Circa

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IMPORTANT NOTICE:
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# CIRCA IS PERMANENTLY CLOSED. They posted a farewell letter and temporary permit notice on their doors. I was bummed that I couldn’t squeeze another drink out of this place. You can view the same farewell letter on their website.
# I heard that Circa was bought out by 2 brothers that are planning to convert it into a steakhouse. I heard this multiple times. Once from a bartender friend and twice when I was drinking at the bar area in Houston’s Manhattan Beach oddly enough. At Houston’s, I eavesdropped on this couple talk about how their friends know these brothers that were looking to convert Circa into a finer-​dining establishment.
I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but once I heard Circa, my eyes lit up despite the fact my manhattan drink was seducing me to sleep. You tried, manhattan, you tried. I had a manhattan in the Manhattan Beach branch of Houston’s Manhattan Beach. She sells sea shells at the seashore. MY TONGUE! IT’S TWISTED. ARGHHHH!
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
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# I never had a chance to eat their food here. However, I will say that they had a great atmosphere conducive to drinking and chatting. Moscow mules had an overpowering ginger taste, but still refreshing. Other drinks were fine too. Again, it was all about the atmosphere since 20-​somethings went here for outings.
# Drinks hovered around 3 and 3.5 and food? IONO because I have never had the food. Still, out of old times sake and the ambience Circa provided, I will push it to a 4. Rest in peace, Circa.
# Honestly, the only two nightlife places in Manhattan Beach are Circa and the Strand House. And now, it will only be the Strand House. Damn you evil twin brothers (probably not twins, but still)! Damn you!
# Manhattan Beach needs more places like this to cater to the 20-​something crowd. Don’t get me wrong. The restaurants are great and the dive bars are just fine, but it’s nice to have a classy drinking spot around. On a tangent, I personally dislike dive bars unless they have great craft beers on tap and good food.

**This review is for drinks only**
Came here twice for drinks. First time we sat at the bar and had a stellar experience! The bartender was very friendly, knowledgeable, and made amazing drinks.
We came back the other night and sat at a table for a round of drinks and it was a different experience. Drinks were good (hence why I’m still giving 4 stars), but the service wasn’t quite as good. We had to hail over a server after sitting there for a good 10 mins before anyone acknowledged us, and it took another 20 mins to get the drinks made.
I would definitely recommend coming here for a cocktail. The food looks just okay and is way overpriced.

I like going to Circa for some drinks and dance, but after the way our group was treated by the Manager, Lewis (Louis?) last night, I doubt i’ll return. Our birthday group of 5 people approached the queue on a friday night and decided to wait as there were only 4 people ahead of us. Before we knew it, loads of people were being let in before us without waiting, and others cut into line in front of us. When we asked the doorman to control the line, the manager chimed in with: «If you don’t like it, you can leave».
And so we did. Rude.

Circa is a dimly lit and dark atmosphere… a great environment to chill with friends.
But nothing irritates me more when you can’t read the menu. The small candles are obviously there for decoration and not for practical reasons. The typeface on the menu is so small and extensive description of all these yummy sounding dishes. But WTH… why do they make their customers work for their food?!
My friends were pretty happy with their cocktails… Moscow Mule, Bourbon and Violet Hour. But I hated mine «Beach Don’t Kill My Vibe.» Couldn’t drink it at all. I was taking tiny sips for about an hour. My friends said if I didn’t like it that I could return it. But I was too lazy.
The dishes are small. We definitely ordered a few orders of the same dishes to be shared among 6 people. I love everything that we ordered but a few of them were our favorites:
–Crispy Chicken Eggrolls
–Crab Roll
–Grilled Prawns
–Grilled Octopus
I don’t eat beef but my friends loved the Wagyu Steak.
We were there for a long time. My friend made reservations and we sat at a prime spot with really comfy couches. The place turned «clubby» after hours. Overall this place was fun and I did have a good time.

Circa is a relaxed/​Chic and innovative little restaurant in Manhattan Beach. It has a good layout with a mix of bar area, casual couches and coffee tables, and dining tables.
The menu has both small portion items similar to tapas which they call morsels and full entrée items. The food was both tasty and fun although we found the number of entrée items to be limited.
We got there around 9 pm on Saturday without any reservation and we were able to be seated right away. We started off with ordering the cheese & meat board, it was delicious but the portion of the cheese was extremely small.
We also ordered the Brussels sprouts and Kale salad both were very delicious and portions were good.
It was very loud and packed inside and by 10 pm DJ was playing music and lounge area was full. If you are looking for a quiet dinning experience maybe you should skip late dining.
The servers, bar staff, host were all welcoming and friendly.
Over all we had a good experience, I would like to come back and try their happy hour.

