The Independence

Amazing brunch place! Had an awesome experience here. There was no wait and we were seated immediately.
Eggs Benedict: ⁴⁄₅ stars. Biscuit was delicious, pork was tender, had an overall tangy flavor to the dish. Very rich dish.
Toast tower: ⁵⁄₅ stars. Amazing. The avocado and whitefish ones were outstanding… Definitely prefer both of those over the squash toast.
Mushroom rice stir fry: ⁵⁄₅ stars. Tasted amazing, definitely the stand out dish. Would order this again when I return.
Chocolate fudge brownie: ⁵⁄₅ stars.
Indy cookie plate: ⁴⁄₅ stars. Oatmeal raisin cookie was warm and chewy and perfect. The shortbread cookie wasn’t as good, but still no complaints.
Love this place. The staff were super friendly and it was a nice, laid back, trendy place. Highly recommend!

Absolutely in love with this place!
We came here yesterday for Valentine’s Day. We thought it’d be a good idea to explore Santa Monica and have brunch. As soon as we parked, we were right in front of the Independence and saw signs for brunch outside their restaurant. It looked packed through the windows and the food looked really great so we decided that this was the place to go to.
We were immediately greeted upon entering and seated promptly. The bartender was honest with food and drink recommendations, which I can always appreciate. Our water glasses and coffee mugs were always full and he paid very careful attention to us, always making conversation and making sure our food was delicious.
Food came out just in time, not a long wait after we put in our food order not a short wait. Gave us enough time to drink and enjoy the environment.
The food was spot on! We had the pulled pork Benedict and the avocado toast. I also had the Ramos in Santa Monica drink.
The hollandaise sauce on the Benedict was unreal! It made you want to grab a loaf of bread and slather it on by itself! The pork was tender and not chewy. The avocado toast made you want to keep eating even if there was no more on the plate. Thought of being a fat kid and ordering another slice, but opted against that idea :).
The drink was very girly in that you only tasted a slither of alcohol. The creaminess of the drink stood out.
All in all, very good experience here from the service, to the food, to the ambiance and décor of the place. Five stars!

Due to the great reviews on Unilocal,I suggested this place to my friend as we were deciding where to meet after work. Independence has one of the best Happy Hour menus ever! We shared the fried chicken sandwich that was so flavorful due to such an original taste from the red pepper rosemary honey and came on an extremely tasty onion brioche bun. The kale salad was also good which had a unique overall smoked taste, included sweet candied walnuts, pears and covered with lemon mustard vinaigrette. Their incredible happy hour menu also included burgers, chili fries, brussels sprouts, a variety of salads, turkey meatballs, prosciutto, pork sliders, oysters and more! We were also thrilled with our drinks that were only $ 5! Their house red was lovely (Grenache/​Merlot/​Red blend and a generous pour!) and my friend loved her Crescent which was made up of rum, pomegranate juice, lime, cayenne pepper and a decorative sugar rim. They have a $ 7 lunch special through the week and of course a full dinner menu of fun and creative dishes and cocktails. Their large space and atmosphere is quite modern, hip, casually cool and the perfect place to dine when in Santa Monica!

Racism? or Streotype?
It was Me and my GFs anniversary and we decided to dine in here.
We got seated right away (good start)
However our server was not attentive at ALL. We had to ask a busboy to get him to us.
Enough said.
Apparently we were the only asian customers in the restaurant.
I know we are young (²¹⁄₂₄)
and we are Asians. So maybe this African American Server decided to ignore us.
Last but not least, we gave him 40 cash and card.
total was 76. He charged 36 on card and gave us 40 cash back. We tried to give him back the 40 dollars but he never came back. We gave a cash to the other waitress so we can be honest.
Bad experience.

We were wandering on a Sunday looking for a good spot for brunch. We stumbled upon Independence.
Excellent service, overall the food was good… Although the pulled pork eggs Benedict were to die for… The menu was interesting, but limited for a brunch. Overall reasonable and we will go back.

We ended up at the Independence after a night of pub crawling in the area, really wanting a fried chicken sandwich. But, alas, they only have fried chicken on Mondays, and there is no fried chicken sandwich on the menu at all. We (being difficult) asked our waitress if it would be possible for the chef to make one — she checked with the chef who said yes — and we had 3 fried chicken sandwiches made for the 6 of us. Score! The chicken was marinated, which is atypical, or at least not what I was expecting, but it was great and hit the spot.
Although they call themselves a «tavern» it’s a hip spot with an upscale gastro pub feel and an inventive drink menu.
We paired our fried chicken sandwich with turkey meatballs, brussels sprouts, shishito peppers, fries, and red pepper honey chicken wings. Everything was good, but nothing was a stand out must order item.
This is a solid spot, but not one where you will be «wowed». 4 stars because of the vibe and how accommodating they were.

