The Strand House

This is one of Manhattan Beaches great restaurants. I love this place from the service to the food and yes those views. Been coming here for a while and will continue each time I’m in this area.

If i could give The Strand House 0 stars for my visit I would!!! on June 4^th I had planned a surprise birthday dinner for my fiancé and his closest friends and the experience was absolutely horrible! It stated from when we first walked in and spoke to the hostess. My guests asked the hostess to stall my fiancé and I so they could finish setting up the decorations. When I told the hostess my name for the reservation she said we were the first of our party to arrive. I explicitly told the event planner at The Strand House that it was a surprise dinner party and my fiancé will not know anyone else will be at dinner. So now the surprise is ruined! Thanks a lot! But it continues from there. Due to the large group we had to use a prefixed menu which was fine. Included on the menu was rolls and butter for the table, now why did it take about an hour and a half from the arrival of my guests to have bread and butter brought out to us? I have never been anywhere and had to wait that long for bread and butter, and since it is included in the menu price we shouldn’t have had to ask for it to be brought out. So we finish dinner and now it is time for the bill, and let me say that when I made the reservation I made it clear that the bill would be split. The event planner told me that would be fine and that they could only split it up to 5 cards. When it came time for the server to calculate my bill he told me that I would have to pay for 3 additional plates since I reserved for 15 and only 12 showed. This got me very upset so i asked to speak to the manager. The manager told me that when you make a large reservation and you confirm that number of people you must pay for them. I would have totally been fine with this if the event planner had confirmed the reservation with me. When i told the manager it was never confirmed for a final count he checked the logs and the event planner lied saying she confirmed with me on ⁵⁄₂₇. the form i had to submit to make the reservation said reservations would be confirmed within 48 hours of the event. I sent the form in on ⁵⁄₂₃ to make the reservation and that was the last I heard from the event planner… and even if she did call me on ⁵⁄₂₇ to confirm the reservation that was 9 days before my dinner party! Now out of the 5 bills, there were problems on 3 out of 5, including being charged for things not ordered to adding way way too much gratuity. All the errors were adjusted in the end, after the manager made it seem like he was doing me a favor, but can you imagine how embarrassed I was in front of my guests that they all had to audit their bills for accuracy.
Ok so now dinner is done and we go downstairs to The Strand Bar where we reserved a table that had a 2 bottle minimum. When i gave my card to our servers for the bottles I told her that I did not want any of the guests ordering drinks or shots on the table and to start a separate tab for them or have them go to the bar. At the end of the night I did not check the bill thoroughly but when I reviewed it, to my surprise there were 6 shots added on to the tables bill. When speaking to my friend the next day she told me that the server was saying how tipsy she was… could this be why i was charged incorrectly?
I had made a request for the General Manager to contact me over a week ago so I could have the chance to discuss the evenings event with him and I have yet to hear anything from him. You would think when you have customers spending about $ 2,500.00 in one night you would take their concerns seriously.
I have loved coming to The Strand House but after this experience they have probably lost me and all the guests that evening as customers.

Came here for a private end of season event with the Los Angeles Kings. Parking can be hard to find but we valeted it at the Manhattan Beach Post.
We checked in and low and behold we happened to run into Kings great Luc Robitaille. He was checking on the Stanley Cup Finals score on one of the big screens. Such a nice guy. Nice elegant look and feel of the interior. They did have screens at the bars upstairs and downstairs to watch the game.
A lot of staff bringing out and refreshing food. They had light appetizers of seafood (crab, shrimp and oysters) and sliced meats and cheeses. They had a whiskey tasting table and their normal list of alcoholic beverages. They even added a couple of Kings themed ones. We started off with some Stella Artois. They do Moscow mules well and serve them in copper mugs. Their wine list is pretty impressive.
Many of the Los Angeles Kings VPs and VIPs were in attendance: Luc & Stacia Robitaille, Daryl Evans, Jim Fox and current players Milan Lucic and my favorite Tyler Toffoli.
For dinner they had a very succulent short rib (that was to die for), chicken and salmon. The chicken was very tasty too. The best item from the dessert display were the fresh donuts. Oh my God. Great food, people and drinks what else could I ask for?

We were in Manhattan Beach for one night and so glad we ended up here for dinner.
We were seated in the upstairs dining room and there at the perfect time to watch the sun set– Just gorgeous. Even for those with their back to the window there is a large mirror and it seems as if you’re just looking outside.
We shared the short rib rigatoni, the tarte flambee flatbread and the kale caesar. All were fantastic but the rigatoni was a standout. So flavorful, the pasta was perfectly al dente.
The service was fantastic and didn’t let our wine glasses go empty!
We’ll definitely be back if we’re ever in the area again!

