The Top Santa Monica Bay Seaside Restaurants: Something for Everyone

I lived in Santa Monica, California for more than five years and used to eat out all the time. The Santa Monica bay area has some amazing restaurants, but the best (for food and atmosphere) are the ones that actually overlook the ocean. There's nothing better than eating dinner with a date or a friend while gazing out across the Pacific Ocean. The Santa Monica bay area has many seaside restaurants, but these are my favorites.

The Lobster, Santa Monica - The Lobster is an oceanside restaurant located right on the corner of Ocean and the Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica. Specializing in lobster, (obvious, by the name!), it's rated as one of the top restaurants in Santa Monica. The food is excellent (try the spicy crab soup, it's delicious), but it's not cheap. Lunch per person with enough food to fill you up will cost between $40 and $50, and dinner will be between $50 and $75,so make sure you budget for that. The service is quite slow, which is a definite drawback especially at lunchtime when you might be in a rush, but the view of the ocean is lovely. The last time I was there, it was incredibly noisy, which definitely spoils what-could-be a romantic atmosphere. Overall, The Lobster is one of the top rated restaurants and the food is excellent but, in my opinion, there are better places for the price, primarily because of the more 'tourist'noisy atmosphere found here. However, I do still love it, just for the location.