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Categories: Breakfast & Brunch, American (Traditional), Diners
Neighborhood: Santa Monica
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The key to happiness at this place is coming earlier than 11am on weekends. After that the wait gets really long and you'll get cranky. Other than that, Snug Harbor, which has been around since 1941, is a great breakfast/brunch experience.
The service is the best part. The hosts and servers are all so friendly and warm. Our waitress this morning took time out of her busy routine to have a little conversation with us, without being too in our face. The perfect amount of attention.
The food is homestyle comfort food, including biscuits and gravy, pancakes and great scrambles. Today I had a bit of a hard time because I didn't feel like anything heavy, but I was more than happy with my large fresh squeezed orange juice and wonderful cinnamon raisin toast. My boyfriend had one of the specials, a scramble with chicken sausage, which was out of this world. One thing: I so wish more diners, including Snug Harbor, would offer hash browns on the side instead of, or in addition to, homestyle potatoes. I just love them so much more.
The interior of the diner is cozy and authentic, with great black and white photos lining the walls and a baseball game playing on TV. On warmer days we love to sit outside in the back patio.
The food was good, and the coffee was of good-quality. The Godmother omelette was delicious. The setting makes your forget that you are on busy Wilshire Blvd (even if the prices don't.)
Everything was great until the waitress mixed up mine and my friend's bills, and charged my friend's food on mine and vice-versa.
It wasn't a big deal and we let it go....a week later my credit card statement showed all of the charges charged to my card. The entire table, in separate charges, for me to pay. How was it possible to swipe just my card over and over?
Now I get to dispute it with the bank. Great.
I'm not too picky on service as long as I get my coffee and water, and for the most part I did. My other requirement is that I don't get sketchily overcharged many times over. Unfortunately, I won't be back at Snug Harbor again.
My favorite Westside diner. The breakfasts are great and they serve breakfast anytime. That alone wins them much love from me. If you ever go on a day they have fresh blackberry pancakes, GET THEM. I don't even like blackberries and these are some of my favorite pancakes.
It is a small, little place so brunch gets a bit crazy as far as seating goes. The outside patio is great on a spring of fall day. The counter is another great place to sit as you can watch your food being made.
I've had consistently great service here. Very friendly and I've never felt rushed. It's the sort of place where the serves call you "hon" and it seems okay.
Maybe I needed to have the biscuits and gravy to really appreciate this place. What I did like was the very small diner-feel, and the cool, "Alice"-like waitress. Aside from that, the food was ok.
Not only do they have a great breakfast but try thier lunch burger. Takes you back to how good food tasted when you were a kid. And do yourself a favor....have a chocolate shake. To die for!
You know what's easy to find? Places that offer an egg sandwich with "2 eggs any style on toasted sourdough." You can get that almost anywhere. I know because it is one of my most favorite things to order at any time of day or night. But you know what's hard to find? A short order cook who knows what "over medium" means and can actually cook eggs that way. That is like the freaking Holy Grail of breakfast. Found it! If you're a Goldilocks about eggs like I am (this yolk is too hard, this yolk is too runny...) then your vision quest is over. The Snug's eggs are juuuuuuust right.
The place is cute, the service is peachy. I only must take off a star because they serve soda out of cans and I need Diet Coke refills to be available for brunch situations.
went there recently..cute spot..food was OK...prices reasonable for Santa Monica..but sat outside and there were intermittant septic type smells coming in from time to time..kind of killed the appetite. But the inside was classic looking(east coast diner-ish)..so would give this place another shot, but sit inside this time...that's about it for now...will update if we go again.
Mmmm I love coming here with my sister! The godmother omelet is my favorite which is crazy because I normally need avocado in any omelet I order. But this is my exception. The coffee is endless and I can always substitute an English muffin and fruit.
The specials always tempt me and Ive had a few. Yes, they are good, but not as good as the godmother. This is such a gem in the heart of Santa Monica so close to my favorite yarn store, Compatto. A great breakfast before I go off on my knitting adventures.
All in all, one of the best in LA! Can't beat the service and that good ol' godmother.
Great little diner at which to nurse a hangover. If you aren't in a rush then my advice is to wait for a table on the back patio... scratch that, don't go to Snug Harbor if you're in a rush, because there is always a wait. It usually goes pretty quickly, but it is a tiny little restaurant. So anyways, back to my point... wait for a seat on the back patio, very quaint and pleasant.
They always have some interesting specialties. The quality of ingredients is fine, if not top notch, and things have from time to time come out with more cheese than anything else, but the prices are reasonable and the menu is interesting.
