Michael's

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

The Restaurant That Helped Invent California Cuisine

In 1979, a 25-year-old Michael McCarty opened Michael's on Third Street in Santa Monica and, in doing so, helped establish what we now recognize as California cuisine. The concept was straightforward and, at the time, quietly radical: build the menu around local produce and hyper-seasonal ingredients, let the market dictate the plate, and pursue quality without compromise. More than four decades later, that founding philosophy remains the restaurant's backbone.

A Kitchen That Launched Careers

Part of what makes Michael's history so compelling is the roster of talent that has passed through its kitchen. Opening chef Jonathan Waxman, Nancy Silverton, Brooke Williamson, Sang Yoon, Mark Peel, and Miles Thompson all worked here at various points — a lineage that reads like a who's who of American fine dining. Today, Executive Chef Job Carder carries that tradition forward under the watchful eye of McCarty himself, who still walks the floor regularly when not overseeing his midtown Manhattan outpost.

McCarty's commitment to the restaurant extends beyond the kitchen. He authored Welcome to Michael's: Great Food, Great People, Great Party!, which earned a James Beard Foundation Cookbook award nomination in 2008 in the entertaining category — a fitting recognition for a place where hospitality is treated as a discipline.

The Wine List and the Art on the Walls

The wine program at Michael's is serious and wide-ranging, earning the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence in 2023. The list spans grower Champagnes, Burgundy grand crus, Austrian Grüner Veltliner, natural wines from California and the Loire, and bottles from McCarty's own The Malibu Vineyard — a personal touch that runs through everything here. Cocktails are equally considered, with house signatures like the "1979" (bourbon, orange, spice, bitters) nodding to the restaurant's founding year.

The dining room itself doubles as a gallery. McCarty and his wife Kim — an artist herself — have curated a collection of modern art that fills both the Santa Monica and New York locations, giving the space a character that goes well beyond the table.

Space, Scale, and Occasion

With over 3,500 square feet, two private rooms, a garden area, and front outdoor dining, Michael's handles everything from intimate dinners to events of up to 350 guests. The American menu changes with the seasons, and a happy hour runs Tuesday through Saturday before dinner service begins — a rare, relaxed entry point into one of Los Angeles's most storied dining rooms.