Tar & Roses

"Thanks to being stuck on the 4th/5th Street off-ramp for 45 minutes, you completely missed the start of your movie at the AMC. Text your friends you’ll meet them afterward and go find a seat at the bar at Tar & Roses. This American/California/Whatever spot has been open since 2012, but is still one of the most consistently great dinner spots in the neighborhood. The menu covers a lot of ground, but whether it’s oxtail dumplings, mushrooms with soft eggs, or a strawberry ricotta crostata dessert, this is food that will easily fill the void of missing Fast And The Furious 27: We Drive Minivans Now." - brant cox

"Unlike almost every other restaurant ever, Tar & Roses has gotten better with age. It’s the sort of place that can be as casual or formal as you need it to be, with a menu that’s perfect for sharing. But in an alternate universe, we'd come here once a week with one other person and only order the whole fried snapper. It arrives with cold, springy soba noodles and a fishy dipping sauce. When you carve off a hunk of fried fish, dunk it in the sauce, and incorporate the noodles, and you'll have the singular best bite in Santa Monica." - brant cox, sylvio martins, arden shore, cathy park

"With a convenient location in downtown Santa Monica and a wide-ranging menu filled with everything from oxtail dumplings to octopus skewers to a strawberry ricotta crostata, Tar & Roses is the ultimate crowd-pleaser. And we don’t mean that in a back-handed compliment kind of way either. The food is excellent and easily shareable (they do three-course family-style meals with wood-fired goat, paella, and chili crab that need to be reserved in advance) and the space perfectly straddles the line between being upscale dining and a casual neighborhood hangout spot." - jess basser sanders, brant cox, brett keating

"That's a little spot that is not that fancy. I wanna say it's more like a neighborhood restaurant. I discovered it recently, in the past four months. It's in Santa Monica, and I think it's one of the best restaurants in LA. I eat always the same thing: a gigantic fried fish with a salad and an apple pie for dessert. It's one of the best meals that I crave having in LA when I go out."—SV" - brennan carley

"Santa Monica spot Tar & Roses isn’t running any special New Year’s Eve dinner, but they do have their regular menu and will be offering 10% off pre-orders with code FU2020. Pre-order online." - brett keating