Unilocal challenge 2016 (⁷¹⁄₁₀₀)
SOLID 4.5 STARS BECAUSE OF THE VIEW hehe. My friend and I came out here to have brunch «on the beach.» The décor here is SUPER nice and it has a GREAT view of the MB pier.
This place actually pretty a little overpriced and expensive for what you get but hey it’s brunch and you’re by the beach lol. I was expecting to spend some money. The food here is pretty good but not over the top. I got the Stuffed French Toast which looked and sounded really good. Although it was delicious, I feel like I could gotten something else much nicer. My friend got the Fried Chicken and Waffles. There was something to the waffles that made it really tasty and addicting. I’m assuming it was the butter but it was really good.
At the end, of course we had to get donuts (my favorite of the whole meal). They’re the perfect sized donuts with perfect texture, each with unique flavors. It was soo light and fluffy, I was in donut heaven. Definitely up there on my donut list.
RECOMMENDATIONS: DONUTS!!!

Came here to celebrate my brothers wedding the day after for brunch. Although we did have a reservation, it still took about 20 min for them to set up since we had a large party. The hostess recommended that our party visit the bar downstairs beforehand since she knew we would still have a long wait.
After waiting 20 min, we got seated. Our table was wonderful. Right in front of the ocean. Since we were celebrating a wedding and we had to wait so long for our table even with reservations, we were given 2 small fruit platters on the house.
I’m a brunch person and I love corn beef hash – it’s my go to item to order. I got that and it did not disappoint. Delicious.

Drinks: They’re good. Not great, not bad, just good. Average stuff for LA standards.
Food: Overpriced. Don’t get me wrong, the food is good, but again, it doesnt blow me out of the water. The last time I went for dinner, I ordered the duck and it was actually a little dry and flavorless. Again, not awful, but not spectacular… especially for the price. There are places down the street with better food worth the price than The Strand House — sorry.
Night Scene: if you’re 37+ and ready to mingle, this is where it’s at! However, if you’re under the age of 30, I would seriously question why you would go here anytime after 10PM on a weekend. The one time I went, the DJ was playing really awkward remixes of 70s/​80s hit songs and EDM beats. Like, Hotel California with an EDM beat that was slowed down to fit the tempo of Hotel California. Like, he actually played it, I’m not just giving a hypothetical example. It was awkward, it was not dance-​able, and I really couldn’t figure out what crowd he was trying to cater to. But I mean, it could’ve been an off day. Maybe I’ll go one more time to give it a second chance.
The view’s good, so there’s that.

I want to give this place 3.5 for the food and 5 for the view, so let’s call it 4. This place is an incredible spot to grab some appetizers and drinks while you unwind and overlook the water.
I have had a lot of the appetizers here, including the Hamachi, wild boar sausage pizza, foie gras, and Brussel sprouts to name a few. The hamachi (yellowtail) is hands down my absolute favorite. Each time I have gotten it, it’s been very refreshing with a great balance of flavors and textures. This dish truly is the all star here. Other apps have been pretty good but nowhere close to being as good as the hamachi. I’ll certainly return for dinner soon and hope I can experience more food as outstanding as the Hamachi.
There’s a decent wine selection here, and the service has always been friendly and attentive. Seating can be a bit limited in the bar area downstairs, and you may need to share a seating area with strangers but the crowd here is generally friendly. Neat, trendy but casual attire seems to fly between 5 and 7pm.