I usually go for the chorizo scramble... delicious, but ask them to go light on the cheese... I like cheese as much as the next Joe, but I want some cheese with my eggs and chorizo, not some eggs and chorizo with my cheese... if ya know what I'm sayin.
Service is always cheery, which is a bonus in the morning on a weekend... the LAST thing I want to deal with is some bitchy waiter/waitress. You aren't an actor/actress yet dearest...
So I'm giving 4 stars. Good prices and service, good (not great) food, nice and chill atmosphere.
A nice, cozy place for brunch. It gets very busy during the brunching hour on Sunday, but if you're hungry it's worth the wait.
Met an old friend for brunch at Snug Harbor today. I have to say, this was THE perfect place to grab some food and catch up. This place is small and cozy with cute little booths. The waitress was super nice and so was the rest of the staff.
I ordered the Eggs Florentine and I think that's what I minus the star for. Maybe I'm just not used to the lemon in the hollandaise, but I wasn't really into it. These 2 cute older women asked me what I ordered and ended up ordering the same and came back to tell me it was spectacular. My potatoes though were EXCELLENT. I definitely can't wait to come back here for an omelet or biscuits and gravy!!
Walking into Snug Harbor is like walking back in time. The place feels very small-town 1950s, in a good way. The menu is pretty standard, with burgers and the like. I had a cilantro chicken sandwich that was really good. From my experience, they are open rather limited hours, so call in advance. 3.5 stars.
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Take Big Blue Bus #2 or Metro #720.
A simple, charming little diner and a piece of Santa Monica history.
Snug Harbor is cozy and comfortable, with small booths and a counter inside and a little hidden patio out back. The food is pretty classic diner food - omelets, burgers, pancakes.
I give it 5 stars for the feel of it, history and staff. 3 stars for the food which is good but not great.
I'll be back :)
So I love the food. I know when I go that there is very limited seating...and mostly the service is good, excpet when I have to wait 45 minutes for my food, and no one refils the water or the tea. The people are nice, but I'd rather go somewhere I know Ill be taken care of.
A 1950s diner that reminded me I'm glad I don't live in the 1950s.
The interior is simple but gorgeous - a real classic look that is clean, inviting and chic. Red painted wood, off-white walls and dark green leather.
After that the menu is quite simple but inviting too - classics galore, nothing fancy but all sounding like honest good food.
But where does it fall-down? The long lines for an average brunch? I wouldn't know - I came for a weekday lunch.
For me it fell down at the food. For 10 dollars I got grilled cheese sandwich (which came with fries) and an Arnold Palmer. And that's precisely what I got... nothing but that... a plain boring small grilled cheese sandwich, a bunch of crappy fries and the drink. Just like in the 1950s - no thought for dressings, side salads or any fancy 21st century shit. Is that a good thing? I guess when you're hungover on a saturday morning it could be, but I think I see why we've progressed away from that for the other 6 days a week.
Kill me for it - but I'm a 21st Century Boy.
Hell yeah, this place is great.
A friend recommended it to take my parents who were in town and wanted a brunch spot. As a rule of thumb, I don't order things that I can easily cook on my own. Therefore, I rarely go out for brunch/breakfast because I'm pretty skilled in the kitchen. However, this is one of the few places that will put anybody's omelet to shame and make you pleased that you decided to venture out for a tasty brunch.
You can't go wrong...unless you don't have patience and don't want to wait for a table. I haven't been there on a weekend, but I've heard it is a mob house...since I hate waiting in lines, I'll stick to the weekdays.
Snug Harbor is an awesome, go-to greasy spoon that is classic in every sense of the word. The vibe is old-school, but well kept up. The menu is extensive, but timeless. The service is great. I usually have breakfast here at least once when I'm in LA, and recommend you do the same.
Rating 4.5
The almost-perfect solo breakfast joint.
Came here after church and was planning on heading to Bread & Porridge, but then I saw Snug Harbor...what's that cute joint?
As I was entering the joint, there was a brunette b*tch who was going to trample on me because she wanted to beat me signing in on the wait list. Little did she know, I was by myself and there was an empty seat at the counter, so I got seated before her. :p People.
'Nuf about her and more about Snug Harbor. This little diner is ADORABLE. It's tiny so don't come here with a big group ( 4 or less pp only). I was surprised to find out that this placed opened back during WWII! Wow! How come I didn't know about it? Oh yeah..I don't hang out on the west side. The counter seating area is tight. I apologize for those who sat next to me --did not mean to keep bumping into you. They should really put hooks underneath the counter, so we can hang our purse.