Drink names are fun but unfortunately, they weren’t that good
Beach Don’t Kill My Vibe initially seems good but then leaves a weird fake aftertaste
Beers are standard
This is not a place for conversation — Music is bumpin here
It’s good for small groups but keep in mind that the place fills up quickly
One side is the party side and then the other side, there are some tables for diners
It’s a restaurant that wants to be a club — they will card you
It’s a fun spot when you want to punch up your night
Location: on a corner
Parking: street metered

I finally visited this place for the first time last weekend, and did I ever have a wonderful experience. I sat at the bar, and had a really great meal and a few incredible cocktails. The bartenders were all very friendly, helpful, and generally pleasant to converse with.
But let’s get one thing straight — DO NOT LEAVE WITHOUT GETTING THE STEAMED BUNS. Holy moly, those were some of the most savory treats I’ve ever had before. Absolutely incredible, and a must-​try. The butternut squash gnocchi was also rich and delicious — another reviewer advised to order this toward the end of your meal, as the dish is indeed quite filling. I definitely agree with this tip. The charred octopus was also wonderful.
Overall, one of the best dining experiences I’ve ever had. Wonderful location, great atmosphere, I can’t wait to return again and again!

While it’s quite a rarity to come across a restaurant that sends out literally nothing but delicious dishes, Circa managed to pull the feat off with flying colors! As it was a friend’s birthday dinner, we had several tables lined up together near the front window of the place.
From the garden, crispy brussies and exquisitely pillowy butternut squash gnocchi paired with delicious hen of the woods mushrooms started the meal off right.
Previously sea-​faring creatures included PEI mussels in Thai curry and charred octopus. The mussels were meaty and fresh and the curry bright and brimming with spice. Now while most restaurants serve smaller pieces of octo, Circa gives them the proverbial finger by throwing down a couple big ol’ tentacles! Quite the presentation and crazy tender.
And my favorite: land-​faring aminals. A trio of sliders including both cow and chicken offered a variety of savory textures and flavors from basic S&P to buffalo sauce-​age. Duck confit tacos were delicious as well and steamed pork belly buns were executed perfectly. Of note though was the hand torn pasta in the delightfully gamey lamb ragout with its al dente resilience.
The atmosphere is dark and lively — approaching a lounge vibe though still easy to converse. Our server took great care of us throughout the meal and answered all my questions regarding cocktails without a hitch. On that topic, the Penicillin here is top notch and easily one of the best I’ve had.
A most excellent destination for small plates where the dishes honestly aren’t particularly small, which makes the QPR pretty darn high too. Ordering seconds of dishes doesn’t happen much in my experience and we certainly did that on multiple items including the octopus and lamb ragout. I guess we just couldn’t quite get enough!

The renovation of this space turned it into a relaxed, central lounge with leather couches, a dark gradient color scheme, charming, exposed brick with dim yet adequate lighting which made it comfortable. I visited this bar on an evening when it wasn’t too crowded or noisy, which was nice. But it can get very crowded and noisy on the weekends.
The specialty crafted cocktails were good and served from a visually attractive bar. I would probably go back just for those and the Happy Hour prices. Food was OK. Portions were small (I believe it was meant to be) but had a nice presentation.

Circa has been on my list of places to try for ages now so I was delighted to see they had an offering for Dine LA. We were able to get a last minute reservation no problem and they even were able to accommodate us when we wanted to add one more to our party.
Everything on the Dine LA menu looked delicious so I couldn’t wait to dig in! They have a bunch of fun craft cocktails on the menu and our waitress informed us they have hundreds more that aren’t even listed. She talked to us about a couple popular drinks that weren’t on the menu and helped us select ones to our liking. I must come back for happy hour! 3 for $ 12 appetizers and $ 5 beer/​wine/​cocktails!
I got the Mediterranean flatbread as my starter which comes with cucumber, yogurt and black olives, tasty! My Hubby had the Thai Kale salad which I highly recommend. It had a slightly spicy dressing, so so good!
For dinner I went with the Seabass and the hubby had the Butternut squash Gnocchi. Both really tasty and perfectly portioned. I like being able to have room for dessert the end of the meal! Though in this case the dessert was the only thing I found disappointing. Almost everyone at the table ended up getting the churros. I expected them to be smaller, and softer but they were super crisp and almost the size of full size churros, they were huge (which had I been in love with them I might not have minded)! They ended up being really messy to eat between the crispiness, the cinnamon sugar and the sticky dipping sauces. I was wishing I had gone with the smores. They came served in a little square dish with a graham cracker crust, chocolate on top and whipped marshmallow on top. Much easier to eat!
Overall we had a great experience and will be back for happy hour sometime soon!

