the calamari was fantastic! it wasnt overcooked at all, it was cooked the best ive ever had it. the service was also good. our waitress always made sure our drinks were filled, and that we were doing okay. it really isnt that pricey, either. i would definitely go back, even if the ratings are low. take that!
The decor is sorta lousy, but wow are the drinks cheap. 6 cocktails and 2 beers for 51 bucks!!! In hollywood, that wouldve come out to more like a benji. They have different bands perform on various nights, and this past weekend's band definitely kicked ass. (shameless plug for my buddies band, BALLISTIC GROOVE.... goto http://www.ballisticgr...)
Oh, and I dont know if they were tourists or not, but there were some "good GOD" hot european women in there. o_O
This place is actually 3.5 stars, but the service irked me enough that I rounded down.
We came here on a Saturday around 5 PM. My wife wanted us to go to Big Dean's Oceanfront Cafe but they only served wine and beer and I really felt like I needed a kick in the ass. The problem was that everybody at Big Dean's was already having a great time and I'd just been driving all the way down Santa Monica Blvd from WeHo and... well, I'm not driver friendly. I'm not a psychopath on the road or anything, but I don't like driving. I'm pro public transportation. "Yeah right," I'm wondering, "what the fuck am I doing down here in LA?"
Anyway, we come in here and I first ordered a Ketel One Martini. Decent, but not great... Then I switched to a Long Island Ice Tea. I hadn't had one of those since my days under 21 when we went down to Tijuana. I only had one this time around, but it kickstarted the evening good and well...
Up until now, Rusty's is worthy of 4 stars. The problem is that we came back later that evening for some food and a drink before heading home. The server Kat, was friendly enough. Still, between the service, which was very slow, and the atrocious music they played that sounded like a dentist's drill piercing through internal organs.... I dunno, I just think you shouldn't be playing that garbage at 10 PM on a Saturday night when people are trying to eat dinner. It was loud and it made my eardrums bleed.
So 3 stars it is... Kat, please pick some better music for your customers next time, ok?
There really isn't anything special about this place. The food is O K A Y
There's nothing here you cant get anywhere else. They did have Sierra Nevada on tap so that's always a plus. The clam chowder was good. The serving sizes kinda suck. I think we paid too much for what we got.
My friend's band ULTRA played here one friday night. It's right on the Santa Monica Pier across from Joe's Crab Shack. Since January, this restaurant/live music facility has been hosting the fourth Battle of the Bands, where every friday night 3 bands play to compete for 1st place. There was no cover that night.
Ambience
The name says it all on this one. You walk in and there's surfboards lining the ceiling and the walls. There's palm leaves painted on the walls and tropical style wooden ceiling fans. At night, it's pretty dim lit, but when bands are playing they have lighting effects on the stage. There's a lighted outdoor patio with heat lamps, a bar inside next to the dining area, and in the back are pool tables if you want to shoot pool.
Food
I ordered the shrimp cocktail and the new england clam chowder. Both were tasteful and fresh. My friend ordered the Louisiana crab cakes and she enjoyed it also. We ordered garlic toast which was a huge serving but it was only $3.95 with our order. It didn't taste all too much like garlic but it was crispy and buttery and it was all that mattered to me =)
Service
The only downside; the service was ridiculously slow here so minus 1 star. On a friday night there were only 2 servers and they were doing the bartending also. It was almost impossible to flag them down. One guy got really annoyed and basically yelled to get their attention. The waitresses would hardly come by to check on us either so in the end they didn't get much tip.
The Music
My friend's band played for about an hour and it was great! Their genre is a combination of funk, rock, and blues and most of their songs are sensual and about women. Well they're all guys and mostly single so what did you expect? =P After them came a band called C-Side and their music was rock but compleetely different. All of a sudden the crowd completely changed to an almost emo-ish, punk rock crowd. Not that I didn't want to stay (well I guess we didn't) but I really just came to see my friend's band. Hehe.
If you'd like to check out ULTRA they're playing here March 30! Check the Rusty's Surf Ranch website calendar for details.
Saw a friend's band play here and the place was packed wall-to-wall with crazy dancing folk. We did the smart thing and sat outside at one of the tables near a heated lamp and it was perfect. Nice orange lampy glow to get your buzz on, and the music inside is loud enough without bursting an ear drum (the volume is pretty cranked inside.) I don't recall if the service was good or not, and I can't tell you how strong the drinks were (I stuck to beer), but I'm giving it a 4 on ambiance alone.
Beachside bar and food. Bar tables are pretty nice. ;)
If you don't feel like walking the pier, then have a drink and play some pool.
this place is fantastic. you can get all kinds of yummy-fried morsels, fries, burgers, and lot's of beer (when i actually drink beer - but now i refrain because of the horrid caloric content). fun times at this place - live music blasting in the background while you get totally wasted with your friends on the SM pier. classy!
$10 off Dinner
Neighborhood: Santa Monica
Prepay in Advance-Save up to…
Neighborhood: Santa Monica
Neighborhood: Santa Monica
Category: Burgers
Santa Monica, CA
Category: Local Flavor
Neighborhood: Santa Monica
Category: Pubs
Neighborhood: Santa Monica
Category: Pubs
Neighborhood: Santa Monica
Category: Tapas Bars
When the sun goes down, I come out...usually…
pool halls, bars, restaurants, hotels, etc with…
Places I went to during my spring break trip to SF…
Loading...
