Restaurants in El Segundo

A shared love of beach volleyball led the two owners of Marine Street Cafe to move to Manhattan Beach, famed for its surfers and beach-volleyball players. The area’s history has continued to inspire the ownership duo—they have named some of their sandwiches after athletes who regularly visit the café. In their sandwiches—and the rest of the items on the menu—the team uses natural and organic ingredients to craft a wide range of dishes that draw from international cuisines. Many of the sandwiches feature a housemade aioli; that includes the Cooker, a banh mi sandwich that features grilled free-range chicken, pickled carrots, and sriracha. For breakfast, a housemade vanilla whipped cream tops dishes such as the belgian waffle and ricotta pancakes.

While you relax on the oceanfront patio and await lunch—starting with appetizers such as skewered rosemary ahi tuna with olive tapenade ($11.95) or Navajo corncakes with black-bean chili, feta, avocado, and sour cream ($10.95)—you can marvel at the human zoo rushing by. Play "guess that person's age and social-security number," or belt out a friendly hello to a Matthew McConaughey lookalike as he jogs by unsurprisingly shirtless. Before long, the amiable, chilled-out staff will come bearing a heavy turkey bacon burger with arugula, red onion, and tomato ($13.55); or the veggie dagwood pile precariously high with zucchini, eggplant, roasted peppers, portobello mushrooms, mozzarella, and pesto on focaccia ($11.75).

La Cachette is an intimate bistro escape from the rollicking area of Santa Monica's hotel strip. While you wait to be seated on the huge outdoor patio, sink into the lounge-esque, relaxed-fit bar with a Chile Martini (chipotle vodka, ginger, cucumber, $13) or a bottle of Green Flash West Coast American IPA ($7). Once seated, feast upon a plate of Mongol-horde-friendly organic beef tartare ($14) or a tower of roasted organic beets with feta cheese, avocado, and tomato ($10). Recall your days quaffing sea spray in your Jet Boat with the taste of black mussels with shallots and thyme in a white-wine-and-spiced-saffron broth ($19), or recall the days spent land cruising on the versatile Jet Boat with dark-meat coq au vin with veal bacon ($18). Complement your meal and yourself with a bottle of Votre Sante Chardonnay ($38), among other liquid wonders.

RAWvolution founders Janabai and Matt Amsden serve up raw foods chock-full of healthy vitamins and enzymes, earning praise from celebrities such as Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Alicia Silverstone. Forged from locally sourced organic produce, the Amsden’s array of gourmet wheat-, soy-, and gluten-free vegan fare tickles health-conscious palates at two café locations in New York City and Los Angeles. Their prepared-meal service, The Box, also fills clients’ fridges with four to five days’ worth of premade organic meals for at-home noshing.