Overall, the experience was good, but the food missed the mark every so slightly. We’ve had much better food elsewhere. Food was a 3.5, but everything else was a 5.
Service /​/​/​Menu: Customized to celebrate our Five Year Wedding Anniversary. Gold star and warm welcome!
Service /​/​/​Staff: Hostess was prompt in giving me a black napkin upon request. From server to busser, they were friendly and attentive. They give you a buzzer to let you know your table is ready.
Service /​/​/​Compliments: Manager greeted us with free glasses of Mumm sparkling wine. Another gold star!
Food /​/​/​Menu: Great selection of unpretentious apps of pasta, wood-​fired pizzas, and entrees of seafood and meats. Sides sound yummy, too. The execution on the apps were MUCH better than our entrees, unfortunately. Entrees are not worth the $ 40, each. It’s best to stick to sharing dishes while enjoying drinks and the view. There are so many other upscale restaurants that do Mains better.
Entrée /​/​/​Pork Chop: Served medium, but ours was well-​done. While the kitchen was working on the refire, the manager brought out a crudo app on the house. 2^nd pork came out: Seasoning was good. Presentation was great! Bone-​in made the meat juicy and it wasn’t gamey. Gastrique and cherries did not have enough acid. Cauliflower purée was grainy and off putting. Rating: 3.5
Entrée /​/​/​Branzino: Well-​seasoned and nice presentation. Not fishy at all. Sadly, the risotto on bottom was runny and mushy, the fish skin wasn’t crispy, and the fried sun-​chokes as garnish were stale. Also, it was one-​note and needed acid or something to brighten it up. Rating: 3 and I would never order again.
Cold Appetizer /​/​/​Raw Oysters (Chef’s Special for ½ dozen for $ 20): Fresh and crisp. The house-​made Tabasco dropper was awesome. The Kusshi were a bit fishy and creamy. Other two varieties were good.
Cold Appetizer /​/​/​Hamachi Crudo: Yellowtail was fresh and soft. The Himalayan sea salt added texture and an extra nice touch. Picked red onion was a must as it needed something to counter-​balance flavors, especially with the creamy avocado.
Hot Appetizer /​/​/​OCTOPUS: Well-​seasoned (i.e., salty), very tender, not fishy, and excellent char. It’s a savory dish, that, IMHO, needed more acid. Husband said it was worth the $ 16 to try.
Dessert /​/​/​Citrus Cheesecake Tower: A deconstructs dish that is pretty and tasty. There is more cream cheese mousse to the crust crumbs and filo. The sorbet was just what we needed to cleanse the palette. I enjoyed the supremed citrus segments a lot.
Dessert /​/​/​Mini Donuts: We got a complimentary plate with super light and soft donuts. There was a fine crumble and caramel sauce to dip them in. Surprise! Pop Rocks dust. I loved the flavor, texture, and party in my mouth.
Ambience /​/​/​The View: Ceiling to floor glass walls with a table-​side view of the beach. ‘Nuff said. And, not a bad seat in the house.
Ambience /​/​/​The Foyer: Beautiful tall vases of peonies in the entrance. Low, comfortable lounge chairs while you wait for table.
Ambience /​/​/​The Crowd: From classy to trashy. Loud & lively.
Final Recommendation: Good for a small group who want to nosh, drink, and take in the sunset or beach waves in the dining area. Want to be more hyphy? Go downstairs in the darker bar area. Romantic dinner? Maybe not so much.

As we walked closer to the water, we already heard the cheers, pleasant conversation from the Strand House.
The crowd looks very sharp and very engaging. My «eye candies» radar popped up from the top of my head like a bean sprout (I have the latest model: 4 cm tall in bright green)
The aroma from the kitchen was arousing to us as we were hungry and been stuck in the ‘expected but in denial’ 55 mins traffic from west Hollywood.
No matter how often we drink outside there is still half a second pause moment when we heard the word ‘ID.’ My armpits were sweating as I was looking for my passport.
The lady that took care our table reassured us with a smile and totally put us at ease. She then asked gently if we preferred a salt laced glass. Soon enough the margaritas arrived and they were DAAAANG and we started to giggling. (I ending up getting slices of lemon and my date rolled up his eyes lol)
Little did we noticed our table were quite nice, close to the window and beams of sunlight falling onto us. Watching the sunset, wine & dine over light silly conversation is a must at the Strand House.

This place is amazing ! It is so pretty here and I am glad i stumbled upon this restaurant because MB Post was closed for an event. This place exudes swanky and the view upstairs is quite refreshing during the day time! Our waitress was very nice and attentive to us as well. My group of three ordered a steak dish, a sandwich dish, and a salad.
I personally had the Ahi Tuna Citrus Salad with Avocados and a Citrus Dressing. I usually NEVER order salad but this one called to me with the citrus notes and descriptive adjectives of avocados and Seared Ahi on their menu. I was sold! When it came out I was blown away by the color of the dish and the vibrancy. I could not wait to dig in and when I did, I was not disappointed. The amazing flavors of tangyness, creaminess from the avocado, and savoryness from the Ahi blended so well. I recommend this salad to everyone!!! :D
We also ordered fries but the waitress forgot to input it so it was on the house! The fries were HUGE and more than enough for us three. Since she made the mistake, she also gave us a free dessert! Talk about service! They were donut holes with salted caramel sauce and chocolate poprocks. AH.MAY.ZING. I had no shame and licked all that sauce and poprocks off hehe. No shame.
So if you have a future date, family dinner, special event I highly recommend this restaurant! It will not disappoint!

