where are the "cool" restaurants/cafes/bars in santa monica located? (house, neighborhood)

[YoungTraveler2011]

i dont even know if there IS a part of santa monica that has a lot of small businesses. like cool restaurants, bars, cafes like in venice.

ive driven a lot through wilshire and santa monica blvd. but i dont seem to see a lot of small business ...

are businesses in santa monica usually scattered all over the place or is there a specific "trendy" area?

i just moved into town to get closer to work & the beach and wanted to familiarize myself with it!

[jm1982]

There are a bunch of small businesses in SM. The area by the beach is more of the trendy area ,and it seems to have gotten more trendy recently. Looks like many new places opening up.

The best way to find places is probably yelp.com Just put in your address and you'll bring up tons of places.
It's pretty easy to tell which places are the hotspots (usually # of reviews)

[Fontucky]

Cool and trendy how? In an annoying hipster douchey way? Or an industry cool and trendy?

[jm1982]

Yeah true! Depends what you are looking for.

Also another thing to keep in mind is that Santa Monica has a huge number of tourists year round , so it might be harder to get a locals or neighborhood vibe. There might possibly be less tourists in the Downtown SM/Main Street area versus 3rd Street Promenade. The area is nice but also feels a bit snobby .

[yby1]

Main St. has more of what you seek. That is the more bohemian part of SaMo.
Main Street Home Page - Restaurants, Retail Shopping, Unique Stores, Beachside, Westside, Entertainment, Santa Monica

[hjt123]

Main Street

theres some 'hip' coffee shops scattered around too, like 18th street coffee house and unurban

[disgruntled la native]

The north (San Vicente/Montana), east, and southeast (Ocean Park/Sunset Park) parts of Santa Monica are sort of dead or boring. Heavily residential and lots of families. The action is at the far west end by Downtown/3rd St Promenade and the southwest end by Main Street.

Main Street is less touristy than Downtown/3rd St Promenade and caters to an eclectic group of locals.

[BRinSM]

Main St and Montana have what you are looking for.

[Cinema Cat]

I've lived in Santa Monica since the late 1980s. I hate trendy and cool. I avoid such places. I suppose you can find them on the Promenade, if you're into that. Plenty of pretentious places there. The kind with teensy-tiny tables and outdoor dining, where people go not to eat, but to impress and be seen.

Back in the late 1980s, before the Promenade (which I hate), there were plenty of honest, down-to-earth eateries in Santa Monica. Diners such as Biff's and Zucky's. Now they're gone. So too Norm's. And soon Denny's will close.

Right now, one of the last decent diners in SM is Izzy's on 15th and Wilshire. I like Izzy's. It's 24/7, with simple, basic diner food.

As for coffee shops, plenty of Starbucks in SM. I love Starbucks, though I wish they wouldn't offer wifi. Too many people camping out at Starbucks, pretending to work on their screenplays. I've actually looked at their laptop screens, and see the screenplay format.

Real, working TV writers have told me they never write in public. It's too distracting. Only poseurs write in public. Men with goatees or dreadlocks, hoping to impress aspiring actresses who might be passing by.

But if you like pretentious coffee shops, I hear the Unurban Cafe on Pico Blvd. is extremely pretentious. I've read reviews that the waiters there act like customers are a bother. And yes, they have poetry readings, and open mic nights where anyone can sing or play (or fumble through) a guitar.

[Panamajack78]

Santa Monica has a lot of trendy, small restaurants and bars. I think Main Street and Montana offer a really good selection. The areas surrounding the Promenade have great places, but not ON 3rd St. - look more like around 2nd St and 4th. Ocean avenue has lots of good places, too.