Since eggs benedict is their speciality, I just had to order it..and it's actually almost perfect! The lemon juice was the right amount...maybe they need to put less butter in the hollandaise sauce? The potatoes were not bad either but I had only room for the e.b. I wished I read Holly W's review before I ordered the coffee, because wow, the OJ woke me up more than the coffee --pretty tasty and worth it!
I like it how the "kitchen" is in front of you; you get to see all the food coming out. Their omelette is not the folded type but more of a hodgepodge. I need to try their special artichoke omelette and malt next time. The person sitting next to me thought the pancake was "too doughy." It smelled pretty good to me! Oh, and service was great!
I spent around $22 ($10 for e.b. and $6 for coffee & OJ). It's a little pricey..but Snug Harbor is a must!
usually crowded as hell. but well worth it for old school hearty breakfast. the servers there are sweet & try to remember your order if you frequent there.
everything i've had there is great. biscuits & gravy, omlettes, pancakes, sandwiches. it's good basic eats done right. menu has lots to pick from & is vegetarian friendly.
Snug Harbor is what greasy breakfasts are made of - and I mean that in a good way!
How can you not love diner food? 3 egg omelette, sides of bacon served up extra crispy, coffee in those diner-type mugs...what more could you ask for? A lot more! I'm a fan of adding a short stack to my omelette-bacon combo, and then counter seating allows you to watch them grill it all up before your eyes.
Interestingly, one of the Snug Harbor standouts is actually the Orange Juice - freshly squeezed. You'll pay around $3 per tall glass, but trust me - it's worth every sip. I had my first glass of Snug Harbor OJ after one hell of a night down the street at Q's - yes, those college days. I thought my life force was being poured back into my bloodstream, infiltrating my bones at that very moment. On that day, I racked up nearly a $12 bar tab on OJ alone! But on the flip side, I have it on good authority that they allow you to "bring your own champagne" out back to make mimosas with that very same OJ! Now that's a delicious multi-purpose OJ if I ever tasted one!
Note that their wait time can (and will most likely be) horrendous on the weekends. This is a small diner, folks. But do like I do and grab that counter seating - it might save you 10-15 minutes. After all, counter seating at a diner is what it's all about.
When someone asks me about a good breakfast/brunch joint in the WestLA/Santa Monica area, I always point them towards the Harbor...unless i want to eat there that morning, because space is tight and i don't want to lose my seat.
While a typical breakfast will run an individual $10-15, that isn't bad considering portions are HUGE, wether it's one of their classic breakfasts, pancakes, omelettes, skillet scrambles, etc. Unlike their more popular yet highly-overrated and pricier neighbor Bread & Porridge (AVOID!!), the breakfast experience is very classicly diner-like and given the line that builds in front of the door on weekend mornings, it's not just a load of hype. In fact its far from hyped and incredibly easy to miss if you don't know where to look (ive driven past it many times myself when trying to park). Despite the packed and cramped main dining area, never fear there is addition outfdoor seatting in the back which is great during summer days. They always have specials not on the menu every day and its never a long wait for the food.
This place is terrible. Me and my girlfriend went here once, and the only reason we went here was that the line at Bread & Porridge was like 40+ mins, so we decided to try out this place.
The food was really really bland. They didn't have a big selection for breakfast, and the food didn't taste like anything.
I get the concept of snug harbor, but the decor was like whatever. The service wasn't that great. I honestly would never come back here. I would rather wait over one hour and go to Bread & Porridge.
This is a pretty typical diner spot and has a old-school feel to it. Comfort food for myself. Came in for some late brunch. I ordered the deuce deuce deuce breakfast (Two pancakes, 2 bacon, 2 eggs), but I should have ordered an omelette. I shared my friends... it consisted of polish sausage, onions, and red peppers. It was good! The potatoes are good too! Never understood why "fresh squeezed" orange juice is so expensive...?!
You might be able to find some parking in the back. Watch out for the trash bins!
Um lovin this darling little diner. I am all about yam potato fries and on top of it just great choices. I got the cosmic chicken sandwich on sour dough and my friends got this amazing tomato basil grilled cheese. I thought it was super cozy and cute and the service was dope!
DUUUUUUUUUDE Snug Harbor is the best!!!!