I’ve been crossing off all the places I have to try in Manhattan Beach! Jenn G and I stumbled across Circa due to DineLA and I am glad we went. I liked the 1920’s vibe and Prohibition inspired cocktails. There appeared to be a mixer going on at the bar and it was packed when we got there. Luckily, in addition to DineLA, Happy Hour was also in full swing!
Yay for a $ 5 Choose and Booze special as well as the $ 3 for $ 12 tapas specials which my husband saw and had to try since he wanted to try a few things. It was really quite a deal. We were able to order HH at our tables; we didn’t have to sit at the bar which is always nice. I hate it when specials are only restricted to the cramped bar area.
From our server, I learned that Circa makes their own tonic and it is red because apparently tonic is naturally reddish. Danngg, I like that I got a little drink education too, lol. Their cocktails also have a narrow block of ice in it — the chunk of ice is flavored with lemon. Just warning you in case you’re like, ‘Where’s my drink?’ or ’ I want booze not ice’. LOL. For $ 5 I am not complaining about the ice! And wow, I do recommend their gin & tonic. That is no Happy Hour gin &tonic at from that bar around the corner. Their Phil Collins is also a fav. with your alcohol, grapefruit and lemon + seltzer.
Although this is a tapas bar and their dishes are small, share-​able sizes, the kale salad was a larger portion (it seems like every place is on this kale kick). I enjoyed the seabass a little horseradish to spice it up. Our dessert came out early, but that was remedied easily enough, lol. I do love a good churro and the highlight of these were the two sauces it came with: chocolate ganache and vanilla caramel. The ganache was dark and bitter and was a good balance to the sweetness of the other sauce. WINNING. I realized we were here for almost 2.5 hours and the time went by fast! And no one threw the bill at us to hurry us up which was the best. Esp, in Manhattan Beach, people are always trying to turn tables over quickly.
Everyone in here was really nice and friendly from the hostess, our server and the food runners and bussers. Circa is one of my new favorite places in the area!

Really surprised by this place!
1. Loved the chill atmosphere/​vibe. I love the leather couches and mood lighting.
2. Great food. Must try the steak with mac & cheese (amazing garlic dipping sauce), sea bass and potatoes (cooked to perfection), veggie flatbread (crisp and refreshing), and churros with vanilla carmel sauce (the sauce alone is to die for — the churros are just the accessories).

Yay for @dineLA @CircaMB
I’m one happy girl when dineLA comes around because it gives me a chance to try out a lot of restaurants I’ve had bookmarked for awhile. Circa has been on my list of must try South Bay places and thanks to dineLA (and my Unilocal sis Jamie A), I got to finally go check this place out.
Walking in, Circa is small restaurant that looks to seat about a little over a 100 people. To one side is the bar area, which happened to be very busy and crowded for a Friday night ($ 5 drink specials and 3 for $ 12 appetizers would make many including me happy too). The rest of the restaurant is dark tables with lighted candles for dinner time. It’s a very cozy, classy restaurant.
Happy hour looked great but I really was here for dineLA and decided to save the happy hour treats for a future trip. For tonight, I went with the three course dineLA dinner. I got to try the Thai Kale Salad, the Butternut Squash Gnocchi and the Warm Churros.
The Thai Kale Salad was a great first starter. It was my first time having Kale with a Asian twist and most notable to me was it’s slightly spicy kick at first bite.
The Butternut Squash is a crowd favorite here and I can definitely see why. It’s flavorful, a little sweet and very soft. It’s one of the best gnocchi dishes I’ve ever tried.
The Warm Churros did not disappoint either. Thick and long with plenty of sugar sprinkled on top, it was the perfect ending to this three course dinner! I loved the dipping sauces. There was vanilla caramel and chocolate ganache!
All three courses at Circa definitely define what dineLA is about… getting a taste of the best cuisine in Los Angeles!

Came in at 7pm on a quiet Friday evening. Our waitress was very helpful with suggestions, starting by recommending a Kentucky bourbon drink that wasn’t on the menu. From there, we went with the beet salad & butternut squash gnocchi, followed by the duck confit tacos & charred octopus. The first two dishes were stellar, while the octopus & tacos were more middle of the road.
The menu does not have a bevy of options, but I would return to try some of the other signature dishes.

