Daily Grill Restaurant in Santa Monica, California

There’s a fun little corridor on Colorado Boulevard in Santa Monica that has a bunch of Los Angeles branches of companies like MTV, Yahoo! and the like. It’s a great place for hip companies for many reasons, not the least of which is because a couple miles west, Colorado Avenue terminates at the Santa Monica Pier (and, obviously, the ocean). All those young turks working in this area like to unwind after work (or, as may be the case, during lunch) at bar restaurants with relaxed atmospheres, terrific food, and a nice variety of drinks. These professionals aren’t going to get that at the local Quizno’s or La Salsa, no way — but they sure will at the Daily Grill restaurant.

People in Los Angeles are familiar with the small chain of Daily Grills.  There’s a few scattered across the country, but Daily Grill got its start in LA, and there are more here than any other city. The Daily Grill in Santa Monica, like its sister sites in Brentwood and in downtown Los Angeles, offers friendly, unrushed service, skilled mixologists, and fantastic American cuisine.

I’ve been going to the Daily Grills since I moved to Los Angeles, because they hit my “sweet spot.”  That is, they’re not hipstery so that the trendoids have taken over, yet not sedate so that eating there feels like I’m part of the Early Bird Special crowd.

Lunches include kid-friendly selections for families, but the Daily Grill on Colorado Blvd caters to local professional go-getters; midday meals are business lunches at the Daily Grill more often than not, especially with Universal Music and Comedy Central offices a block away. The Chicken Caesar Salad is large and filling, and California Turkey Melt, with its cranberry tomato chutney, is both sweet and tangy. I love it.

Dinners and nighttime at the Daily Grill, at least in the Brentwood and Santa Monica restaurants, are great for those of us who enjoy quality meals in fun spots where hanging out and talking with friends is welcomed. The Chicken Parmigiana hits the spot in terms of freshly prepared comfort food, and even though I don’t normally go for pork chops, the Blackberry Pork Chop is something special.

It’s not a trendy joint, not an overly loud club with a line of barely legal gals trying to get past the bouncer — instead, the Daily Grill balances between bustling midday dining and adults drinking responsibly at night. For those of us who don’t quite get the appeal of deafening house music drowning out any chance of a conversation over creative drinks and delicious food, the Daily Grill in Santa Monica is a great place to go.

The Daily Grill in Santa Monica recently hosted an event for the Los Angeles Consortium of Online Travel group, of which I am a co-chair. There was no expectation of an exchange of goods for services, however. The friendliness and capabilities of the staff there impressed everyone.

Thank you to the Santa Monica Daily Grill and general manager Jensen Kumamoto. The crab cakes were delicious!