Santa Monica Yacht Club

The food here is amazing just like the sister restaurant tar and roses. I loved the crunchy soft shell crab. The waiter must have loved us for spending $ 400 between 2 people. I got to try a lot of dishes and I am coming back again for more.

Really great food, especially seafood.
My husband and I enjoyed tuna poke (just like in our Maui memories), yellowtail with citrus and ricotta whip, lobster burrata toast, lamb kabobs with harissa and banana raita, octopus skewers with tamarind dipping sauce, grilled asparagus with soft egg, and pan-​fried mushrooms and shishito peppers, plus one cocktail and two glasses of wine for a hefty $ 180, pre-​tip. So, yes, it’s on the pricey side. I’d say specifically the wines are over-​priced, we’ve had much better for $ 16/​glass (and they came in the correct glass…). The price for the food, on the other hand, was totally justified. I’m also not usually a fan of having so many different staff members attend to the table in various ways.
But service was very friendly, food came out pretty quick, and we will certainly be back.

Everything was delicious! Service is a bit slow, but you can understand why because this place is BUSY! For two people, we spent over $ 180 (includes tip), but will come back again. We did go a bit overboard with ordering, but it was well worth it.
Ordered:
–shrimp dumplings
–asparagus with soft boiled egg
–steak
–whole fried snapper
–papaya salad

This is like taking a trip back to my many visits to France, the ambiance is friendly fun and there is a mixed crowd of people enjoying Santa Monica’s finest eatery.
Quality over quantity here no big «American plates»
This is the place to have a celebration, to have a romantic date to go and have business cocktail or a nice dinner with the girls. They offer a «chambre separe «.
This is where to go if you think Americans don’t have food culture because yes they do, you just have to stay away from the tourists traps.
It is pricey but not snobby more like neighborhood trattoria. The waiters and staff are extremely service minded and personable. Eating in the bar provides the bonus of fun and skilled bartenders mixing up delicious one of a kind cocktails and drinks. I am more of a wine girl and have been very pleased with their selection of domestic and foreign imports.
Everything is seasonal so the menu changes to allow you to sample what’s best right now. My favorites are:
Lobster burrata toast, soft shell crab, street corn, charred octopus, oysters, and the bottarga.
Me and my bo usually get several plates and then the waiter usually creates a menu order that complements the tablet. A glass of wine or a cold prosecco usually goes well with the menu.
Ps there are plenty of nonalcoholic choices and the bartender doesn’t hesitate to make any cocktail sans alcohol.
Highly recommended — book a table!

Went here for date night recently and loved it. The vibe, the décor, the food, the drinks, everything was spot on.
We ordered: 1.) Raw halibut with sliced cherries, with yogurt, lemon and basil — SO delicious.
2.) Spaghetti and Clams — really really tasty — a little spicier than I’d expected but I kept
3.) Whole Fried Red Snapper to share, and ti was really tasty. They cut it up then fry it in a way where even thought its whole, you pick pieces off, dip them int he cause and eat them. So good, and the dipping sauce made the taste pop.
The décor has that yacht club vibe, with lots of wood, subtle blue and white flag type things and accents, but in a tasteful way. There’s an outdoor-​ish area with was but an open roof (that can be covered if needed) that makes you feel like you’re dining outdoors. The crowd was a mix of young and old, couples, and singles, veering a little on the older side.
The service was really good, especially the bar tenders. The husband got a Kentucky zombie which was really tasty, and they served in this cool tall but thin mug that reminded me of a Hawaiian statue or totem pole. I had a virgin fruity cocktail that was really delicious — with candied ginger and ginger ale (or juice?) that I think they make fresh there.
In a part of L.A. that that isn’t quite known for its delicious or innovative cuisine (Santa Monica)(I’m so happy that this place has come to the neighborhood. Looking forward to going back!