I've never had better biscuits and gravy. Oh god. Aaaaahhh!! They were so good. Four delicious, flaky, moist, tasty biscuits, DRENCHED in this amazing gravy that has bits of sausage in it... it had a good kick to it! Kinda spicy or something? I can't really describe it... but it was very, very flavorful and kind of intense. Intense because I WOLFED that shit down so hard, it was almost scary. I was done in like seconds, I promise. And it came with a side of eggs, which I covered in ketchup and tobasco. Then, since my friend who was with me is like 85 pounds and couldn't finish even a fourth of her Hungry Man breakfast, I proceeded to eat parts of her scramble and her toast. It's all so good!!!
And yknow, they have good old time diner prices, none of that $10.95 for 3 freakin' organic pancakes shit. My breakfast was like $7.50 or something NORMAL.
Super friendly service, very fast. Cool joint. TINY though.
Snug Harbor - what an evocative name, right? It sounds like a safe haven, a respite from the world, ready to snuggle you in its bosom and hand-feed you a delicious breakfast or lunch. The atmosphere here does feel very comforting, but I'm sad to say that the food never quite lives up to my expectations. Yesterday I was here for a late lunch. I seemed to remember being happy with the tuna melt, so I ordered that, but it was completely bland despite having the bonus avocado factor. It was basically a sandwich made up of tasteless, colorless components with a little dash of green for color. (Maybe I should have ordered the thing on rye rather than the default white bread, but still, the onus should not be on me to make my food taste like something.) And my yam fries (something I normally adore) just laid there limply in a sad greasy pile.
I do like the service here, and the décor is great for this type of place -- comfy booths, avocado-and-pale-yellow walls, retro photos -- but I've had too many "meh" meals here to endorse it.
Do you miss your mom? Or perhaps your grandmother or a neighbor was more motherly, regardless Snug Harbor is the place to come for mothering.
This breakfast joint is the less popular neighbor to Bread and Porridge (both located on Wilshire near 24th). It has the feel of a diner / general store, with one side lined with bar stools and the other side lined with booths. We sat in a corner booth by the kitchen.
There is a large menu with enough substitutions to satisfy the finickiest eater (though breakfast diners tend not to be ;) I ordered the special which was a goat cheese omelet, and it arrived large enough to share with two more (with an abundance of delicious chevre).
The service (from the waitress, manager and kitchen staff) was um smothering er maybe mothering. Personally I felt as if being force hugged into a stranger's armpit, but my companion adored the constant attention and fuss.
While everything was good, the great part about this place was the people watching and eavesdropping, so I may return with a posse (to deflect mother's attention).
This place is decent. Don't get me wrong, I like a greasy breakfast as much as the next janitor, and Snug Harbor is just that.
I haven't been back for a while, because frankly for the price, I'd rather eat at Bread and Porridge. But thankfully I no longer frequent the slow destructive hell that is Brentwood/Santa Monica.
I didn't try anything unusual here, just had some scrambled eggs. I had a choice of tomatoes or potatoes as a side and a few kinds of bread. Coffee was ok. Egg portion was on the small side but hey it is just 2 eggs. Nothing seemed exceptionally greasy like the reviews suggested. Seems like a business breakfast sort of place based on who else was there.
I ordered the 2 pancakes, 2 eggs, and 2 sausages for $8.50. Since I was splitting the dish (I wasn't very hungry), I asked if I could have one blueberry pancake and one chocolate one and they had no problem with that. Score! Of course I ordered a side of breakfast potatoes. The potatoes would have been great if they were crispy - next time I would ask for them to be extra crispy. The OJ was good, but I don't know if it was $3.25 good for a small one that you can drink in one gulp. The service was quick and the waitress was nice, and there are 2 parking spots in the back. Not too shabby.
Love this place! Love this place! Love this place!
I don't think it's been redone since the 40's when it opened.
Original counter and art deco details.
Best biscuits and gravy I have ever had and I'm from the South.
Also the chocolate cake shake is literally vanilla ice cream blended with a piece of chocolate cake. Brilliant!!!
Only open until 3pm though so hit it early.
BAD, BAD, BAD $13.50 for breakfast. I ordered the Ortega chili omelet. I wanted a bagel with cream cheese instead of toast, I did not see that there was a charge of .50 cents for the bagel, no problem. But they charged me $1.00. The potatoes were cold and very boring, could not eat them. For the same price the breakfast at Coras is much better on Ocean Ave. Sloppy food presentation. Service was o.k.
Straight up diner food is not easy to come by in this part of town. Snug Harbor turns out down home breakfast cooked the way it should be-- in butter. Eggs, meats, potatoes, biscuits, gravy (really good gravy!), pancakes, coffee... you get the idea. A great place to cure a hangover, and not too hard on the wallet.