All you need to know is that the drinks here are the bomb! Their craft cocktail is pretty impressive and my favorite drink — Pharmacia — is one of the best around! It’s not on the menu but just ask for it. It is a tequila/​mezcal based drink with lemon and honey.
We had dinner here once but it was just okay. If you want a couple of nibbles to go with your drinks, by all means order some, but if you’re looking for a place to just have dinner, it’s not all that impressive.

I came here for a holiday mixer, where they had happy hour drink prices. The cocktails are deliciously crafted. I had the Maita’I Roa Ae!, which was garnished with mint and orchids. Yum! There are so many other cocktails I would love to try.
For food, I tried the Butternut Squash Gnocci which was to die for. I’m 100% going to come back to Circa to eat this! I had to restrain myself from licking my plate.
I love the décor and ambiance of Circa. The venue is very versatile with a bar area to sit out, a lounge area with comfortable chairs to sit at, dinner tables lining the walls, and a standing area with cocktail tables. Whether you are looking for a place to grab drinks with friends, or a place for an enjoyable sit-​down dinner, I’m sure you can fit it at Circa.
Finally, the service was friendly and attentive. Overall I had a great experience at Circa and I will be back!

Beach don’t kill my vibe…
Heh, I’ve been saying this alot ever since I found this on their drink menu. I’ll give Circa props on their drink names. The atmosphere is nice but casual, with a couple of big comfy couches you’d expect to find in someone’s living room. We lucked out with one of these couches, which had a view of all the TVs… perfect for football fans, not so great for non-​football fans. Anyway, the food was delicious. I didn’t really know anything about this place and we only came here because our first choice had a long wait. The veggie side of the table ordered the crispy brussel sprouts, butternut squash gnocchi and beet salad with persimmons (YUM!). The meat side table also added on grilled prawns, crab cakes and fried chicken lettuce wraps — which they were very happy with.
The restaurant started getting packed in the bar as we were leaving. I wouldn’t really come here for a night out since the bar is kind of small but for a dinner, it’s a great space.

This doesn’t happen very often. I wrote a less than glowing review of Circa after my last visit (my 2^nd time there) and the manager Luis wrote me back and asked me to give them another try. Circa is a «walk to» for us and we wanted to try and make it work. So last night we did.
I’m so glad we took up his offer, the food was just as good as it was the first visit and the service was spot on. We had tried the crostini before and last night it was heavenly again. The burrata salad was perfect and the cheeseboard was inventive and well thought out.
But, the whole point of this is… that a restaurant and it’s staff cared about what a customer thought and went beyond to make sure we had a god experience.
That is rare. I’m a fan.

I had the privilege of dining here last Saturday night, and am so happy to say that the drive from «the OC» was well worth it. I actually do leave my bubble once in a blue moon, believe it or not. The vibe was great as we showed up at 7:30 for our reservation and were promptly seated, in my opinion at one of the best tables in the house along the back wall. The restaurant was slightly buzzing with people, and the mood was set with the low lighting, and brick walls. The front of the restaurant is lined with large windows which are open to let the fresh beach air in.
Our server was friendly and extremely informative and after hearing about the hand-​crafted cocktail menu and the «drinks on draft», I ordered the «Perfect Lady» to start. It was a blend of gin, lemon and peach, with some whipped egg white which added a nice frothiness. I mean we’re all perfect ladies on the first drink right? There should be a sequel to this drink like «The Blushing Gusher» but, I digress…
The menu is broken down by categories of Garden, Sea and Land and is geared towards sharing plates however there are entrees on the menu. When I hear the phrase sharing plates, I get so excited because I know there’s going to be a party in my mouth. Being that we were a party of four there was plenty of sharing to be had.
Here is what we shared:
Squash blossom fritters– all I have to say is FLOWER POWER
Lemon Gnocchi-​Light and bright flavored with great sauce
Steamed Buns-​AMAZING, with the dream pairing of crispy pork belly and fried quail egg, and the softest buns
Wood Grilled Fanny Bay Oysters– Grilled in their shells and mouth watering
Chicken and Shrimp Wontons-​Dipping sauce was divine
Whole Crispy Baja Sea Bass-​Whole Fish fried to perfection topped with Sichuan sauce and peanuts.
Jidori Chicken Breast — was tender but seemed it was missing some flavor, however the rest of the table enjoyed it.
It’s safe to say we were stuffed, however we couldn’t keep from looking at all the other options on the menu.
We settled on the chocolate pudding for dessert which was rich and decadent. I’d like to see more dessert options available in the future.
Overall the experience was golden and we even had a visit to the table from Executive Chef Freeze. I’m already craving the Steamed buns, and oysters plus have a running list of other menu items to try, so we will be re-​visiting Circa MB in the near future.