This place is always on point as far as food goes. Great lunch specials, the meats are really good.
I always get great, friendly service and this is my favorite Restaurant in area of Santa Monica
Nice stuff nice people

I haven’t been too happy when trying new restaurants lately. But, this place broke my bad streak. Hallelujah
The restaurant definitely has a nautical feel so they were quite literal with the name, which is cool. It’s a cozy spot, which i enjoy.
Here’s what we had:
Burrata lobster toast — A — shellfish + cheese weirds me out but this was really tasty and it worked! Definitely unexpected but i dug it
Flank steak — A — im not sure what the marinade was but it’s f*ing delicious. I also love love loved the mashed sweet potatoes that i came with
Peas — A — mint pesto, cheese, peas. Yum
Fried potatoes — C — this was my only meh item of the evening. They are supposed to be a take on fish and chips but the aioli is lacking flavor and i didn’t taste the vinegar at all that the waitress had mentioned. I had also wanted them to be a bit more crispy.
All in all, it was a great meal and i would love to come back

My boyfriend and I had reservations for Tar and Roses for my birthday but once we got there there was a power outage and we were forced to dine somewhere else. SMYC was on my list of restaurant to try since it’s a sister restaurant of T&R! Plus it’s only like a block away from T&R!
Luckily we were seated right away for dinner bc there was a no show. We were seated in the patio section and the ambience was nice and comfy. There were heaters on top so it kept us warm as well which is a plus.
My boyfriend and I got the following:
Striped Bass Ceviche: ⁴⁄₅ The ceviche was pretty good and the fish was fresh. It came in a coconut and it was quite interesting how there was a hint of coconut in ceviche. Surprisingly went well together. It was quite good.
Lobster & Burrata Toast: ⁴⁄₅ Who knew lobster went well with burrata. The dish was really good but on the rich side. The lobster was fresh and the pieces were huge. Had a piece of lobster with every bite of the toast.
Whole Fried Red Snapper: ⁵⁄₅ They also have this dish at Tar and Roses and it’s one of my favorites so I had to get it at SMYC and it was as good as T&R! And my boyfriend loved it! He pretty much pulverized the whole fish from head to tail… Haha :) Personally I think it’s too big for just 2 people but if you or your partner love fish and know how to eat it it’s worth it. I personally like fish but don’t like eating it because it takes too much work taking out the bones. But the red snapper is easy enough to eat for me because they cut the fish into bite size pieces you can just fork out. So I pretty much ate the easy part of the fish and my boyfriend ate the difficult parts which are like the head/​face/​tail/​backbone of the fish (yes I know it’s the more tasty part…) I love the outside of the fish… I think it’s lightly breaded and fried. Its crispy on the outside and the inside is moist. Love the accompanying sauce which we asked for seconds of… It’s sour, tangy, sweet, salty… Very good. We dip the fish and the accompanying soba noodles and it’s delicious. Personally I think it’s a perfect dish to share for like 4 people… My boyfriend on the other hand disagrees and can eat the whole thing on his own… LOL :)
The service was a little odd to me. I am not sure if they were short that night but I think we saw our waitress like a total of 3 times (drink orders, dinner orders, and when I asked her for extra sauce)… The service wasn’t bad because there were other people (who I thought were bussers) that gave us our dishes and cleared them and also got us our check… And there was a manager that went around to see that everything was ok. The service was fine but I just thought it was weird how we didn’t really get service from our waitress…
Overall I liked my experience at SMYC but not sure if I would go back since everything on their menu is seafood/​fish base… I know I know… Hence the name Yacht Club… But I like variety in what I eat… Much rather go to Tar & Roses that’s all… But definitely worth checking out once! :)

This review could have been worse if it weren’t for Cody the bartender & Yana who I suspected was the manager for their apologies, attentiveness, friendliness and discounted meal and free drinks due to the restaurant’s mishaps.
It just wasn’t in our cards to have the wonderful experience and meal other reviewers wrote about.
Said mishaps were:
I wanted a taste of red wine which Cody kindly pours me, when I smelled the glass it smelled like fish. Understandable its a seafood restaurant, they probably use the same dish towels for everything. He kindly changed it and apologized.
Hostesses were a bit confused on our reservation. They would come to get us only to apologize that the table wasn’t ready, which by then we lost our awesome seats at the bar w/​Cody. We were seated 30 minutes after our reservation.
Upon seated, Yana was sweet enough to apologize for the confusion and had an appetizer waiting for us. Our night was beginning to look up.
Until the server never came. We waited and waited until we finally had to flag Yana down and she again apologized and ended up taking our order.
We ordered the Whole Roasted Dover Sole which was beautifully filet at our table, Rock Shrimp Dumplings and a bunch of veggie dishes. The dover sole was a popular dish because Yana told us we were to have the last one. Hubby was excited! It was $ 33 after all. The fish was good, it was small, was it mind-​blowing worth $ 33? No. It was just a plain fish that had been baked. The Rock Shrimp were 4 itsy bitsy bites that were just over priced at $ 11.
In the end we declined dessert, asked for the check and when Yana asked us how we liked our food we politely told her it just wasn’t in the cards for us to have a good night at Santa Monica Yacht Club. She kindly discounted our meal and we went home hungry.
Sorry Chef Andrew.

