Restaurants in Santa Monica

Alcazar’s romantically lit interior, outdoor patio, and authentic Lebanese cuisine have won accolades from the Los Angeles Times and Westways. Tender marinated lamb tenderloin fills plates of lamb kebab, and appetizers such as the savory stew of fool mudammas delight taste buds. Live entertainment on Friday and Saturday nights enhances after-dinner drinks or arguments over which model of Tamagotchi was the most advanced.

Kalinka Russian Tea House celebrates the hearty flavors of Russian cuisine with authentic dishes of meaty dumplings, thin blinchiki pancakes, and wholesome soups and stews. Traditional Russian fare combines the earthy vegetables and savory cutlets of Slavic peasant cooking with the gentry's delicate French-influenced salads, desserts, and forks that won't work unless the pinky is pointed skyward. Eurasian feasts flourish when complemented with glassfuls of rye-based kvass imported from Russia, earthy cups of Turkish coffee, or fresh tea steeped in an authentic samovar.

The bartender receives an order selected from the chalkboard menu and turns toward the sky-blue backsplash of the wood-framed bar, grabbing the desired vintage from a selection of international wines that includes New and Old World-style bottles from both hemispheres. Above the bar, angled mirrors reflect the crimson walls that give The Red Room Food and Wine Bar its name, revealing dark wood tables where diners clink glasses of robust and jammy reds that can stand up to entrees of seared lamb chops and braised short ribs. Bubbly fermentations from France and Napa Valley accent crisp arugula or kale salads, and delicate, airy whites from Oregon and Argentina pair perfectly with edible bubble wrap. In the kitchen, chefs forge Mediterranean and continental small plates to accompany the bacchanalian pours with cured meats, roasted vegetables, and herb-crusted flatbreads.

Using predominantly organic and local ingredients, Coogie's Beach Cafe puts a distinctly Californian spin on traditional American comfort food—a natural combination to fill its traveler-friendly oceanside perch just off the Pacific Coast Highway. Chefs fete early birds with breakfast treats such as blueberry pancakes topped with maple-glazed granola and serve a spicy bayou scramble alongside zucchini muffins. Lunch and dinner find organic greens and wild arugula admiring the brawn of Angus beef, filet mignon, and herb-roasted free-range chicken. The menu is broad enough to harbor options for vegetarians (garden veggie tacos), the gluten-averse (quinoa pasta), and kids (sesame-crusted chicken fingers). House-made desserts include Granny Smith apple pie.

The bar sends forth a fountain of fruit smoothies, fresh-squeeze juices, homemade lemonade, and organic hot teas, depending on the season. When sea breezes are favorable, diners relax on a palm-shaded patio; otherwise, they munch beneath a big central skylight and weathered wooden surfboards, safely hiding out from vengeful waves.

At Char Fasl, chefs camouflage their light, healthy Persian fare behind flavorful veggies instead of heavy oils and sauces. They accommodate all diets with menu items that vacillate between vegetarian and meat-centric. Cooks skewer juicy chunks of meat for boneless-chicken kebabs, a favorite among customers and T. rexes recently off juice cleanses, and grill them with matching skewers of tomatoes. The Four Seasons dish replaces poultry with beans and rice crowned with eggplant and hummus nestled beside a spear of sizzling veggies.

This wide variety of cuisine is served in the restaurant's European atmosphere, which emulates the dishes' international origins, tinted with warm colors that flare to life in front of huge windows. Outside, diners feast and shadows hide from their owners beneath the shade of a tree. Another of the eatery's most enticing aspects unfolds on Fridays and Saturdays, when live music influences the movements of a belly dancer.

When ordering a cookie at a bakery, most people would expect to receive a single, circular sweet treat made of sugar, eggs, and flour. At Xtreme Desserts, however, a cookie is actually frosting, pie filling, or some other mixture sandwiched between two cookies. This intense take on treats extends to other confections such as brownie squares topped with ribbons of raspberry frosting, peanut butter cups, and cheesecake swirls. The shop also creates specialty cakes, which range from tiered, fondant-covered towers to oversized sandwich cookies that double as flotation devices in the event of a milk flood. Xtreme versions of cupcakes, bread pudding, parfaits, and cake balls round out the menu.