Lou Lou Restaurant recently opened in Santa Monica with a French theme- July 2022

Newly opened French restaurant Lou Lou is located in the Santa Monica Place on the third floor of the mall right when you get out of the elevator. The atmosphere and unique European flair gives it a very cool vibe. There’s a nice bar and outdoor seating. Start with one of their nice appetizers & one of their specialty cocktails or glass of wine.

We went with the grilled octopus with a romesco sauce & side of avocado. The octopus was very tender and excellent as we have had it too chewy but not here. We also had the baked goat cheese with tomatoes and crostinis as a starter. Some other French delicacies on the menu were escargot, duck liver & French onion soup. Try there Hummus and garlic/caramelized onion dips with pita as well. They have a variety of salads but felt like the traditional Caesar salad with fresh homemade dressing with anchovies.

The entrees were the star choices and they had an assortment of French options. However the lobster linguine with black squid ink is a definite must and super flavorful with a nice portion of lobster chunks. Not to miss is the branzino fish cooked in a hard salt covering and served table side as staff Manual cracked the salt shell and plated the filet in front of us. We’ve never seen anything like this and it was very tasty and moist.

The decor is beautiful and we highly recommend a visit to check this place out as it will be hard to find better food on the west side. The Manager Marc, from Cannes, France, was super hospitable and helpful and our server Sharon was very warm and had nice energy. More at https://www.loulousantamonica.com/

Photos by Coral Isikci