Absolutely LOVE this place!
Wait — we got here at 8:15pm on a Wednesday night after shopping in Santa Monica, no wait
Parking — valet is $ 8, a lot of street parking though
Drinks — an awesome bar, a great cocktail menu — tried the King Tupac — i recommend to anyone who prefers a sweeter cocktail that has a little sour at the same time, creative and very appetizing
Appetizers — ordered the Tuna Poke and Lobster Toast
Tuna Poke — super fresh tuna, cut in cubes, dipped in yuzu sauce, and black sesame on top, can’t get enough, good portion for appetizer
Lobster Toast — is a feast in the mouth, the lobsters, again are super fresh. The toast is great, topped with a layer of cheese and lobsters on top — its almost like a lobster roll but a lighter version, very smart as an appetizer
Mains — ordered the Grilled swordfish and Crab cakes
Crab cakes — is very light, not dense and heavy at all which is perfect. i love how they match it with a asian type sour-​ish sauce, making it very appetizing and lightening the entire dish. the Fusion elements here are very impressive
Grilled swordfish — the fish itself might be slightly overcooked to my liking, but the sauce again is very creative — it’s almost like a soup, very special
Desserts — key lime pie
sounds like a simple dessert but its amazing! from the cream on top to the pie to the crust — i was in love with the graham cracker base!
Price — reasonable prices for quality. two persons bill come out to be $ 110
so worth it! i would definitely recommend this place to anyone!

a week after accidentally walking into this place while trying to find tar & roses, which we eventually found a block down and fell in love with, we found ourselves back at SMYC to see if we could fall in love with this seafood-​themed establishment of andrew kirschner.
the atmosphere is similar, with dim lighting and a casual yet upscale environment. and the food? i could definitely see the resemblance.
whoever said seafood and cheese don’t go together, you haven’t eaten lobster burrata toast! i could eat a gallon of lobster and burrata. omg. the only bad thing was that the «toast» tasted a little stale and was a little chewy rather than crunchy. the generous toppings made up for that though. also, i don’t like chives (WHAT? A FOODIE DOESNT LIKE CHIVES? THE HORROR) so i picked them off and gave them to my BF, who will happily eat anything i feed him, including soap (oops i mean cilantro), leftovers, and sticks and grass (aka green smoothies because sometimes, ok fine often, we eat like pigs and have to repent).
the uni and avocado toast was served on better bread than the lobster burrata toast, but the uni: bread ratio was too high and masked the taste the fresh uni.
the mussels with thai green curry, basil, and grilled country bread were the highlight of the night. definitely a slight american spin on thai green curry, and a delicious one at that. we even asked for extra bread to dip in the sauce because it was so good. clearly we were heading for a few days of green smoothies after this meal.
the lowlight of the night was the duck. we asked for medium rare and it first came out well done. they were nice enough to redo the dish and it came out perfectly cooked the second time, but i was underwhelmed with the overall taste. the farro on the side had a sort of oatmeal-​y texture and i felt like i was eating duck oatmeal, which was just odd.
the brussels sprouts with apple, pepita, and goat cheese was scrumptious. i swear, gimme anything with goat cheese and it will taste decent (except chives and cilantro, ok??).
overall it was a very good dining experience with excellent service, but i have to give the edge to tar & roses and take off one star here because when i asked my pizza-​and-​fried-​chicken-​lovin’ BF whether he would rather eat this or papa john’s, sadly he said papa john’s. oh the sacrilege.

Very soft 4. Thought everything was pretty good.
Lobster burrata was good on the toast.
Mussels in green curry were my favorite.
ceviche was refreshing.
octopus was fine. not as tender as i would have liked.
lamb kabobs were on the small side, but they were one of the cheaper items.
cooked perfectly but also not as tender as they could have been.
side of potatoes — didn’t really need these. seasoned fine. wish they were a little crispy. texture was very soft.

