Playa Provisions

I recently found myself in Playa del Rey and had an unplanned dinner at Playa Provisions. I’m already wanting to plan my next trip back! The restaurant itself is very spacious with indoor fire pits and an inviting atmosphere. We came without a reservation and sat in one of the two bar areas.
Three of us split a few dishes that were each very delicious:
Shrimp cocktail — jumbo shrimp topped with mini shrimp and three delightful dipping sauces, my favorite being a unique tartar sauce.
Sauteed mushrooms — I LOVE mushrooms so I might be biased, but these were nothing short of amazing.
Brussel sprouts and shishito peppers — fresh tasting with the perfect amount of spice from the peppers.
Salmon and zucchini noodles with pesto — a Paleo dieter’s dream! Perfectly cooked salmon with a light side of zucchini.
Highly recommend giving this place a try… I’ve heard great things about their lunch menu!

Went there for happy hour and sat on the dockside. The margaritas were good and so was the calamari. Our server Val was great. We could see she had a very needy and picky group she was taking care of but she still gave us great and friendly service. She was attentive but not overbearing. Will definitely be back!

Get the tuna melt (during lunch hours) if that’s your thing! I crave it and go once a week to get my fix. I wish it came with a side for $ 14 but whatever

I have given this place many opportunities to change my mind since I live one block away. I truly honestly would love to like it.
What can I say? The food is disappointing and the drinks are nothing special. I think the best part is the ambience, view, the terrace tables, the fireplaces for the evenings and nights.
Sorry Playa Provisions :/

I’ve been to local gem Playa Provisions twice… once for dinner and most recently for brunch. This review is for the main dining space (haven’t tried the ice cream or whiskey bar yet).
We sat down and were quickly greeted by our server. We had a reservation, so waiting wasn’t an issue. Since it was girls brunch, cocktails were in order. I had a Moscow Mule, served properly in a copper mug. It was made to perfection and topped with a lime wedge and piece of candied ginger. My friends got bloody marys and were very happy with them, which even came garnished with a jumbo shrimp!
Breakfast portions were ample… among our table I had the crab benedict (which uses biscuits instead of the traditional English muffin) and surprisingly had baby shrimp in it. We also had a lobster roll and one of the egg dishes.
Naturally, we needed something sweet to cap off the day, so we split an order of the dipping donuts, which were donut holes (with chocolate chips inside) with a salted caramel dipping sauce.
The lot is valet, but there’s plenty of street parking near by.

Came here a few months ago and had dinner. This place gets busy after work so get here by ⁵³⁰⁄₅₄₅ if you want a chance to sit somewhere for certain.
I loved the ice cream shop at the front of the store/​restaurant. Unique favors and clearly they were popular but I didn’t get any as I was full after dinner.
I had the salmon (3.5 stars) which was pretty good. While it was moist and tender it originally came out more raw than cooked. I asked for it to be cooked to medium which they happily did. It could’ve used a little bit of salt to kick off the flavor but otherwise it was good. Even better was the spaghetti squash that came with it. That part of the dish was 4.5 stars. I could eat a bowl of that alone.
My dining mate had the shrimp Louie salad which I tasted. I give that popular salad 4.5 stars. They give you a heathy portion and plenty of shrimp that is nicely done. Very tasty dish.
Lastly was the chocolate dessert and cappuccino. Dessert was 4.0 stars as I really enjoyed the warm brownie outside part and the vanilla ice cream inside. Yummy!!! Couple that with the big cup (bowl) of yummy cappuccino (5.0 stars) and I was in heaven.
This spot is pricey as our meal came to $ 100 but it’s good food overall. It does get extremely loud so if you want quiet sit in the patio and enjoy the warmth of the sun.

The breakfast sandwich is awesome! Has a little spicy kick to it, so beware if you are sensitive to the heat. They serve breakfast until 4pm!
Great lunch location with a cool, eclectic vibe. The oatmeal cookie looked amazing and I must order it next time.
Anddddd they have a parking lot, which is great for this congested area which lacks parking.

