Manhattan Beach Travel Answers

I enjoyed Houston's (it's a chain of steakhouses) and Il Fornaio for Italian but the person you should ask is G, he is always giving me recommendations on places to eat in the area :-)

Thanks Kristi! I did email G. What about Rock'n Fish? Is that too casual? The location is perfect, the menu looks great and I can book on OpenTable.

:foodmark:

I wouldn't suggest Rock N Fish if you want to impress, more like a brew pub and if I gave it 3 stars then it wasn't stellar food. I'm a little leery of still recommending Il Fornaio, it's been a couple of years since I've been and some of the recent Yelp reviews are very low. Check with G and see if it's still good. I was contemplating going to Fleming's (another steakhouse, bring lots of cash) the last time I went, some people said it was a good option but I got overruled and we went to the Chart House up in Malibu instead.

I don't know that there is anything in here that will help but these are the responses I got when I asked about restaurants near LAX (some are also in Malibu because I was driving back from Oxnard one night) VT Forum temporarily unavailable

Thanks Kristi. We have IlFornio here too. I think it's OK, but not special. I am not really looking for blow out expensive special but just unique and different than Sydney. I like the location of Rock'in Fish. We won't have cars and will travel by taxi from downtown LA.

Is there some reason you are going so far from downtown LA? Odinthor recommended a couple of places up in the Malibu area that were on the beach in the thread I gave you a link to that sounded more "California" and perhaps a bit closer to downtown LA than Manhattan Beach (Gladstone's was one). Santa Monica would be closer as well. You can confirm this with G, but I don't think that Rock n Fish has a beach view if that's what you are going for.

Thanks Dabs! I agree, if there is a reason for going all the way to Manhattan Beach, then G. would be the local expert. If on the other hand you simply want a good beach location for a nice time with colleagues, then Malibu would be ideal, and somewhat closer as well. The Sunset is really nice for just such a gathering. thesunsetrestaurant.com/prof... Or you may want to check Gladstones, or Moonshadow (where Mel Gibson was before his famous DUI) http://www.gladstones.com/ http://www.moonshadowsmalibu.com/new/ ...or Duke's Malibu. (Duke Kahanamoku is known as the Father of Surfing...) http://www.dukesmalibu.com/ Or a little further is a favorite Pacific Cove Beach Cafe, right on the beach and a great main restaurant. (biggest lobsters ever) http://www.paradisecovemalibu.com/ At the same time you can entertain them with who's neighborhood they are visiting for the evening..... seeing-stars.com/live/malibu... Of course, if Manhattan Beach is where you have to be, then this will be of no help to you.......d:o)

As far as a restaurant in Manhattan Beach, I would agree that Rock Fish does not have a view of the beach. The windows overlook the street and though it seemed popular, it also seemed small. However, just across the street is "Beaches" a nice but casual place that does have windows looking out towards the ocean near the Pier. As far as I could tell, the whole street (Manhattan Beach Boulevard, I believe it's called) was "alive" at night with what seemed to me to be young and upscale clients. I was there on a weekend night, but since you'll be there during the summer, a Wednesday night might be pretty active too. As for asking Giampiero, I think he's out of town at the moment, so maybe one of the other VT Staffers would be able to give you more information. You might e-mail DiNo and ask what he'd suggest.