Savida — Restaurant in Santa Monica

Cannot say enough good things about this place. Every meal has sublime food and high energy, casual service so it feels like a special party. This is because of Israeli Chef-owner Dan Smulovitz. He is serious and welcoming and approachable and so is his food. His intimate Savida Restaurant and Raw Bar on Montana. has a intimate garden setting that encourages all the guests into lively conversation with each other. Chef Dan's creates a changing small plate menu of refreshing crudo inspired by the colorful, innovative and eclectic cuisine of Tel Aviv. His impressive international culinary background shows up in every dish.

We had never heard of this place in Santa Monica blocks from the ocean itself. Chef Dan told he took inspiration chiefly from the Mediterranean, where his original restaurant “was so close to the sea we had a variety of fresh fish and seafood daily.”   The tree-lined, posh, lively Montana Avenue, in fact, “reminds me of a street in Tel...

Overall, Savida was great and we will be back. Wonderful addition to Montana Ave dining.

Their star dish is the Savida mixed platter. It is beautifully presented and so incredibly fresh. Great flavors that compliment and not overpower the delicate fish. (5/5)

Also ordered the bread & seaweed butter which was good and came out warm and right away (4/5). The homemade lemonade was good (4/5). Shawarma had nice flavors, but was a little heavy on the tahini amba sauce (4/5).

Service was good, but our server doubled as the host too. Received a complimentary dish of raw fish and avocado served on a pair of cute shells. Sat in their outdoor street side dining area which was nice and dog-friendly. The portions are on the smalller side and also seafood is rather light so I recommend 1-2 more dishes than we (party of 2) ordered...

My girlfriend and I did our date night here yesterday and were very happy with our outing. The food and service were incredible.

Right as we sat down, we received a delicious complimentary octopus taster. Our order of oysters came next, which was excellent. Our order of ceviche was quite delicious as well. The shrimp plate on guac was the only miss of the night, but was more than made up for by a complementary salmon tartare that was INCREDIBLE. Our last main dish was the lobster rolls that were done extremely well. Finally, we finished with a berries and cream dessert that really hit the spot.

The restaurant is small, and the orders came out quite fast, but the food was worth it all. Excited to come back again. Compliments...