It's tiny, so you'll probably wait.
I had lunch here once and vowed never to return. Everything was gross from the food, to the silver, to the attitude of the employees. Sorry Snug, Seacrest Out for good.
_C$
Yes the food is pretty damn yummy and the place has its nostalgic charms here and there.
Breakfast is the trick here,
it's definitely worth stopping for if you are in the area. I have eaten here several times with a lawyer(douche) that is horrible when he orders food "I will have the Pancakes cooked well done, my syrup heated, my coffee brought to me when the meal comes, my..."
...and the staff took it all in great stride every time.
There's avocado green on everything. The walls. The booths. The menus. The omelets. There was so much army green, I felt like I was in an episode of M*A*S*H.
The menu explains Snug Harbor's history very succinctly. It's been there since WWII, that's pretty much all you need to know. The dining room is no bigger than the average home's living room (unless you live in a McMansion) and their kitchen is completely contained in a space measuring about the width of a tennis court alley. Well, maybe there's a little more room. Still, it's pretty cramped for four guys to cook and prep all those breakfasts.
My "Deuces Wild" egg, bacon, and pancake combo was perfecto, particularly after having walked from Santa Monica/Lincoln to 23rd/Wilshire. B had an omelette loaded with chili, which he then doused in Tapatio. An excellent move, if you ask me.
The Snug Harbor is just that--snug. It's cute, old, and reliable. The first time we came here, we thought it was called Toot's Harbor because their logo prominently features a tugboat.
I love diners. There is something so satisfying and comforting about them to me. Snug is my favorite in WLA and the only reason I don't come here more often is because it's too popular and too inconvenient. If I have the weekday off, I always take advantage and go for breakfast. Don't even think of coming here on the weekend.
There is a nice patio, so I hear, but I haven't been out there because then I miss the diner atmosphere. They have a large selection of items on their menu, from breakfast to lunch. Service is quick and friendly and food is prepared well.
Snug is small, which is why you'll wait a long time on the weekends. I'll admit that the food isn't anything fantastic to most people, so I'd recommend that if you don't like diner food then don't come here. Parking is also a problem since the more popular Bread and Porridge is right next door.
Price: Less than $10 for breakfast
Food: Good (Hungry man is Good, and Uncle Zeke's is Good)
Service: Good (Again it has that diner feel to it, so some might see it a little gruff when it gets busy)
Ambiance: Good (Bright and clean)
Location: Mediocre (No parking, so find a meter if you can, They only provide a couple benches in front which is inadequate if you're gonna be waiting.)
Snug harbor is a small place where you can take a big peak into the past when diners littered the landscape. Privately run, limited counter and booth seating, limited hours and short order chef style cooking, it delivers "comfort food" with solid taste and value. Nothing to put down in a postcard and write home about, but lots of food with a fair price (for the Westside). Is it worth the wait? Depends on who your company is !!
We ordered:
Breakfast:
From the daily special board - Gaucho Omelette (Decent & lots of food, however the temperature of the food could have been hotter)
Biscuit & Gravy (Really good if this is what you like).
Mimosa's (To bad, you can only get this if you order a full bottle of champagne - but is available, good for a larger group. Note: Biggest booth seats 6, maybe 7).
Lunch:
Tuna Sandwich with Suzy Q Curly Fries ( Very good)
Ziebel Burger ( Solid Showing )
If you want to try something different and quaint, Snug Harbor fits the bill. If you are looking for gourmet anything with unique tastes, this is not your place.
Bring your paper, bring a good friend and come hungry - you will not be blown away, but you will leave satisfied.
Perhaps I went wrong in ordering a sandwich instead of breakfast foods. The sandwich was not bad, but nothing special. I ordered the curly fries only to find that they were regular fries in the shape of curly fries (no extra seasoning that curly fries normally have)
The service was fast, and the eating area definitely had a diner ambiance. I did feel the food was a bit pricey for what it was though.
Snug Harbor is the ultimate place to go for breakfast. I was there last month with my girlfriends and we thoroughly enjoyed our dishes. I ordered the soy chorizo omelette with potatoes.. Portions were big, their orange juice was fresh squeezed...YUM!!!. The service was great, too! When we were basking in the sun waiting for our table, the server gave us ice cold waters! :) I would definitely come back here for their outstanding breakfast and service!
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Category: American (Traditional)
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Category: Restaurants
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Category: Breakfast & Brunch
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