Restaurants in Malibu

The chefs at California Mediterranean Grill flavor Middle Eastern fare according to generations-old recipes the owners brought with them from Israel 26 years ago. After passing under crimson umbrellas into the café, patrons inhale the scent of thick laffa bread baking in a clay oven and hear the sizzle of juicy burgers and falafel balls frying atop grills. More than 14 salads fill plates with doctor-recommended amounts of vegetables, and kebabs culled from lean cuts of beef and garlic-marinated morsels of chicken supply bodies with healthy sources of vital proteins. For moderately sized meals, diners can thoughtfully share portions of tabouleh, hummus, baba ghanouj and other mezzes.

Operated by two friends with a lifetime of experience in the deli industry, Fromin's Delicatessen & Restaurant has conquered appetites with generously sized sandwiches, burgers, and California-tinged diner-style dinners for more than 30 years. The owners bring a wealth of life experiences to the table as they ply their culinary trade, with Maurice Solomon being a survivor of Nazi-occupied Belgium and Dennis Fromin being a fourth-generation deli operator. The longtime buddies staff the counter themselves, whipping up blintzes and omelets all day long, and layering towering sandwiches with chicken salad, hot pastrami, and corned beef. The pair's commitment to preparing traditional delicatessen fare runs deep. Dennis draws from decades of family tradition and Maurice proudly sports the name “Deli King” on his license plate and library card.

The Stand’s menu of chili dogs, burgers, and tuna melts evokes classic Americana images of diners and ball games. The eats may be casual, but the staff strives to give them modern style, earning a spot on Gayot's 2012 list of Top 10 LA Hot Dog Restaurants. Upon request, the staff will wrap burgers in whole-wheat buns or lettuce wraps instead of classic buns, and diners also have their choice of beef, turkey, or housemade veggie patties. Gourmet hot-dog and sausage toppings such as garlic mushrooms and corn salsa join traditional fixings such as mustard, sweet pickle relish, and tears from a recently defeated baseball team. To wash it all down, servers blend up 20-ounce chocolate and vanilla milkshakes and tap a rotating menu of draft beers, as well as root beer.

Opaque subdues sight in order to set other senses ablaze during a three-course dinner served in a fully darkened dining space. Guests arrive to a well-lit lounge area where they peruse and order from a diverse prix fixe menu devised by an illustrious local chef who engineers each dish to achieve the best in sight-free savoring, compiling interesting textures, rich tastes, and ingredients unlikely to shout "Marco Polo." The aphotic dining room then opens to a staff of blind or visually impaired servers who guides each diner to their seat in a refreshing reversal of roles, offering helpful suggestions and reassurance as guests adjust to their new and mystifying kinesthesia. Forks explore the eclectic textures of mixed green or heirloom-tomato-cucumber salads before meandering through savory dishes of garlic-topped filet mignon, roasted herb chicken, or sundried-tomato-pesto rigatoni. Seared ahi tuna steak dances a textural tango, lavishing tongues with a warm and smoky crust surrounding a cool, raw interior showered in sweet mango sauce, and a choice of desserts brings unlit evenings to a decadent end, as warm chocolate lava cake tickles mouth-roofs with berries encrusted in minty sugar crystals and eruptions of liquid chocolate.

When Enterprise Fish Co. first opened in 1979, its founders set to work renovating the historic 1917 brick building to emulate a classic Pacific-coast seaside restaurant. Today, the original hardwood floors, trussed wood ceilings, and brick façade remain, though an exhibition kitchen and faux bois–printed leather booths lend a modern air. Seafood such as oysters and salmon in a Coca-Cola glaze headline the menu, accompanied by fish tacos, fresh lobster tails, and mesquite-grilled prawns. In addition to its ample fish and shellfish dishes, Enterprise also whips up filet mignon, candied-apple pecan salads, and chicken sandwiches with chipotle aioli to serve in the dining room or out on the patio beside the fire pit. Old photographs of Venice Beach dot the dining-room walls, along with snapshots from other notable seaside spots, such as the Iowa coast.

Red isn't the only color on Reds Restaurant's wine list, which presents bottles that speak multiple languages and come and go as they please. While sipping vinos from California, South America, and Italy, guests can peer past the black-hole-black bar straight into the open kitchen. There, the chefs will summon smoked-salmon farfalle, spam-fried rice, and duck confit into existence, and bring life to desserts such as The Brownie and pineapple upside-down cake. Dinner is the main feature at this wine-and-tapas shop, but a lunch menu attracts a midday crowd to the Encino Place Shopping Center's second floor from Tuesday to Friday every week.