Best Restaurants in Santa Monica: LA First Date Dining Guide 2026

Mélisse

Signature Dishes: Hay-smoked chicken, Lobster Bolognese with brown butter truffle froth, Egg caviar with cauliflower mousseline and whipped lemon chive crème fraîche.

Mélisse is Los Angeles's most accomplished fine-dining restaurant. Located in an underground room with just fourteen seats, it's the kind of place you book eight weeks in advance and think about for months afterward. Josiah Citrin, a James Beard Award winner who leads the Relais & Châteaux collective, runs a kitchen that operates at the intersection of precision and joy. Every plate could be a technical demonstration. Instead, every plate tastes like it was designed specifically for you.

The tasting menu moves through twelve or thirteen courses, each a statement: how to transform a cauliflower into three preparations that don't repeat, what happens when you smoke chicken in hay, why Citrin's lobster Bolognese is, according to Los Angeles food culture, the single best pasta on the coast. The courses build in intensity and then surprise you with something quiet and austere. It's not a meal; it's a thesis on flavor.

For first dates, Mélisse is a high-stakes choice. The price is significant ($399 before wine and tax). The room is intimate—loud enough that you won't hear neighboring conversations, quiet enough that whispers feel noticed. The pace is slow (expect 3.5 hours minimum). You're committing to the evening; make sure you're both ready for that commitment. If you are, Mélisse is unforgettable.

Wine pairing is essential here. Budget another $150–$250 per person for pairings that have been thought through as carefully as the food.

Seline

Signature Dishes: Roasted leeks with eucalyptus sauce, Golden osetra caviar atop hazelnuts and coffee anglaise, Squab breast with fennel sausage-stuffed leg.

Dave Beran spent years as the executive chef of Alinea in Chicago, one of the world's most technically demanding restaurants. Seline is his most personal work—inspired directly by his Midwestern grandparents' kitchen, it combines technical excellence with warmth that Alinea didn't require. The food is precise and playful in equal measure. You'll encounter dishes that make you think (the eucalyptus-roasted leeks), and dishes that make you smile (golden caviar with hazelnuts and coffee).

The room holds 38 people and feels intentionally intimate. Unlike Mélisse's underground bunker, Seline sits on Main Street and lets the neighborhood energy filter in. The menu is a tasting only, but the tone is conversational rather than ceremonial. Beran's signature is approachability: he trained at some of the world's most difficult restaurants, then chose to cook in a way that feels generous rather than withholding.

For first dates, Seline strikes an excellent balance. It's ambitious enough to impress, warm enough to relax into, and priced ($295) a full $100 less than Mélisse. The meal takes about 2.5 hours, which feels right—long enough to slow down, not so long that energy flags. Wine pairings are optional but recommended (add $80–$120).

Seline books quickly but slightly less frenzied than Mélisse. You might secure a reservation a few weeks out rather than two months out.

Pasjoli

Signature Dishes: Pressed Duck tableside on rolling cart, Chicken Liver Mousse Brioche with shallot truffle jam, French Onion Souplette, Burnt Basque Cheesecake.

This is where Dave Beran's second restaurant diverges from Seline: where Seline is tasting-only, Pasjoli is la carte. Where Seline operates in silence, Pasjoli hums with conversation and energy. Hanging plants, an expanded bar, playful plating—Pasjoli is fine dining that remembers how to have fun. It's also French bistro cooking at its most refined: pressed duck arrives tableside, carved at your table from a rolling cart, with all the ceremony that entails. Chicken liver mousse comes on brioche with shallot and truffle. The French onion soup is lighter and more elegant than the classics.

For first dates, Pasjoli is excellent: it removes the pressure of the tasting-only format. You can order what appeals to you. The price ($60–$80) is reasonable for this level of execution. The room is lively enough to feel special but not so loud that you can't hear your date. The experience is memorable without being stressful. Reservations are easier to secure than at either Mélisse or Seline.

Pasjoli also has the advantage of extended late-night service. If you want dinner to transition into wine and conversation until close, this room accommodates that in a way the higher-end restaurants don't always.

Citrin

Signature Dishes: Lobster Bolognese, "Dirty" roast chicken with jus and pearl onions, Egg Caviar with crème fraîche.

Citrin is Mélisse's sibling, sharing a chef and building but operating under entirely different rules. Where Mélisse is underground and intimate, Citrin is upstairs with space and light. Where Mélisse is tasting-only ($399), Citrin offers your choice of à la carte or prix-fixe ($65–$75 for four courses). Where Mélisse takes 3.5 hours, Citrin operates at a normal dinner pace. Both restaurants operate from the same kitchen. The lobster Bolognese—Citrin's signature—is the same one that made Mélisse famous.

For first dates, Citrin is often the better choice than Mélisse. It carries the same culinary authority but removes the high-pressure logistics. The room is large enough that you don't feel watched; the menu is controlled enough that you don't feel overwhelmed. The price is a fifth of Mélisse. The wine list is extensive and well-chosen, with reasonable markups. This is how fine dining should feel: ambitious but not austere, impressive but not exhausting.

The one drawback: Citrin can feel slightly corporate in a way Mélisse's underground theatricality doesn't. The room is beautiful but impersonal. This matters less if you're focused on conversation over environment.

Tar & Roses

Signature Dishes: Whole Fried Snapper with charred lemon and herbs, Red Curry Shellfish Pot, Oxtail Dumplings, Wood Roasted English Peas.

Andrew Kirschner's career prize came early—Best New Chef in 2008—and he's spent the years since proving it wasn't an accident. Tar & Roses is built around a philosophical commitment to wood-fired cooking. Every element that can be cooked over wood is. The kitchen is open; you watch the work happen. Flames, smoke, the smell of charred wood and seasoned vegetables—it's sensory dining without pretension. The whole fried snapper is pristine, head-to-tail, with charred lemon and herbs. The English peas come wood-roasted. Everything tastes of fire and care.

The wine list is warm and earthy, chosen to match the food's rustic sophistication. The room is loud and energetic without being chaotic. Servers are knowledgeable but not overbearing. For first dates, Tar & Roses lands in the Goldilocks zone: exciting enough to create conversation, relaxed enough to sustain it, priced ($50–$75) in the reasonable range. This is where serious eaters take dates when they want to impress without performing.

Reservations are straightforward to secure. You can often get a table a week or two out, occasionally same-day at the bar.

Xuntos

Signature Dishes: Baby squid balloons stuffed with minced shallots, Scallops on the half shell with saffron butter, Venetian anchovies, Jamón ibérico, Bikinis (tiny grilled cheese with truffle).

Sandra Cordero's two-story tapas bar is where Santa Monica locals take dates they intend to keep. The room sprawls across two levels with high ceilings, communal energy, and the kind of convivial noise that makes conversation feel less like performance and more like participation. You order small plates and share. The baby squid balloons are stuffed with shallots and cooked until the exterior is charred and crisp. Scallops come on the half shell with saffron butter. The jamón ibérico is what ham tastes like when sourced correctly. Bikinis—tiny grilled cheese with truffle—shouldn't work as a serious preparation, but they do.

The drinks list specializes in Basque cider and vermouth cocktails, options that pair perfectly with tapas and encourage lingering. The vibe is low-pressure and playful. You're not being tested or evaluated; you're being invited to relax and enjoy. For first dates specifically, this is valuable: the shared plate format naturally encourages interaction and generosity. There's something about passing food back and forth that builds intimacy.

Xuntos is the easiest of these restaurants to book and the most flexible about timing. You can arrive at 5 PM or 9 PM. You can stay for 90 minutes or four hours. The price ($40–$65) is the lowest on this list.