The Best Date Spots in Santa Monica in Los Angeles

Head up to The Penthouse at the Huntley for sunset views over the Pacific from a rooftop restaurant and lounge 18 stories above Santa Monica. The wraparound windows look toward the ocean and the Promenade, while chandeliers hang throughout the bright dining room.

The New American menu includes spicy tuna crispy rice and winter chicory salad, while the Wagyu steak roll is large enough to share as a starter or order as a main.

Élephante is an Italian rooftop restaurant and bar above the Laemmle Theater, with indoor and outdoor seating surrounded by cacti and houseplants. Ask for the Sunset Room if you want a direct ocean view, and start with the whipped eggplant dip and flatbread to share.

Pizza and pasta fill out the menu. Sunset is the busiest time, and about an hour before it is the manager's favorite time to sit. Reserve ahead, since the restaurant holds no walk-in seats.

Walk the Santa Monica Pier for ocean views, then take a ride on the Pacific Wheel, the first solar-powered Ferris wheel. Pacific Park sits on the pier with 12 rides, including the West Coaster.

Pair it with a restaurant or bar nearby to round out the date. Entry to the park is free, and rides and games are pay as you go.

Play your way through 27 holes of mini golf at Holey Moley, then grab cocktails at the Caddyshack bar or head to the second-floor patio overlooking the Third Street Promenade. Private karaoke rooms give you another option if you want to keep the date going.

Monday through Wednesday, the Date Night covers nine holes for two plus cocktails on arrival, starting at 6pm, and it is walk-in only. After 8pm the venue is 21+ only.

Settle onto the large patio at Fia, a Cal-Italian restaurant where string lights, wooden furniture and pine trees make the outdoor space feel warm and intimate.

The dinner menu leans on handmade pastas, such as the spicy gigli with vodka sauce, along with a chicken parmesan. Book through the restaurant's website, and plan on a two-hour limit at the table.

Manchego is a candlelit Spanish tapas and wine restaurant with blue tile, a moody dining room and a back garden patio that seats 25.

Two small plates we'd order for the table are the mushroom croquettes and the pork belly, which comes with quince jam. Sangria goes bottomless Tuesday through Thursday. Book ahead online.

Rustic Canyon pairs a wine bar with a seasonal, farm-driven kitchen in an intimate room with booths and a softly lit bar. The menu names the farmers and producers behind each dish, with options like pork terrine with pickled cauliflower and poached trout with sauerkraut.

Happy hour runs from 5pm to 6:30pm daily in the bar and lounge, walk-ins only. Dinner is served nightly from 5pm.

Share tapas, pintxos and jamón Ibérico at Xuntos, a Spanish tapas bar with a lively dining room and a Spanish wine list. It works just as well for a few plates and a drink as it does for a longer dinner.

A seasonal tasting menu of tapas sits alongside the à la carte dishes.

Pasjoli is a laid-back French bistro with low lighting, hanging plants and a long bar for drinks before dinner. The secret garden gives you another place to sit.

Start with the mini French onion soup or the crispy cordon bleu chicken wings, then move on to steak frites. Reserve ahead if you want the tableside pressed duck dinner, which is limited. Doors open at 5pm daily.

Spend a morning browsing produce, sampling snacks and people-watching at the Santa Monica Farmers Market on Arizona Avenue. It runs Wednesday and Saturday from 8am to 1pm, rain or shine, year-round, with some holiday closures.