Came on a Monday night, the week of Christmas, and it was packed despite it raining outside! Had to sit at the bar which is a bit cramped with the chairs so close together (The Dockside). Loud at some point and kinda pricey, but it’s ok.
The food: nonetheless was delish. We shared a scallops dish with creamed corn, crab mac & cheese, brussel sprouts with shishito peppers (it’s not spicy), and their bacon new england clam chowder in a warm bread bowl. I must say, I was impressed with all of them. First time I really enjoyed the mac! The cheese was perfect. Between that and the scallops, I think both had a tangy lime zest that enhanced their flavors. The creamed corn had a smooth, buttery aftertaste. Super yummy.
For drinks: I had a moscow mule, while my friend had the Veins of Gold + a Mai Tai. Def try the Veins of Gold, it’s dripping with honey!
For dessert: The BUTTERSCOTCH CUSTARD. It is amazing!!! The top layer is almond streusel, 2^nd layer is a gooey Caramel finish, and the best and last layer is the butterscotch custard. If you’re a sweets/​dessert person, you need to try this!
This would be a perfect place to go to after hanging at the beach during the summertime too. They have an ice cream bar near the entrance that I can’t wait to try eventually!

Came back because there’s really nowhere else in this hood. Service is still a mess — they can’t handle the line, serve ice cream scoops, make coffee, and serve the pre made salads. The menu still looks the same, still pretty solid but service is worse than ever. Also there are tons of kids running around. And now they require valet. I see they can get away with it and still be busy. Definitely not for me, and unless you want a place where your children can run around wild then avoid.

This review is representative of two separate visits. The first time I tried playa provisions (a few days ago) I ordered the sand dab sandwich and had a scoop of the coffee and milk flavored ice cream. The ice cream alone was amazing .4 stars. As for the sandwich, the bread, hot sauce and green goddess aioli were the stars of the show (super tasty). There were about 3 fried sand dab fillets on the sandwich which was awesome but a little excessive. There was also too much slaw on the sandwich (made with red cabbage) which gave the sandwich a slightly bitter taste. 3 stars .
Today I got take out and ordered a chicken and Brie sandwich. It was maybe one of the worst sandwiches I’ve ever had and I’ve had a lot of chicken and pesto sandwiches in my life. The bread was good just like w/​the sand dab sandwich as they use the same freshly baked ciabatta but the pesto and the rest of the sandwich as a whole tasted like sand and old food. The fillet looked as if it was microwaved /​reheated. I don’t know what happened. 1 star. Definitely not what you expect from the menu of a top chef runner up. Go to Mendocino farms and order an Italian love w/​chicken instead. It’s slightly cheaper and you won’t leave feeling crestfallen.

*** 5−6pm happy hours here are on point here. ***
I love their chicken skins and chicken satay skewers.
The skins are small, yet decadently delicious; addictive.
The skewers are juicy and well seasoned. For the trifecta,
try the pils on tap. It’s flavorful & balanced. Keep it up, Playa.
*** Then 6−7pm happy hours follow back in their whiskey bar. ***

We went back again two nights ago and I am happy to report improvement in the service. Our designated server came right up and introduced herself, and she was great, super helpful, pleasant. They definitely are still following somewhat of a «team» approach — a variety of folks bringing out food, clearing plates, etc. — but we felt less stressed knowing who our server was.
I will say, the reason to come here — foodwise — remains the biscuit bites! We got them again and they were PERFECT again! I also tried the crab pop. It’s like a crab cake stuck on a crab claw. It’s full of crabmeat unlike some crabcakes that can be full of breadcrumbs. And each one is a good sized portion. You don’t need more than one per person to feel like it’s a substantial starter.
We tried the «figs in a blanket» off the bar snacks menu. The figs were warm, there was cheese, there was crispy prosciutto. Overall, I liked the combo of flavors. It’s not a perfect dish, but it was good. We also got the squash hush puppies, which I would not get again. There was limited flavor in the puppy itself — all the flavor came from the dips — and it was heavy and fried and I think a bit of a miscue.
For a main we ordered and shared the half chicken. The chicken was great and the tomato salad that came on the side was exquisite. And we ordered a side of the grits, which I loved. The combo of the grits, made thick and creamy, almost more like a polenta, with the collard greens, the egg and the crispy onions, all somehow together packed a lot of good flavor in a nicely complementary way. Also, I appreciated the mix of textures — crunchy, creamy, soft, chewy… great.
By then we were stuff, so no ice cream this time. Oh, one more thing — we got drinks. I got the swizzle, I think it was called. The one rum drink on the menu. The drinks were gorgeous. And my drink was good.

