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Best 6AM Breakfast, Beachside betw LAX and Getty Museum?

Conan

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We'll be landing in LAX at 5AM on Friday for an 11-hour layover en route between Kauai and JFK.

Bags will be checked through; I've rented a car and reserved tickets for the Getty Museum, which opens at 10:00.

So we need a nice beach side cafe where we can have breakfast, sea watch and try to emerge from our zombie state before heading to the Getty.

[We'll probably have a late lunch at the Getty before returning to LAX unless there's a don't-miss in that direction.]


thanks!
 

Hoc

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The Raffles Hotel in Santa Monica or Ocean and Vine at the Loews Santa Monica Hotel have a very nice setting, on the beach, with a very nice breakfast at a fairly high price (Ocean and Vine's breakfast is well done, but nothing inspired as far as the choices). Not directly between LAX and the Getty, but not too far out of your way.

A better breakfast for a better price can be had at Jinky's in Santa Monica. But not on the beach.

Or you could grab a donut and coffee at Stan's Donuts in Westwood, and munch on it while wandering Westwood Village. My favorites are the Reese's Peanut Butter Pocket (a donut stuffed with peanut butter and coated in chocolate and chocolate chips), or the Cherry Cream Cheese Donut (stuffed with a sweetened cream cheese filling and a danish-style pocket of cherry pie filling on top). Also not on the beach.

There are also some nice breakfast restaurants on the Third St. Promenade in Santa Monica. Wander and see what catches your nose/fancy. Not on the beach, but with a two block walk you will be on the beach and can get to the pier/boardwalk with another two block walk along the beach.

The Daily Grill in Brentwood also has a decent breakfast menu and great chicken hash. That's on your way, but not on the beach.

If you want to skip the Museum Cafe lunch, stop by Versailles in Culver City (at Venice and Motor) for some of the best Cuban food in LA (Get the garlic chicken or the lechon asado, plenty of Plaintains and maybe a black bean and rice combination, cooked together, as your side dishes) at really reasonable prices. There can be a line after 4 pm, but if you get there at about 1 or 2, you should get seated right away, they serve quickly, and you can be back to the airport within about 20 minutes of leaving the restaurant.
 
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Bill4728

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No idea about Brkfst but you should eat at the Getty for lunch. It has a outstanding view of the city!!
 

UWSurfer

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Frankly unless it's a weekend morning, LA is not known for having it's shoreline places open for great breakfasts.

I personally find that most places which serve breakfast mostly offer up the same kinds of breakfast selections, and most are fairly similar.

That said, you could take your rental car and poke around a bit. In addition to the several suggestions you received, you could drive from the airport north on Sepulveda and see what catches your eye. In Westchester (LA Airport area) there is a Grinder coffee shop nestled behind the 76/Jiffy lube at Manchester & Sepulveda which is pretty fair. Further north near the 405 and Sepulveda is Diana's, a chicken place which doubles as a coffee shop. If you aren't interested there, take a left at Centinella and follow it to Lincoln & Marina Del Rey where where there are several little places scattered. You can look there, or continue up Lincoln into Santa Monica where there are dozens of places open or you could resign to eating at Denny's or Norms there by that time. (Norm's is a local chain of low end coffee shop. Less spiffy than Denny's, but slightly larger servings).

At that point you are maybe a 30 minute drive to the Getty.
 

ricoba

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Frankly unless it's a weekend morning, LA is not known for having it's shoreline places open for great breakfasts.

.

That's kind of what I thought, when I suggested The Griddle Cafe. As far as I know LA doesn't have a lot of beach side breakfast places.

Another option may be Shutters on the Beach, it's an upscale hotel in Santa Monica, and it's on the beach. I see the Coast restaurant there is open at 7AM for breakfast.
 

Fern Modena

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I can't believe Diana's is still there after all these years. My dad worked at a market in that center back in about 1958 (I was a child then) and Diana's was there then. We ate there about six or seven years ago. Good food, coffee shop style.

Fern
 

UWSurfer

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Diana's is still there! It's a stuborn place with a bit of 50's charm. Along the parameter of the main interior section is a collection of vintage radios peched up high there. It's a decent place, nothing to write home about but decent.

Shutters is high end, sits on the board walk in Santa Monica at the beach, where Pico Blvd ends at the ocean. Ironically it sits right next to a storm drain which flows to the sea and is filled in right now. Come first rain they'll dig it out again. Shutters will be a bit pricy but may be the nicest place you'll find right at the beach and not a bad pick either. You are maybe a 5 minute walk from the SM Pier there.
 

catwgirl

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Hoc,

I get the impression you lead a pretty sweet life. :p

Great post.

The Raffles Hotel in Santa Monica or Ocean and Vine at the Loews Santa Monica Hotel have a very nice setting, on the beach, with a very nice breakfast at a fairly high price (Ocean and Vine's breakfast is well done, but nothing inspired as far as the choices). Not directly between LAX and the Getty, but not too far out of your way.

A better breakfast for a better price can be had at Jinky's in Santa Monica. But not on the beach.

Or you could grab a donut and coffee at Stan's Donuts in Westwood, and munch on it while wandering Westwood Village. My favorites are the Reese's Peanut Butter Pocket (a donut stuffed with peanut butter and coated in chocolate and chocolate chips), or the Cherry Cream Cheese Donut (stuffed with a sweetened cream cheese filling and a danish-style pocket of cherry pie filling on top). Also not on the beach.

There are also some nice breakfast restaurants on the Third St. Promenade in Santa Monica. Wander and see what catches your nose/fancy. Not on the beach, but with a two block walk you will be on the beach and can get to the pier/boardwalk with another two block walk along the beach.

The Daily Grill in Brentwood also has a decent breakfast menu and great chicken hash. That's on your way, but not on the beach.

