Back On the Beach

For a place on the beach, you think they’d have a decent takeout set up. But they do not. I went to try to order take out and there were no menus in their little menu basket. Why they don’t have a menu posted somewhere is beyond me. The menu, once I got one, was very unclear. The woman at the register had to explain it to practically everyone.
Basically, you can’t order the whole restaurant menu. They have a selection of grilled items you can order off the menu, basically burgers and fries, or a selection of refrigerated «pre-​packed» salads, which I was told I could not alter. They are pre-​packed.
The wait for my takout food (a pre-​packed salad and a veggie dog w/​fries) was 20 minutes. They don’t do bags of any kind, which I get is a charge in LA, but… charge me. I had food for a couple of people and two drinks. The lemonade tasted like water with lemon in it. Practically no lemon at all. I ordered an ice coffee and they handed me a giant carton of half n half. That’s as good as it gets for iced coffee specialties, apparently. No flavoring. No individual cups of cream.
Then I looked at my salad and could see through the clear plastic that there was a hair on it. Right on top. Disgusting. I decided I couldn’t eat the salad. I asked for my money back. The girl working the register didn’t ring in a return, she just opened up the register and handed me back $ 11, the price of the salad. Which doesn’t include tax. When I grabbed a bag of potato chips and asked her to ring me up for that, she did of course remember to charge me tax for those. The irony.

We had to escape the inner city of Los Angeles. I prefer the heat rather than cold but when the city is expected to hit over 100 degrees with threats of black-​outs, this gal opts for a beach day. We headed to Annenberg Community Beach House and this spot is right there, making it the perfect spot to grab a bite or two with drinks.
Right on the beach, the spot to sit is outside on summer days but we opted for indoors since it had no wait. On a side note, their outdoor/​patio is right on the beach (you know with sand) so not ideal with stilettos unless you are willing to take them off.
The service was prompt once we were seated… Water, order drinks, drinks, order food and food. Service was prompt and friendly. I had their Calamari Tacos and they were amazingly delicious. Calamaris were fried to perfection, light and crunch. Flavor was right on the spot with salsa.
While seated inside, we enjoyed serene view of the beach and gentle breeze. You just can’t top that.

This place is so overrated!
The food it’s okay, nothing out of the ordinary.
Service is horrible! It took over 20 minutes just to get our drinks in, and then we never got a refilled. We had to practically beg for a refill and do so several times just to get ONE refill.
YES I GET IT! breakfast on the beach, but seriously go back to the basics and fix them!
Not worth the 40 minute wait.

After a long hike at Los Liones, we just wanted to relax, grab a bite to eat, hopefully enjoy a Bloody Mary, and put our feet in the sand. Everything came to fruition except the Bloody Mary. No worries though, we quickly set our sights on Mimosas. Why not? It’s Monday.
This little gem of a restaurant is on the sand… literally. If you sit out on the patio, kick off your flip flops and sink your toes into the warm and inviting sand.
We stopped in for late breakfast and not one of us was disappointed. Between the three of us, we tried Huevos Rancheros… delicious. Steak and Eggs, hold the potatoes. Beef Brisket Hash with poached eggs, also served with potatoes. Everything was served perfectly cooked, wonderful flavors, and in a timely manner.
No photos to follow this review… we were so hungry, no time to think about photos… afterall, we did just hike 8 miles.
Parking is metered, with lots of options for time limits.

Literally on the beach, and the only place in town that can claim that. Great location + great food + great service = 5 stars! From a quick look, it seems like most reviews are about breakfast and lunch, which is understandable for a beach/​boardwalk place, but dinner is right up there. And its a great value as well. The short ribs were as good as any I’ve had anyplace. The warm olive appetizer melts in your mouth. The proprietor, Fred, is a prince, with lots of interesting stories and info about the site and its history. Will definitely be Back on the Beach again!