I almost don’t want to write a review just so that this place won’t get super packed but it probably will anyway because this place is amazing!
Came here for drinks at the whiskey bar in the back — it’s a speakeasy feel, wood panels everywhere, hipstery bartenders and you can gauge your love levels with this awesome old school machine. Now go squeeze that handle.
p. s. milk and cookies. it’s no normal milk, it’s bourbon milk. it’s not normal if you don’t feel like it’s heaven in your mouth.
can’t wait to come back and try the food!

Stopped by this place for some ice cream. Little did I know that there was also a small restaurant and a bar in the same building, but separate from one another. Such a great idea!
This review is for the ice cream part of this business. There were so many delicious choices that I had a hard time deciding. I saw that there was a ‘thai tea’ flavor and I was sold. I was not disappointed. I would definitely return to Playa Provisions!

Really 3.5-Stars, because of service. I rounded up to be nice. I love the concept of Playa Provisions, four unique dinning spaces in one: King Beach (casual breakfast and lunch counter), Small Batch (homemade ice cream shop), Dockside (nice seafood restaurant), and Grain (a whiskey bar).
I made dinner reservations at Dockside with a girlfriend on a Monday night. It wasn’t too busy. However, our service was pretty sad. Our waiter was so inattentive that towards the end of our meal, I asked the person who finally came to our table to send our waiter over. It turns out that was our waiter, it had been so long since he had come by, I forgot what he looked like.
The food was overall pretty good, but overpriced.
–3 Salt Cod Clam Chowder $ 12 smoked pancetta, served in a sourdough bread bowl. (A bit too salty)
–4 Lobster Roll $ 19 pickled mustard seed, celery, & crushed potato chips (Perfectly buttered and toasted bun, tons of lobster, great flavors.)
–3 Iceberg Wedge $ 10 bacon, egg, tomato, blue cheese dressing. (Pretty standard, came with a lot of blue cheese, but was kind of wet.)
–4 Crispy Rock Shrimp Balls $ 12 chili aioli, cilantro & green onion (Nicely fried, spicy, but not too spicy.)
We ordered ice cream from Small Batch from our waiter and it was brought to us at our table.
–5 Oreo Cheesecake (My friend loved it.)
–4 Coconut sorbet with hibiscus (light and refreshing)
I would come back to Dockside to try other dishes and am intrigued to check out King Beach and Grain. We’ll see if service improves.

Oh boy this place is deadly for being so close to my current location of residence! I really like how this restaurant has 4 different sections — an indoor with bar seating area, an outdoor patio area with several fire pits (& blankets if you get chilly as it is just a few feet away from the beach!), a café area & also a backroom bar/​lounge area that has a whiskey tasting!
I’ve been here for brunch, lunch and dinner and am always more than satisfied with my meals.
For breakfast/​brunch:
The Breakfast Sandwich: AMAZING — the house pickled habanero hot sauce is to die for. It adds a nice boost of spice to the sandwich.
Cajun Shrimp & Dungeness Crab Benedict: So delicious — I’m a huge fan of eggs benedict and to throw in shrimp and crab on it was absolutely decadent
Redneck Benedict: Eggs benedict with a bacon gravy AND a miller high life that comes in a brown paper bag — a very fun concept and delicious meal!
They also server $ 1 Oysters for brunch — so very sweet, tasty and fresh! I would definitely recommend people to order oysters from here
Lunch/​Dinner:
Uni Ciabatta — toasted Ciabatta bread with a melted uni garlic butter… I could probably eat 3 plates of this. The uni garlic butter was decadent.
Garlic & Pepper Calamari, Clams & Rock Shrimp — This trio was very tasty and had a nice spicy tartar and cocktail sauce that came with it.
Clam Chowder w/​Pancetta in a Sourdough Bowl — oh my goodness… so so good and I really like how there were large chunks of pancetta in the soup!
Drinks:
Bees Knees — gin w/​lemon, tupelo honey & hibiscus. Very light and refreshgin!
I would also recommend to try their ice creams — they seem to change the ice cream flavors fairly frequently. The Thai Ice Cream is my favorite (so far… I have yet to try them all!) as it is very creamy and I’m also just a huge fan of Thai Iced Tea.