If you want to skip the Museum Cafe lunch, stop by Versailles in Culver City (at Venice and Motor) for some of the best Cuban food in LA (Get the garlic chicken or the lechon asado, plenty of Plaintains and maybe a black bean and rice combination, cooked together, as your side dishes) at really reasonable prices. There can be a line after 4 pm, but if you get there at about 1 or 2, you should get seated right away, they serve quickly, and you can be back to the airport within about 20 minutes of leaving the restaurant.
 

Hoc

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Hoc,

I get the impression you lead a pretty sweet life. :p

;)

BTW, if the OP is not focused on places near the shore or directly on the way to the Getty, the Farmer's Market (at 3rd and Fairfax) has some pretty good breakfast places, including a nice crepe place and a decent donut shop. Dupar's (in the Farmer's Market) is an LA classic for Pancakes and French Toast.
 

gregloucks

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Why not the Outlaw in Playa del Rey? Leave LAX on Speulveda north, turn left on the Westchester Parkway until you hit the beach, then turn right, going north along the coast a mile until you get to PDR. Outlaw is right there, with a great outside deck and good, cheap food beach cities style. And it's totally on your way to the Getty.
 
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Breakfast near Getty

Breakfast on the Santa Monica Pier. Before you make too many plans, traffic on a workday Friday is kinda busy. I would take Linclon Blvd out of LAX directly to the Santa Monica Pier, and drive right on the Pier. $7.00 for parking and you will right over the ocean. There are a nice selection of typical coffee shops on and about the pier, but the view will be unforgetable.

I would then drive up 3 miles on PCH to Sunset blvd, and then East about 5 miles to Sepuveda then North on Sepulveda to Getty, about 2 miles.

You will see why people pay 10 million dollars for homes all along this route.
 

UWSurfer

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A couple of notes:

To get to SM pier from Lincoln, turn left on to Colorado and it runs straight to the pier. I don't belive anything is open however on the pier early in the morning. Last time I looked there was a Mexican place at the end of the pier, a fish place near the Carrasel & a Bubba Gumps. Ocean is the street which runs north/south just prior the pier and there are a couple of places south of the pier between it and Pico blvd on the ocean side of the street which serve breakfast.

If you wanted to go to Shutters (mentioned earlier), turn left on to Pico Blvd from Lincoln and take it to where it ends. You are at Shutters where Pico stops.

Gladstones isn't really a breakfast place and I'm not even certain they are open at 8am myself. I use the parking lot there and surf in front of the place every now and again some mornings and havn't seen anything signs of anyone working there that early in the morning except to accept deliveries and get the place ready for lunch service. Maybe they do...but I wouldn't go there.

As for the Getty being a mile away...you are technically correct, but wait there's more. There are now TWO Getty's and the one close to Gladstones and the ocean is known now as the Malibu Villa which, from their website has..."Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities arranged by themes including Gods and Goddesses, Dionysos and the Theater, and Stories of the Trojan War". http://www.getty.edu/visit/

The main Getty now is along the 405 Freeway in Brentwood, just north of Sunset Blvd. in a spectacular setting. It's the larger and main Getty most refer to these days.
 

Rent_Share

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Isn't Moonshadows ( of Mel Gibson fame) right down the street from the Getty ?
 

Conan

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Trip's done, we're back home.

Shutters was perfect - - we lounged in their hotel lobby from 6:00 to 7:00 drinking free coffee; then had ricotta pancakes with fresh fruit and ham and gruyere omlette [two people, split each item between us], strolled along Muscle Beach and the Santa Monica Pier and then to the Getty Villa with pre-arranged tickets.

[we used our Garmin brought from home to get from point to point including back to the rental car return - - rental for the half day was $23 from Dollar]

Thanks so much for all the help and suggestions. There's no place like TUG!!
 

UWSurfer

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..but wait...we haven't finished pepering our factoids for you. :rofl:

I'm glad it worked out. To answer the question, Moonshaddows is maybe three miles north of the villa beyond Big Rock Canyon Road on PCH. I've swam in the ocean out front of it, but never have been inside. :cool: I've heard it's pretty nice these days.
 

bigrick

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Doesn't that always happen? Someone posts a need that generates lots of great tips. Then before everyone is done posting, the OP returns, tells which tips were used, and the thread stops abruptly.

I'll save the tips for later and hope a similar thread pops up again.
 

Steve A

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Getty's art is so-so. Some nice pieces but little depth. But to be fair, I lived in DC for 30 years and I am comparing it to the museums on the Mall. The view and the buildings though are absolutely outstanding.
 

ricoba

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Trip's done, we're back home.

Shutters was perfect - - we lounged in their hotel lobby from 6:00 to 7:00 drinking free coffee; then had ricotta pancakes with fresh fruit and ham and gruyere omlette [two people, split each item between us], strolled along Muscle Beach and the Santa Monica Pier and then to the Getty Villa with pre-arranged tickets.

[we used our Garmin brought from home to get from point to point including back to the rental car return - - rental for the half day was $23 from Dollar]

Thanks so much for all the help and suggestions. There's no place like TUG!!


Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip, and Shutters. :)

I have not eaten there, but my wife has and she quite liked it, so that's why I gave it as a recommend.

Thanks for the update, I for one am someone who appreciates hearing back from a poster who has asked for advice.
 

CalifasGirl

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Friday nights at the Getty

Getty's art is so-so. Some nice pieces but little depth. But to be fair, I lived in DC for 30 years and I am comparing it to the museums on the Mall. The view and the buildings though are absolutely outstanding.
I agree. I'm not all that impressed with the artwork, but I love the architecture, and the events on Friday nights are wonderful. Do they still have them? I haven't been back to the Getty in a long time.
 
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