Top Spots For Food & Drink With A View In The South Bay’s Beach Cities
PubClub.com’s South Bay local provides information and insights on eating and imbibing on the water. They are listed in alphabetical order but if you want PubClub’s “best of the best,” then it’s Old Tony’s for sunsets, old school atmosphere and the South Bay’s most legendary drink; Shade Hotel for the best waterfront design; the Slip for kick-off-the-sandals casual beers; and Naja’s Place for drunken dancing and singing to the band.
• BALEENKitchen
This beautiful – but also casual – restaurant and bar is part of the Portofino Hotel. BALEENKitchen is in a separate building and has views of King Harbor (the Pacific Ocean is on the other side of the Portofino). The food is good, the drinks great and there’s even live music Thursday nights and on weekends. This is also a great date place, for there’s a fireplace in the bar and fire pits in a little sand spot outside just a couple of feet from the boats.
Address: 260 Portofino Way
• Bluewater Grill
A nice restaurant and bar with a friendly staff, Bluewater Grill is part of the trio of places at King Harbor’s marina. It has a small-ish patio, although the big bummer about it is that you can’t get Happy Hour on the deck. And we do like the Happy Hour (M-F 3-6; good tacos & $5 house wines). We suppose being inside the bar with a fireplace isn’t too bad but the weather makes Southern California an outdoor paradise.
Address: 665 N Harbor Dr.
• Cheesecake Factory
This nice chain restaurant with the huge menu is located along the boats of King Harbor. You can get views from the inside tables and while seated at the bar, or opt for the enclosed patio.
Address: 605 N Harbor Dr.
• Kincaid’s
This nice – but don’t feel intimated, for it has a casual attitude – restaurant has a prime position on the Redondo Beach Pier. It’s separated into the restaurant at the end of the pier, a long balcony along its side and the bar, which looks onto the water courtesy of its large windows. Happy Hour can get if not lively then at least peppy (seven days a week, 3-6 and 9-close; $1 off draft beers, $5 wines & $6 cocktails).
Address: 500 Fishermans Wharf
• King Harbor Brewing Tasting Room
A small beer bar, this features local home brews from the nearby Torrance brewery. You can grab a stool and drink those brews facing a few boats in this part of King Harbor while you watch the passing pedestrian traffic along the International Boardwalk. And the beers are often far easier to swallow than seeing some of the people walking along the International Boardwalk.
Address: 132 International Boardwalk, RB Pier
• Naja’s Place
A down-and-dirty beer bar (77 brews on tap) this is a weekend destination for South Bay’ers on their afternoon bike rides. There’s bands and if you’re facing the International Boardwalk, you can see a few of the King Harbor fishing boats. Naja’s is the longest-standing of these “pier bars,” (King Harbor and The Slip being the others) located in old storage garages once used by the fishing boats.
Address: 154 International Boardwalk
• R-10 Social House
This nice restaurant and bar is at the entrance to the International Boardwalk, just up from Naja’s. It has two levels; the first looks out onto the work boats in the marina while upstairs provides for a nice view of the Pacific Ocean both from inside and patio seating. The best time to go is for the weekend brunch, which features the longest bottomless champagne in the South Bay, Saturdays & Sundays until 3. Then it’s Happy Hour till 6!
Address: 179 N Harbor Dr.
• Rocky Point
Okay this is really just the fuel dock but it has a little store where you used to – and hopefully will be able to do so again in the not-to-distant future – grab a beer or mini bottle of wine and sit on a picnic table right by the water. It’s at the end of the parking lot past BALEENKitchen.
• Old Tony’s
Walking into Old Tony’s is like stepping back into the 1970s, Polynesian style. The place to be is upstairs in the “Crow’s Nest,” which is right over the water. It’s a very popular place for sunsets but even more so for its legendary Fire Chief, the strongest drink in the South Bay.
Address: 210 Fishermans Wharf
• Shade Hotel
This upscale hotel is next to Cheesecake Factory on Harbor Drive. Its bar has a sensational layout providing views of the boats (and sunsets) inside through its wall-high glass doors and also on the front and side patio, both of which have fire pits. While there, check to see if the third-floor rooftop bar is open; it’s an open-air place sometimes with DJs and the most commanding view of the water in the Beach Cities.
Address: 655 N Harbor Dr.
• The Slip Bar & Eatery
This super-friendly, super-comfortable bar is a cozy spot to have a few beers, cocktails and some very good food. There’s more than a dozen beers on tap and there’s always $3-4 beer specials. There’s live music on weekend nights, all-day Happy Hour on Mondays, half-priced wines on Tuesdays and open mic night on Wednesdays. The Slip is a great place to slip off the sandals. It’s located just past King Harbor’s tap room across from the yellow paddleboats.
Address: 120 International Boardwalk
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