A nice place off Broadway that boasts a great happy hour with reasonable prices. A little bit of everything from sliders to tuna tartare set in an industrial setting like many bar/​restaurants these days.
The manager and server were very nice and genuine. That is something that is so lacking in this industry. If I have one more server look over my shoulder (as their speaking to me) I’ll just start walking out. This did not happen and like I said they were very nice, warm and ingratiating.
The food was pretty good though not anything I would come back for. I had the tuna tartare, Brussel sprouts, shushito peppers, pork sliders and prosciutto with bread squares and parmesan cheese. The one thing I noted was the presentations and timing was very good.
I definite will give it a go again. It feels like there are many other things to try and see if it’s a bit on the other side of righteous next time.

I love places like this that actually take reservations! Located so close to the beach, big crowd is anticipated. Make a reservation? Problem solved!
Wait staff was super friendly and helpful! Waitress checked in on us periodically, but still gave us our space to enjoy our food.
Drinks: so pretty and tasty, could not be happier with our selections.
Rosemary Focaccia: loved the cheesy goodness and the crunchiness of the bread
Tuna Tartare: the tuna and avocado were great! The chips were a bit over seasoned for my liking.
Brussels sprouts: loves this one minus the green apples on the bottom of the dish. I love green apples, just not with this dish.
Chili fries: Cincinnati chili, definitely had a kick to them with the red chilis in it. Would have liked the cheese to have been more melted.
Spaghetti pomodoro: loved the texture and the flavoring of this dish
Fried chicken sandwich: the breading of the chicken had a bit of sweetness to I wasn’t prepared for but paired with the Coleslaw if balanced out well.
Would I come back? Absolutely! So many other things on their menu I want to try!

What a find near the Promenade!
Only 6 months old, The Independence serves New American cuisine, fancy enough to make dinner a little bit special, but non pretentious and friendly service to give you that great neighborhood bistro feel.
We had stellar cocktails as they have a nice variety of choices, so that vodka lovers aren’t stuck with one option and bourbon or gin lovers feel like they’re finally getting the attention they deserve.
For apps, we got a standard garden salad but it had cleverly shaved fruit and veggies (with blackened edges) carrots and radishes. Also the turkey meatballs were moist and plump (3 of them) and had an excellent accompanying eggplant purée underneath that made it almost like a mini meal.
My companion had the Mary’s organic chicken breast which was prepared sous vide so it was juicy inside and had a delicate crispiness. Our waiter was good in explaining the process and I appreciate that also he let us know that the portion on that dish is rather small, as is the case with some of the plates here.
I ordered a grain bowl, which on the contrary, was plentiful and hearty. It had chicken leg confit, tofu slices, carrot relish, pineapple etc. Yum!
At the end of the meal the owner Jonathan came up to greet us and spend time talking to us, informed us about the staff (the well known chef plus the head mixologist, who is apparently is one of the top in the country) and even invited us to a private party! As an unofficial thank you, we went next door afterwards to Copa D’oro (same owners and a well known establishment) and had more beverages.
Tip: park at the parking structure at 4^th and Broadway for 90 minutes free, then $ 3 per hour after.

The Independence was a nice find on my shopping journey around the 3^rd Street Promenade. What better way to top off an afternoon shopping than with a delicious adult beverage? Oh yah, private fashion show maybe. ;) lol OK, but in public — adult beverage! So just as I was thinking this I happened to look up and here was The Independence. Voila!
Cute, clean, nicely appointed space, in a great location. I have never heard of it before stumbling upon it. I absolutely like it. The staff and patrons were friendly. They were not too busy for a weekend afternoon. Happy Hour 7 days a week! And well I’ll be… it was HH just as I stepped in! Perfect.
The «Laurel Canyon» cocktail consists of: gin, lime, honey ginger, organic egg white. $ 5 for HH this day. I had them make mine with vodka, and they gladly obliged. And it was super tasting. Beer of the day — also $ 5. House red or white — yes, you guessed it, $ 5. And the food looked great. I wasn’t hungry at the time though.
I guess I better get back out to the Promenade and grab some snacks and cocktails here soon. Happy Hour is all day on Wednesdays! ;) Cheers!

Came here for a meeting and it turned into a happy hour party! The Happy hour menu is awesome! Not only that, but reasonable in price.
The fish toast was my fav. I’m still dreaming about how perfectly the toast was char grilled and how amazing the fish was.
The drinks and service were all fab as well.
The location and décor is very hip and modern. Not to mention right off the shopping grid and beach location. independence Had a cool vibe and we all had a great time.
Def be going back!