Restaurants

Osteria Bigoli opened in Santa Monica at 714 Montana about a year ago. In case you are wondering about its name, bigoli is a Venetian pasta made with a thick tube with a history going back to the 1600s, and the reference to the pasta in its name is emblematic of the restaurant’s self described signature style: old world food with a new flare.

Costa Mesa based King’s Seafood Company, which opened its first LA restaurant in 1945, has been in the restaurant business for 70 years. Today, it operates six different restaurant concepts including Water Grill which has locations in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Santa Monica.　

Plan Check Kitchen + Bar recently opened its fourth LA location in Santa Monica. In case you are wondering, the restaurant’s unusual name comes from its first location next to the City of Los Angeles Department of Building & Safety where architects and designers submit their plans.

Sushi Roku opened its first location as a sushi lounge in Hollywood in 1997 and has since expanded to Santa Monica, Pasadena, and beyond California to Scottsdale, Arizona, and Las Vegas. As the Santa Monica restaurant turns 16 in November, we thought it a good time to re-visit. We chatted with Tom Cardenas, IDG, the parent company’s VP of Operations and Chef Hiroshi Shima, Corporate Executive Chef of Sushi Roku and Katana.

Sonoma Wine Garden, with its large outdoor patio and breathtaking ocean and sunset views, Sonoma Wine Garden, has been a hit with customers since its opening in August 2010, and its large wine selection, and special wine events have kept customers engaged, returning for more.

If you are familiar with newbie Zengo which opened last summer in the newly remodelled SM Place, you know that it offers a Latin-Asian fusion small plates menu that has already earned a reputation as some of the best and freshest fusion cuisine on the Westside.