I don’t like that they don’t take reservations so brunch is always going to be tough. Wait for 5 was going to be about 1 hour, but fortunately they have open «communal tables» (typical), and we snuck into one.
However, I love the beachy calm vibe. Love being able to go to a trendy brunch place without it burning a hole in your wallet. The menu looked pretty cool. We went with the biscuit appetizer, the crab benedict, the breakfast sandwich and the chicken sandwich. Would definitely recommend the crab benedict the biscuit and the breakfast sandwich.
The breakfast sandwich is like a gourmet version of a fast food breakfast sandwich. But they do it right. This sandwich is deceptively rich and will fill you up fast!
The biscuit was the biggest surprise. They serve it with butter, but DO NOT ignore the caramel-​y sauce it comes with. It makes the biscuit the perfect sweet and salty combo.
Crab benedict was my favorite meal. Loved that it was served on a biscuit, and wasn’t overwhelmingly biscuit. Plenty of sauce, the egg was poached perfectly, and a generous portion of crab and shrimp. YUM!
Go get some ice cream for dessert if you’re still hungry (but you probably won’t be) — it’s worth it.

4.5 stars
Playa Provisions houses four different restaurants including an ice cream shoppe, a fine dining seafood restaurant, a casual brunch area and a whiskey tasting room. It’s a unique concept, feels trendy and lively and is and a great way to celebrate a special occasion.
I had the pleasure of attending a birthday dinner at Playa Provisions Dockside the other night and a week later, I’m still dreaming about the crab sandwich I devoured. It was like something out of a dream. Though I was with a party of ten, I felt like it was just me and the crab roll. With the lively bustle of the restaurant around me, I felt like I was eating in slow motion… I’d take a bite, my teeth sinking into the perfectly soft and buttery roll, crab meat overflowing, tantalizing my taste buds and spilling out of the sandwich, and buttery, juicy goodness trickling down my fingers. With each bite, I wanted more and more until finally my belly was satiated and I’d had my fill, giving the last few bites to my husband who was patiently awaiting a taste of the crabby goodness. It was a short lived fling for sure, but I treasured every minute of it.
I love that the menu has unique selections such as poutine, but still has classic selections that are prepared with perfect simplicity, like the crab and lobster rolls. They have five different kinds of oysters on the half shell for $ 3 each. I tried all five to gain and left with deeper understanding of oyster variety. Overall, prices are high…$ 26 for the crab roll, $ 10 for a side salad etc. But overall, I would say the quality matches the price and I would pay $ 26 for that crab roll again.
Service as Dockside was AMAZING. Shout out to our server Dominique, who impressed me all night with his patience, efficiency, great attitude and hospitality. Our party was large and disorganized, but he made sure everything went smoothly and we all enjoyed our experience immensely. This guys deserves an award.

Cool place to grab brunch! In Playa Del Rey and best of all they have a parking lot in the back! But I do believe they have valet on the weekends.
I came in on a Thursday and it wasn’t so busy. I really like the location because it’s right by the beach. Literally, right across the street.
AMBIANCE:
Playa Provision is super cute! It is a really casual place though. They welcome dogs as well! I brought my two pups with me and they sat us «outside». It’s an enclosed area with a ceiling… I wasn’t too fond of the setup because it was so enclosed and didn’t have any natural sunlight.
FOOD:
The best thing here is their Stumptown Coffee cold brew!!! SO GOOD. They sell it for $ 5 (which is a jip). BUT for Stumptown, I will.
I ordered their pancetta plate which comes with hashbrowns and 2 sunny side up eggs. The plate was decent. The pancetta was super salty and fatty but I have never seen a pancetta like this. It was HUGE! The hashbrowns were nice and crispy and the eggs were cooked perfectly. Oh, it also comes with slices of bread. I dipped my bread into the delicious and beautiful runny yolk. But the entire dish was a little over $ 14 which I thought was pretty ridiculous.
Overall, it is worth checking out but it’s nothing spectacular. They also sell Pressed Juicery here. I need to try their ice cream next time.

Lunch with a longtime co-​worker and we wanted to try something different and tasty. Off we went to Marina Del Rey. Upon arrival, the restaurant looked relaxing and inviting and had a fairly nice view of the beach with a cool breeze to boot.
We both decided to order something different and it was the sand dab sandwich fried with a light crispy batter tossed inside ciabatta bread with a spicy cilantro dressing and a heap full of coleslaw. The ciabatta bread was nicely toasted and which worked well with the sand dabs. The drawback with the sand dabs is there just wasn’t enough fish on the sandwich. Most of the time I was just chewing on bread with no fish. I would have gladly paid more to have extra fish on my sandwich. I’ll be back to try something else, as everything on the menu sounded good. I also tried their ice cream which was excellent including their bubblegum and peanut butter cup ice cream. Excellent!!!