Went for a second visit last night. If booking for tables on the same day, only 5:30pm or 9:30pm options were available on OpenTable.
The uni avocado toast was replaced by the lobster toast (bummer). Lobster toast was still good but uni toast was way better. Ordered the apple glazed brussels sprouts this time, it was pretty amazing. I loved the combination of sweet goat cheese with toasted apple and brussels sprouts! Also ordered the fried snapper again. The quality was still top notch. I think it is difficult to deliver consistent quality on this snapper dish, and I am glad that SMYC found a way to ensure quality, every time.

Wowww! This place is just WOW! Everything was AMAZING! It was like I died and went to food heaven. Seriously, if my last meal on earth was here, I’d die happy and satisfied. Came here for an early xmas celebration with my sisters… made reservation for right when they open at 6pm I think.
Service: impeccable! my sis lives right upstairs from the restaurant so as we were entering the elevator to leave the parking structure, this guy gets off and my sis noticed he was wearing a a shirt with their logo on it (name of restaurant on it), she said to him, «Ooh we’re eating there in an hour!!». And he stopped and chatted with us for like a min or two basically asking if it’s our first time and what time our reservation was at. I mean the bartender was already giving exceptional customer service even just outside the elvator… that’s the definition of great sevice! And he stopped by our table to say hi like he said he would, with champs (major plus)!
The curry mussel dish is an absolute must! Like I wanted so badly to lick every bit of the sauce off of the bowl/​plate but had to refrain myself from looking like a savage. It was so flavorful. .such a perfect dish. Even the bread was perfect. This is one dish I will remember for life. I thought I had the best mussel dish of my life when I ate at this place in charleston, but this one is hands down, the best. Like if I were to be on that show on the food network «best thing I ever ate»…this would be the dish!
The fish is also a must… the skin was crispy and the dipping sauce was perfect and it balanced well with the soba noodles. This dish was 58 dollars, expensive but you should at least try it once in your lifetime.
I also had the oysters and ceviche and recommend those dishes as well. Had such an amazing dinner… it put a hole on my wallet but the best things in life are expensive so it’s ok. Cannot wait to go back here again one day.

WOW! Santa Monica Yacht Club, which is a restaurant and not a private or yacht club per se, is one of the best restaurants I have eaten at in LA in recent memory. I know it’s relatively new, but I’ve been to more than one Michelin Star restaurant that have nothing on this place in terms of food taste, quality and innovation, which is really what matters. Also reasonably priced for this quality.
Being this is LA, the place can obviously be described as «fusion» but with a delightful and expertly crafted blend of South American, Southeast Asian, Mediterranean and California ingredients.
So what was so outstanding? Where to begin…
1. Mussels with a green curry, Thai basil sauce was so delicious that we actually ordered a second portion, which I don’t recall doing in years. We also ordered a second portion of bread to soak up the delicious sauce. We shared some of our second portion with two ladies at the next table who also thought the mussels were divine. Apparently ocean water mussels raised on rope become plump and tender.
2. White Bass with smoked buttermilk, fennel, apple and horseradish. We led off with that as it was lighter than the mussels and was sensational.
3. Charred Octopus with potato, salsa Verde and smoked paprika. Tender and tasty.
4. Apple glazed Brussel Sprouts with candied pepitas and goat cheese. Fabulous.
5. Striped Bass Ceviche with coconut water, cilantro and jalapeño. It’s served inside a half baby coconut so each bite included a scape of tender coconut skin from the inside of the coconut. Wonderful and refreshing.
6. Marinated Pear Tart– warm and heavenly.
The service is casual, approachable, professional. It has a nice hip sophisticated buzz, light indie background music but nothing you need to shout over which means you can enjoy your friends and conversation, which I believe attracts what I viewed to be an intelligent and casually sophisticated crowd.
Can use a name and perhaps another valet sign on the Santa Monica Blvd side
A large glass Atrium provides an open dining fell in part of the space. Nice bar.
Great dining experience. All of us could not stop taking about it on the drive home.

