08 Sep 25 OF L.A.’S MOST EXCITING RESTAURANTS AND EATERIES, INCLUDING 15 WESTSIDE FAVORITES, HEAD TO THE BEACH FOR THE INAUGURAL OCEAN WAY FESTIVAL
From Tacos 1986, Cobi’s and Border Grill to Kogi, Prince St. Pizza, Khan Saab and Sidecar Doughnuts, Ocean Way brings a who’s who of the L.A. dining scene to the sand in Santa Monica
Ocean Way Festival, the first major music festival on Santa Monica Beach, is bringing some of Los Angeles’ most celebrated and beloved restaurants directly to the sand.
Taking place September 26–27 on Santa Monica Beach, the festival will unfold with the iconic Santa Monica Pier and Pacific Ocean providing the backdrop. While Ocean Way will feature a high-profile roster of musical performers, including headliners The Killers and Olivia Dean, alongside Jack White, Khruangbin, Sublime, and more, its food and beverage program is a destination in its own right.
For its inaugural edition, Ocean Way Festival has assembled a culinary lineup of more than 25 restaurants and eateries, with strong representation from Santa Monica and the Westside, giving food lovers a concentrated taste of one of Los Angeles’ most dynamic dining communities.
That connection to Santa Monica extends well beyond the festival setting. With 15 of the participating restaurants and concepts based on the Westside, Ocean Way puts local businesses at the heart of its culinary program, giving festival goers a chance to experience the chefs, flavors, and independent businesses that help define the Westside’s dining scene.
A Who’s Who of L.A. Dining
The inaugural culinary lineup brings together an eclectic mix of restaurants and concepts representing the breadth of contemporary Los Angeles food culture:
Border Grill
Tacos 1986
Cobi’s
Sidecar Doughnuts
Sweetfin
Khan Saab
New School Quality Grilled Cheese
Farmhouse Kitchen Thai Cuisine
Dave’s Hot Chicken
Prince St. Pizza
Kogi
Triple Beam Pizza
Shrimp Daddy
Bun & Mi
Innamorata
Menotti’s
Gokoku
Saba Surf
Onigiri & Kuramoto Shavery
Maneatingplant
Odd One Out Tea
Cena Vegan
Café La Vecindad
Mac & Yease
It is a lineup that reads like a food lover’s tour of Los Angeles: tacos and Thai, pizza and fried chicken, sushi and onigiri, seafood and sandwiches, doughnuts and shaved ice, coffee and tea, alongside a diverse selection of plant-based offerings.
The emphasis on Westside restaurants reflects Goldenvoice’s commitment to the beachside community hosting the first-ever Ocean Way festival — supporting local businesses while giving festival goers an opportunity to discover the restaurants and culinary talent found just beyond the festival gates.
Rounding out the culinary experience, Santa Monica’s Offhand Wine Bar will curate a cozy wine bar inside the festival, where guests can enjoy good people, good vibes, and great wine alongside the diverse lineup of food on the sand.
Proper Beach Club guests will have all-day access to Santa Monica Proper’s food and beverage program, featuring dishes from Calabra and Palma alongside the property’s signature cocktails. Menu highlights include Lamb Belly Taco, Lobster Corn Dog, Proper Paloma, and more.
Suite guests in the Dune Lounge by Kelly Wearstler Studio will have access to a mix of Mediterranean and seafood dishes, including King Crab Salad, Caviar Fried Egg, Salmon Cones and more.
The Westside’s Food Scene, Served on the Sand
Santa Monica and the broader Westside have long been home to a distinctive restaurant culture — one that blends the casual, creative, and globally inspired with the laid-back sensibility of coastal Los Angeles. Ocean Way Festival brings that spirit directly to the beach.
With 16 Westside favorites on the bill, the festival offers local concertgoers a chance to experience hometown restaurants in a completely different setting. For visitors, it is an opportunity to sample an extraordinary cross-section of Los Angeles dining without leaving the shoreline.
The lineup includes established favorites alongside newer and highly specialized concepts, from Tacos 1986 and Kogi’s unmistakable L.A. street-food energy to MICHELIN-recognized Cobi’s tropical Southeast Asian-inspired cuisine; from James Beard Award-winning chefs Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken of Border Grill to the pizza offerings of Prince St. Pizza and Triple Beam Pizza; and from Sweetfin’s signature poke bowls to Shrimp Daddy’s playful take on shrimp.
Global flavors run throughout the lineup, with MICHELIN Bib Gourmand-rated Khan Saab, Farmhouse Kitchen Thai Cuisine, Bun & Mi, Gokoku, and Onigiri & Kuramoto Shavery bringing Pakistani, Indian, Thai, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Japanese influences to the festival.
For those looking beyond meat and seafood, Maneatingplant, Mac & Yease, and Cena Vegan add distinctive plant-based fare, while Sidecar Doughnuts, Odd One Out Tea, Gokoku, Cafe La Vecindad, and other concepts round out the vegetarian experience with sweets and specialty beverages.
Not Your Typical Festival Food
Ocean Way’s culinary program is built around the idea that festival food can, and should, be something worth seeking out. Ocean Way has curated a collection of distinctive restaurants and concepts with loyal followings, individual culinary points of view, and distinctly L.A. identities.
Food trucks from Kogi, Mac & Yease, and Menotti’s–an exclusive Premium Pit offering—will also roll onto the sand, bringing another element of the street-food culture that has become a defining part of the Los Angeles dining landscape. The result is a festival food program with enough variety to make eating part of the itinerary.
An Oceanfront Table
Few settings could be more quintessentially Santa Monica for this gathering of restaurants. Festival goers will experience the culinary lineup directly on the sand, with the Pacific Ocean stretching beyond the festival grounds and the Santa Monica Pier serving as an iconic backdrop.
For participating restaurants, Ocean Way also offers an opportunity to introduce their food to a major festival audience while celebrating the culinary community that makes Santa Monica and the Westside such an important part of the greater Los Angeles dining scene.
A New Festival with a Food Story of Its Own
Ocean Way Festival is making its debut with an ambitious music program led by headliners The Killers and Olivia Dean, alongside Jack White, Khruangbin, Sublime, Durand Jones and the Indications, Alvvays, SG Lewis, 54 Ultra, Hiatus Kaiyote, BLOND:ISH, Poolside, Hot Chip DJs, and more, perform across two nights, but its culinary lineup gives Angelenos and visitors another compelling reason to put the inaugural event on their calendars.
Twenty-five restaurants. One beach. One iconic Pier. And a very good reason to come hungry.
Ocean Way Festival takes place September 26–27, 2026, on Santa Monica Beach. For the full culinary lineup, tickets, and additional information, visit OceanWayFestival.com.