Amazing view from our table, wonderful service, great atmosphere! Came here for my girlfriends birthday dinner. There were 9 of us and the bill came to about $ 1100. So if your going for dinner and drinks, it can add up — totally worth it!
I had the Alaskan Halibut with asparagus, buttery melt in your mouth! Also tried the Mac and cheese as an appetizer — to die for! The cheese was rich and flavorful. For my drinking pleasure, I had Le Macchiole — delicious red wine. I could vividly taste the fruit. We got a few deserts and shared. My favorite was the citrus cheesecake tower very light, airy, not too sweet with a side of tart tangerine sorbet… Heavenly! Don’t forget to order the doughnuts! It’s literally a flight of doughnuts… various different flavors. A few of us sampled all of them!
After dinner, we went downstairs where we continued the birthday celebration with more drinks, music and dancing. There is a bar on the first level with DJ playing our favorite songs. It was a great way to end the evening. We will definitely be back.

Got to update and fork over one more star over to TSH.
Yes, it’s incredibly beautiful which is enough for me to bring out-​of-​townersm. But also, the food has gotten better and the staff is very friendly.
It is *always* packed in the down stairs bar. Always. And the crowd, … well, you’ll see. It’s worth the walk around to check it out.
But, UPstairs is wearing the dining is… and there’s *another* bar up a few steps to the left from there. It’s the last place to fill up and the views are all that. When the sun isn’t so glaring, they hit an automatic button that lifts the shades revealing the giant windows, exposing the most magnificent view of the ocean.
Drinks are great, always clean (especially those giant windows which most be tough)!
Hostesses do there best to get you in without a reservation… never snobbiness.
So, I went from a rating of «A-​Okay» to «Yay! I’m a fan»…
Stop in for a cocktail or dining…
Tip: Make a reservation and request the outside table closest to the ocean.

The Strand House serves as a wonderful bar with a view.
I stopped into The Strand House on a Saturday afternoon to enjoy a few beers with some fantastic company and this served as a pleasing-​enough backdrop. The downstairs bar is more conducive to drinking in my opinion and they do not make you compromise on the view to do so as the elevated location of the restaurant/​bar offers spectacular views on both levels. The interior is both modern and clean with a service team that seemed more than willing to satisfy.
The local crowd has a strange «douche meets bro» vibe that reminded me a lot of the Newport Peninsula but they faded into the sonic distance fast enough. The drink prices are about average for Manhattan Beach which is to say they are rather expensive but that should be expected. They also offer a full menu that I didn’t pay any attention to.
As a drinking establishment alone I would say that The Strand House is good for one or two rounds to take in the view and then move on to the next spot.

I just love restaurants that have beautiful views and not at a super high cost!
A group of 10 us came for brunch on a Sunday around 12pm and absolutely loved the whole experience. First of all we sat outside where we had a beautiful view of the beach. The drinks are pretty good, and yes it definitely adds up to order a few drinks along with food.
I ordered the lobster roll and it was just perfect! They are not stingy with the lobster so I got pretty full with it.
Service was great and our waiter kept coming to us whenever we needed him. Can’t wait to come back!
One thing though, it gets extremely packed!!! If you can, make reservations even though you have to put a deposit for a reservation. If you know your party is coming for sure then it’s not a problem.

Beautiful views of the pier and amazing atmosphere that resembles a grand steakhouse… This restaurant serves up amazing meals that can be changed to accommodate for those who are vegan and gluten-​free.
One of my favorite dishes here was the cauliflower with the coconut curry paste. It was a perfectly roasted cauliflower steak with raisins pinenuts and some spicy tang to it. Another table favorite was the crunchy brussels sprouts that came with the black garlic aioli on the side. It was so addictive and perfectly crunchy!
Service was wonderful and truly a pleasant dinner in the Manhattan beach area.