Came here to celebrate Christmas dinner with my sisters and it was amazeballs! Last year I had my Christmas dinner at Melisse and Yacht Club is wayyyy better! The minute we sat down, the bartender brought out complimentary champagne! I was at awe from the beginning til end of the meal.
$ 20 for 6 Shigoku Oysters
–So good that we got two orders!
$ 15 Coconut Bass Ceviche
–Good!
$ 14 Green Curry Mussels
–My favorite dish!
–The green curry was everything!
–Ask for extra bread. The bread is bomb!
$ 58 Whole Fried Snapper w/​cold Soba Noodles
–Impressive dipping sauce. I eat fried fish at least once a week at home and the fish means nothing if the sauce is not right. Fish is perfectly battered.
–Must try at least once within your lifetime or at least as a first timer. Can be shared between 3 – 5 people.
$ 11 Pear Crostata
–Vanilla ice cream game was strong ;)
Thank you Jennifer T. for taking such good care of me and my sisters! She provided excellent service. Actually, the whole staff was very nice and professional. Parking can be a problem since it’s located in the heart of Santa Monica. There are meters parking or valet is $ 8. Perfect for date night because they dim the lights which set an intimate vibe. Good for groups and family as well. Same owner/​chef as Tar & Roses. Same block as Tar & Roses, but located at the other end of the corner. Reservations are highly recommended because they fill up fast! Will definetly come back and highly recommend this restaurant.

After having been back to SMYC many more times, I love it even more. The whole fish with soba noodles is a dish we’ve ordered multiple times and love. We’ve ordered the pork jowl several times now and I think it’s a super unique and awesome dish. Also really obsessed with the cocktails, especially the wedge!
The menu does change frequently, which makes it exciting to see what they do with seasonal produce and fun to try new things. They once had a version of a tuna melt that I totally flipped over. Get it if it’s on the menu!

I went here on a Saturday night because I’ve been hearing so many wonderful things about this restaurant. I believe it’s a sister restaurant to Tar and Roses which is also one of my favorites in Santa Monica.
I sat at the bar and the bartenders were awesome. The cocktails were delicious and they were very warm and friendly with great recommendations.
I order almost every bourbon cocktail they had on the menu because lets be real, bourbon is good for the soul. My favorite bourbon cocktail was Zero’s (bourbon, crème de cassis, sage, orange bitters, stirred).
I started with the sea urchin toast which was tasty, but I will probably not order again.
I had the crab cake which was to die for and would highly recommend. And lastly, the scallops, which I would recommend as well.
This was a great new spot and I’m so happy to have another local favorite in the hood. Welcome SMYC!

Remember these words: BBQ EEL LUNCH BOX! No, it isn’t the secret password to get into this club, which isn’t a club at all but a modern restaurant with great takes on seafood fare. You ain’t gonna get a dinky bowl of clam chowder here.
If you order one thing, get the BELB (see above). It’s magic. They present it, all neat and tidy in a little box, with the eel glistening and delicious-​looking nestled by a fried egg over rice, and then the next thing you know, the server dude covers up the little box, gives it a good shaking, and what you get is a delicious mish-​mosh of the best stuff of life, MANA!!!
I would return just for this, but then, there’s the sardines, the bass ceviche (which I might add, is the most unique tasting ceviche I’ve ever had, served in a bowl of a coconut shell in which you scrape the sides to get some of that coconut into the refreshing ceviche – novel, delicious idea), and the fried smashed potatoes with the uni aioli, which I thought was meh but then I couldn’t stop eating and wouldn’t even share it with anybody else.
And then there were cocktails; lovely cocktails that were light and refreshing and new. Of all the places I’ve tried recently, this one has stolen my heart, and NOT just because I was born under a fishy sign, but because you have to bow down to a place that does seafood that way nobody has done it before. I want to come back and soon please!

Really enjoyed our meal here. Everything was outstanding including the service.
I used to live in Santa Monica and of course now that I no longer do seems like lots of great places are popping up.
We started with the octopus, soft shell crab and lobster and burrata which I recommend all.
We shared the ribeye and had the asparagus and potatoes with ailoli as our sides.
Since they had only opened for a few weeks when my group dined there, the management kept coming by asking how all the dishes were. Very attentive. Apparently one of the restaurant partners was among the men who came by our table and was so nice to bring out all 3 of their desserts, after I told him how much I love sweets and it was hard to choose only 1. Chocolate cherry pudding, peach crostata and lime s’mores. Surprisingly the lime s’mores was my favorite.
Highly recommend trying SM Yacht Club. Can’t wait to go back!