Tartine - Santa Monica

Counter serve cafe with an expansive and comfortable seating area, with indoor and outdoor tables. The food is a tad pricey but it's very good. There's a large array of baked goods to choose from, and the coffee is good too. Line was reasonable and moves fairly quickly, and the food comes out fast too.

Top 2 croissants in the US. I was a local at their SF outpost for years and was lucky enough to have one open in LA when I moved here. If not the croissant: savory scone is to die for and heats well; ask for a crispier one. They also can heat them up. Loaves are all good and freeze well if needed.

Excellent food and great service, but the city of Santa Monica is really screwing over customers with pickup orders. $100 in fees for 5 minute temporary parking on street. They are scavenging on any issues with cars and giving out fix it tickets, and the signs say permit parking only from 9-12am, but this means all day. Should just read “all day” which would be very clear. And the ticket cars can be seen all down the street taking advantage of this unclear signage. Noticed that people were getting validations on parking inside, but was not clear where this parking is, and shouldn’t have to validate for a quick pickup.Parking: Scammy street parking. See pic related.

Beautiful building. Clearly used to be a church. Service was pretty good for the most part. And the food was delectable. Big glass windows let in lots of light making photos of the food incredible looking. Parking wasn't too difficult to find even on the streets. My only negative here was that the restaurant staff decided to hurriedly encourage everyone to leave early the day before Labor Day, by blasting music for a good 15 seconds at 1:50pm. Closing time was 2pm. It was so loud that it scared everyone in the dining room and those seated outdoors too. It wasn't initially clear that the staff was responsible for this, until everyone looked at the kitchen and notice a bunch of giggles and chortles. If folks are so unhappy about working the day before Labor Day, they should either take the day off or encourage their managers to shut the restaurant down. Or just walk over to each table and tell them that you're about to shut down (like adults). Lots of people left immediately after that music blast. Honestly kind of ruined the entire experience.

This place is so beautiful and the food/drinks taste amazing! However I will say the cashier was pretty rude overall, and she only took my order at the front (I can’t imagine serving). The inside area had a strange smell to it, and it was so strong to the point where we couldn’t eat inside or stand in there too long. Other than that, it’s reasonably priced with lovely outdoor seating and a peaceful atmosphere.