Groceries & Markets in Santa Monica

Since 1917, Horton and Converse has been a trustworthy and respected pharmacy chain in Los Angeles. Our friendly and knowledgeable staff will give you the personalized service that you have been looking for in a pharmacy.

Novel Cafe puts an elegant twist on the café experience—the tastes are always sophisticated, organic, and internationally inspired. Crisp salads arrive topped with grilled chicken and candied walnuts or roasted beets and goat cheese. Wraps are rolled with black beans and housemade pico de gallo or seared ahi tuna and wasabi spread. Some locations even serve dinner entrees, including roasted duck and rib-eye steaks, as well as microbrews and imported beers on tap. Espresso drinks, freshly squeezed juices, and organic, imported coffee and tea are on hand, too, to complement the eclectic flavors.

The Deluca family has always had seawater in its veins. In 1898, Naples native John Deluca settled in the port city of San Pedro and began to support his family as a fisherman. His oldest son, Jack, soon acquired a similar passion for the ocean—as a young boy he pulled lines at the docks and learned to fillet fish. By the age of 21, Jack co-owned State Fish Company with his friend and future brother-in-law, Gerald Cigliano. Jack went on to work for a decade at L.A. Fish & Oyster. He decided to branch out on his own in 1939 and set up a shop at the end of the Santa Monica Pier with his younger brother, Frank. Santa Monica Seafood Company was born.

Jack and Frank would grow the company for more than four decades, selling fish to famished tourists before selling fish to some of the top area restaurants, moving to a larger location to match their success. Their cousins and nephews would eventually purchase the company and expand it to new facilities in Orange County, Costa Mesa, and Las Vegas, with a corporate headquarters in Rancho Dominguez. The headquarters boasts a marine tank system that holds 12,000 pounds of live crustaceans, or one bodybuilding mermaid and all her weights.

Today, the four-generation family tradition continues at retail stores with cafés and oyster bars in Santa Monica and Costa Mesa. As part of their commitment to quality and respect for the sea, they work closely with organizations such as the Monterey Bay Aquarium and FishWise to help develop their research and educational programs.

Organic ingredients, kosher certification, and owner Desiree Adl-Revivo’s cupcake passion combine to create each hourly batch of Famous Cupcakes' cupcakes. More than 15 flavors, from classic to seasonal to specialty (vary daily), grace the menu. The indecisive can experiment with a sampler dozen, which includes red velvet, Va-va-va-nilla, Chocolicious, and 24-karat. Place an order online at least 45 minutes in advance. The cupcakes stay fresh for four days, can be frozen for 30 days, and keep for decades if buried underground in a styrofoam container.

Walking into Mickey Fine Pharmacy & Grill, one may get the sensation of having stepped into a snapshot of the past. “The Beverly Hills business lays claim to being the only remaining pharmacy in the region with a counter and soda fountain, where patrons can enjoy old-time favorites such as egg-cream sodas and hand-spun malted shakes,” says a reporter for the Los Angeles Business Journal. Perched at the original pharmacy counter, which has been serving food since 1962, customers hoist hunger-defeating burgers or freshly grilled sandwiches. Servers deliver hand-spun milk shakes and malts crafted with artisan ice cream and crowned with whipped cream like a court summons from King Candy. The aisles are still stocked with beauty and healthcare products, which customers peruse, distracted by the aromas of espresso, breakfast burritos, and housemade meatloaf.