Cassia Los Angeles

Cassia is on 7th Street in Santa Monica. It holds the number 74 spot on the L.A. Times 101 Best Restaurants list and sits a ten-minute walk from the Third Street Promenade.

The room runs smart, but the energy is less formal than you might expect from a venue holding a place on the Times list. While its proximity to the beach and pier draws a tourist crowd, the kitchen keeps the Vietnamese and South East Asian menu grounded with a focus on technique over spectacle. Most diners in this district lean into coastal kitsch, making the focused, sharp cooking here a necessary departure from the surrounding area.