jallard

My wife and I were in Santa Monica a few years ago for about seven days. We had dinner at Ago on Melrose and it was great!!! The place was packed with celebs. James Woods was seated at the table right next to us... and there were many other celebs in the restaurant...anyway it was a really fun night. I know that these type of places come and go very quickly. We are going to be in the same area for four nights in July. Any suggestions for a new hot spot that we would enjoy? Also what night should we go? Any info is greatly appreciated. Thanks

jallard

Doesn't anybody have an answer to the question?

rjw_lgb_ca

I think we're all confused. Ago isn't in Santa Monica by a long shot-- nor in LA. It's in West Hollywood.

Where will you be? Santa Monica, West Hollywood or LA?

rjw_lgb_ca

Besides, most natives are careful to respect the privacy of famous people and don't go places just to watch stars eat/shop/drink/get loaded/pick up hookers. However, if you must:

http://www.seeing-stars.com/index.shtml

jallard

Thank you for responding. When we went to Ago, we did not go to see celebrities, we heard that it was a good place to go with a good atmosphere. We were surprised to see so many celebrities when we got there and thought it was pretty fun. We are staying in Santa monica. I know that Ago is in West Hollwood, but it wasn't that far of a drive from Santa Monica. I didn't mean to confuse anybody by the title "Santa Monica and Los Angeles Hot Spots". I was just trying to let people know where we would be. I wouldn't mind driving to West Hollywood from Santa Monica for a place like Ago. I guess the title was a little confusing with respect to the different cities, I was just trying to say that we would be interested in any place with an atmosphere like Ago in the metropolitan Los Angeles area. Thank you for your information. Please feel free to provide more if you would like.

Sincerely,

-Ryan

rjw_lgb_ca

Hmmmm.... Boa in Santa Monica is a new "see and be Scene" steakhouse, but the food quality is nowhere near as high as the prices. Amuse Café in Venice is prized for the food, and it has a fairly high Hip Quotient. I suppose Asia de Cuba at the Mondrian on the weekend would get pretty hopping. Chinois on Main in SM, maybe? It's "old", but it still gets the business. For that matter, Spago Beverly Hills or Lucques on weekends will get large, well-heeled crowds. Matsuhisa is the oldest of Nobu's empire of restaurants, and still the best.

Heavens

Hi Ryan, we have been to Santa Monica a few times. I have never seen celebs there. We have a favorite restaurant though, called Ocean. Awesome seafood and atmostphere. The 3rd Street Promenade is a fun place, but can be a bit of a zoo on the weekends in the summer. You are also close to Malibu and there are quite a few good restaurants there also.

We saw Larry King once at a Deli in Beverly Hills and now I forgot the name of it. We were there for breakfast with the kids. Great place.

And we have seen other stars at various places around town. It is hit or miss...I went to a restaurant once with a friend who was friends with the owners and they put us in the back room. Well, the back room is where the celebrities were and we sat with Paul Newman on one side and Gerry Brown and Linda Ronstadt on the other. So, in many places, the stars might be inaccesable to the public.

I think you can see Stars at Spagos in Beverly Hills. Great restaurant. And a friend of mine saw Kiefer Sutherland at Morton's there. So, you can spot them, just have to have a lot of luck if that is what you want to see. Personally good food is my priority when selecting where to eat in LA. Or very interesting atmosphere.

rjw_lgb_ca

Heavens, you mean Ocean Ave. Seafood, right? That's down the street from my office. And I love it too. Just down the street is another great place, I. Cugini.

Border Grill on 4th St. in SM is pretty hip and fun (but the room is punishingly loud if more than four people are present). The "Two Hot Tamales" who used to be on TV Food Network (Mary Sue Milliken, Susan Feniger) run it. Mary Sue's husband designed the wild interior, and it gets a young-skewing, upscale crowd.

jallard

Thanks for the info. ! Has anyone been to Koi, Chi, Dolce or Mr. Chow?

rjw_lgb_ca

OK, I see where you're coming from. You want "Trendy" instead of "Good". Well, that makes it easier. There are a large number of incredible restaurants in the greater LA area, but if you just want something mentioned on the E! or Style Networks, that's pretty easy.

Koi is already past its Use By date. Beautiful room, but somewhere along the line people figured out the food was lousy, so it's not a hot spot any more.

Mr. Chow and chi are definitely more Au Courant, but not that great. Celebs, sure, but the food's just average.

Dolce is probably the best of this group food-wise, and it still has a fairly hot buzz. But bear in mind: If it's more than a month after the word gets out, you'll see more wanna-bes than true stars most nights. You might luck out on a weekend night, especially during Awards season, or if there's a special event in town.

beachysis

I also suggest Asia de Cuba, as someone else said, in the Mondrian in West Hollywood. I thought the food and atmospehere were great (certainly different than anything where I live).I am not a local, but went there with one a year and a half ago, and one in our group thought that Jessica & Nick were a few tables over. Our LA friend said it was not them, but I think he just didn't want us to embarass him by staring !
I didn't even know who those 2 were at the time though...
The adjacent Sky Bar has been reported in the past as being a celed hang-out, and another in the group said he had seen Matthew McCounahy (sp?) up there before we all met up & sat down to eat dinner.
Have fun.

Shari

I really enjoyed Via Veneto. If you like Duran Duran, you might even get to see Warren!

http://www.la.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects...aveneto%2F7722