Came here for appetizers/​drinks not expecting to actually end up here but it was a pleasant time. Friendly hostess and very modern feel. It’s extremely dark in this place. I get the whole ambience aspect but it was really too dark. The crowd was also an older crowd I would say mainly 50+ with a few younger diners.
Here’s what we got:
Fries — can’t go wrong with fries. It was crispy and hot with a soft cooked interior. Perfect. Came with a garlic aioli which was yum and a roasted tomato ketchup which was okay.
Roasted Brussel sprouts — yum! I love me some Brussel sprouts. Cooked well and in that black garlic aioli. This was a hit at our table. Soooo good!
House-​made chicken sausage pizza — this was okay. The dough was good. It isn’t really crispy at all but more chewy which I surprisingly didn’t mind. The actual pizza, however, I felt fell short on flavor. Nothing stood out at me. I can’t say that I would order this again.
Grilled Spanish octopus — this was pretty good. Good flavors with a nice char on the octopus. I’ve been trying to get myself to eat more octopus and give it a try at restaurants because I used to not like it but this place has a pretty good octopus dish. Flavors worked well.
Hamachi Crudo — YUM! definitely try this one. SOOO good. It’s light. It’s fresh. Creamy but tangy. We had two orders of this and we could’ve had more.
Buttermilk Parker house roll — they really should be giving this out for free I feel but they don’t. Nevertheless, it’s really good. It’s almost a bread-​y biscuit texture and comes with whipped butter. Yum!
Charcuterie and cheese board — I get this anywhere it’s available. This place has a pretty good board with different kinds of cheeses and meats. We got the 6 for $ 36 which isn’t bad price-​wise. All the selections on the board were really tasty. Comes with pickled veggies which were yum! I wish they included what was on the board on the menu but the server did explain as he served us.
Overall, food here was pretty good. They’ve also got a pretty good wine menu. Excellent service. It’s right off the Manhattan beach shoreline. Our table had an unobstructed view of the ocean which was great. Seems like a nice place to have a date or celebrate an anniversary. I would come back here.

Come here for the atmosphere, but not for the food. Very lovely and wide open view of Manhattan Beach and the pier, with chic contemperory décor inside. Looks like a good spot for a business meeting or a date, but be prepared to pay an arm and a leg for small mediocre portions.
I got the barbacoa tacos, and each taco was the size of a baby’s fist. The guacamole on it was flavorless. It was $ 16 for my «entrée» but it was barely the size of an appetizer. It was also $ 3.50 for a small glass of diet coke, which I finished in four sips. This place left me hungry for more and the portions were so disappointing. The bartender was nice though.

Went for lunch at this beautiful restaurant. We were seated on the second floor, where everyone else were at this time apparently.
Once we emerged from the stairs onto the 2^nd Floor, it made perfect sense why everyone is seated here for lunch: THE VIEW.
It always kinda didn’t make sense to me why people would like to have dinner at ocean-​adjacent restaurants. The ocean is dark and you can’t see anything. During the day, you can enjoy the view.
Anyways…
The service is great. Quick, friendly and efficient.
The food is very good.
Roasted Cauliflowers and Eggplant was really really good.
The Lobster Roll is so worth the price tag with large chunks of the lobster present. The mushroom and lime flavor accent made it stand out.
Bonfire on the Beach was soooo good. It’s basically a fancy deconstructed s’mores. I probably had you at s’mores.
Street parking not too hard to find.

This review is long overdue! I’m a regular at Strand House and I don’t typically review the bars I go to because who knows how accurate those would be… But for this experience I was completely sober so here we are! ;-)
I organized a bachelorette party for ~ 12 girls on a Saturday night, and reserved a table so I actually got to experience the «service» aspect of their nightlife. The reservation process was very easy which I appreciated as I had a ton of things to plan for that weekend.
When we arrived, we were greeted by Frankie one of the security team. He was very friendly and was quick to get us set up. Then JP came to greet us and had another member of security escort us to our table. When we got to our table our server Stevie came by immediately to take our order and she continued to be fantastic the entire evening despite the growing «rowdiness» of our group. She was a saint! And the bartenders were so great! Anything we ordered it seemed like was brought immediately. They really work together as a team.
The girls woke up the next day RAVING about their evening. They kept saying that they really felt like they were VIP the entire night.
It is often difficult for me to wear the hat of a non-​local, and review my «spots» through an unbiased lens, and so it took this evening for me to really appreciate Strand House as a business. They are extremely organized and customer service oriented, and played a huge part in one of the best weekends of my best friend’s life. She and her friends, many of whom flew in for this special weekend, had an absolutely amazing time.
JP and his staff are on top of it! Great location and if you have a special night planned and want to stay in the south bay, this is your spot.