Outstanding service, food & view! I live sting with my toes in the

When a restaurant is right on the sand, as this one is, it doesn’t have to be good.
And this one isn’t… just good. It’s GREAT!
Went there for brunch with my friend Judi from San Francisco (you know her, right, fun gal). I figured that people from up north would be happy to be on a beach that wasn’t like the arctic tundra… and there’s easy (if NOT free) parking (It’s $ 6 for two hours, but hey, it’s easy).
I was right. they loved it. But, what surprised me, was how much I loved it, too!
The waitress was tanned and friendly, the food arrived quickly, and we were all amazed at how good it was. «Amazed» is an overused word, but in this case, we literally were.
I had the brisket hash, which is like corned beef has but with… you got it. Beef brisket, sunny side up eggs, piquillo peppers, caramelized onions, horseradish crema.
The brisket was lean, tender, delicious. The piquillo peppers are flavorful without being spicy (I’m sensitive to heat and this delicious wasn’t hot). The eggs were perfectly cooked, and the horseradish crema was a licious addition.
Judi had a Market omelet with butternut squash, caramelized onion and she raved about it. Her husband had the Nutella french toast and it was gone before I could taste it!
A quintessentially LA experience — highly recommended!

Best spot for brunch and lunch when you are headed to dip your toes in the water. Very family friendly, in a classy way.

The snottiness most rude and arrogant management around. No need to spend crazy on parking and bland mediocre food when there’s Perrys right down the way with waaaaay better food and the same beachside setting and view, just minus the horrendous nastiness that these guys are trying to serve. No thank you.

I’ve been coming here and to Back on Broadway for about 20 years. I keep coming back and they keep delivering the same fresh and delicious meals.
I have seen a number of restaurants come and go. Some of the older ones try to get by on their former success. You’ve seen them and read about them. You walk in and the staff is bored, the environment is dreary or dingy and when the food comes out, you wonder how they stay open.
Immediately upon entering Back on the Beach, you enter a clean, crisp space, intelligently planned. The staff is appropriately cheerful and gracious. Dining in has a sense of rustic elegance, think beach house in the Hamptons. While the patio is very casual with tables and chairs placed in the beach sand. Umbrellas striped in shades of orange perfectly set off the turquoise of the sea and sky. These colors are reflected in the mirrors of the inner walls which capture the light in just the right way to enjoy a moment, afternoon, or evening.
Add to the ambience, consistently well prepared food, an unobtrusive wait staff, a decent wine list and you have an experience. All of this for a competitive price make BOTB an excellent dining choice.

This is the quintessential oceanfront spot that you probably haven’t been to. The restaurant is attached to the Annenberg Beach House, but you wouldn’t notice because most of the seating is outside, where your feet will be buried in the sand and your eyes gazing into the Pacific. I’ve always been on the prowl for a solid outdoor spot in Santa Monica where decent food, reasonable prices and balanced tourist-​to-​local ratio coexist in seaside harmony. I thinkI’ve found it. It’s beer and wine only, but the prices are not detrimental to your finances and the food is surprisingly good. Enjoyed my caesar salad, while my friend had nothing but praise for his massive breakfast quesadilla. You can’t come expecting stellar refined dining, but you won’t be disappointed.
But the real reason to give this place a try is the location. It’s located near the Montana Stairs, far enough from the tourists and relatively inaccessible (although adjacent to the bike path), so it’s never too crowded and usually full of local ‘latte liberals,’ families and the young professional crowd. With your feet in the sand and a plethora of umbrellas, it’s a win-​win for all.

Waited a while to be greeted.
Order was taken, left with empty water for 20 – 25 min. I know it’s tendency for hungry diners to exaggerate wait time, but even the food runner apologized for the food taking so long. And here’s why it took so long. My chicken sounded like a croûton when I bit into it. The salad had little to no flavor, despite being over-​dressed.
The server brought lemons and a different dressing, which I appreciated, but seemed annoyed with me when it didn’t help. The other suggested that perhaps it was because I asked for mixed greens and it normally comes on romaine. Yes, that must be it.
She offered to let me see a menu but after the long wait, and my friend’s chicken also being overdone and unseasoned, it wasn’t worth it.
She walked away and said she’d take it off the check.
Brought the check, disappeared again as we waited… and waited before flagging down a different server to pay.
Great view though…

I definitely like the location and to have my feet in the sand while eating. Practically everyone I took here from out of town loved it. The food is good and fairly priced. It’s an all-​encompassing American breakfast: pancakes, scrambled eggs. Pancakes could be better, too thick and too much air in the mixture. The brisket hash and eggs are quite good so is the burrito. Probably my two fav items on the menu.

This place is just awesome for kids. I came with my mom, my older sister, and my nephew and we had a blast. The eating area is definitely better outdoors. My nephew was playing in the same while the adults got to eat casually. Definitely a family friendly place. The play place right next to the restaurant is just the icing on the cake.
The best part is the affordability. You aren’t looking at anything too expensive for a place on the beach with the amenities that they offer. I am definitely looking forward to coming here regularly.
Parking is about $ 3 I believe. We came on a pretty hour it seemed and we still found parking pretty easily. This place can easily be missed by driving past it. It’s a community beach house if that helps finding the place. We drove by it once but after making a U-​turn it was easily found.
If you haven’t been here once with your family and you have a little one with you I definitely recommend it. This place is just awesome!!!

In simple words the food is amazing, it is a great places for kids to play while you eat. So the service was so terrible I can’t even explain!
Just getting married and stopping here with friends before they take off to LAX we stopped to eat. Server barley spoke to us, gave us drinks and that’s it. Others brought food and refilled. We wanted split check and he said they could not do that. I was furious after letting him know even before drinks we were splitting it. Never bussed a single plate we actually bussed our own table and once complained the manager just gave us money back and didn’t even say sorry.

Went here on the morning of my 10^th wedding anniversary for breakfast. Wowzers! The food is great, the atmosphere is great. Where else can you have breakfast on the beach with your feet in the sand.

As much as I would like to give an excellent review for Back on the Beach that can’t happen simple reason that the kitchen does not have their act together. It took a long time to get our order in addition they cooked my burger way too well done when I asked for medium well with a little pink on the inside. We were here during midweek approximately 11:30 in the morning and the place was not busy at all so there’s no excuse for this. I hope they get their act together for the simple fact this place has an excellent location on the beach and I would love to come back here and enjoy my meal.

Just came back from lunch here, parking was not easy as it was full on a Thursday afternoon at around 1pm (maybe it had to do with the fact that it was summer). But there was another/​bigger parking lot about a block down the way that was also on the beach. I actually hate driving on this road in Santa Monica because due to the space there’s no U turn and if you miss a turn you have to keep going for what seems like forever.
But anyhoo, I circled around the parking lot and was lucky to have caught a fellow leaving. Woohoo must be living right!
Today was too hot to actually sit outside and the inside was much much cooler. So my friends and I sat inside. Although the idea of sitting outside on the sand would have been a neat idea — makes you feel like you’re on vacation on an exotic island. ;)
The service was okay, albeit slow. I got the tuna salad sandwich. It was just okay. The fries that came with it was a bit underwhelming.
I couldn’t help but feel I like it was a waste of a drive to come here because I live at the beach and could walk across the street to the water or down the block to eat at the beach. Now granted there are no restaurants around me that lets you eat in the sand… Lol

A somewhat hidden location due tot he beach club, but worth checking out.
Sit out side in the sand with an amazing view of the ocean. The food is great; I had the ceviche and grilled fish tacos.

Be prepared for a serious long wait on nice days!
I give it five stars for the location and three stars for the servers. 3 ½ stars for food. It seems like they have way too few servers for the number of tables because the servers seem completely overwhelmed.
Your server can disappear for a half hour at a time, which makes it really annoying when you need to get some Ketchup or ask for the check.
All that being said it’s still one of my favorite places on the beach. I prefer to go during the week because weekends are crazy.