Wally's Santa Monica — Restaurant in Santa Monica

My fiancé and I recently had the pleasure of hosting a small and intimate Engagement Brunch at Wally's Restaurant in Santa Monica, and our experience exceeded all expectations.

From the moment we stepped into the private dining room, we were greeted with warmth and hospitality. The ambiance was perfect for our celebration, offering an elegant yet cozy atmosphere that set the tone for the day.

Now, let's talk about the food and drinks - absolutely phenomenal! Every dish was expertly prepared, using the freshest ingredients and bursting with flavor. The culinary team at Wally's truly outdid themselves, and our guests couldn't stop raving about how delicious everything was. The drinks were equally impressive, with a diverse selection of wines and cocktails to choose from, ensuring that everyone found something to enjoy.

However, what truly made our experience unforgettable was the impeccable service provided by Christian, our server and bartender. Christian went above and beyond to ensure that every detail was taken care of, and his attention to our needs made us feel like royalty. He was not only professional and attentive but also personable and genuinely invested in making our celebration special.

If anyone is ever in the market for hosting an event, whether it's a brunch, a wedding, or any special occasion, I cannot recommend Wally's Restaurant enough. The combination of exquisite food, impeccable service, and beautiful ambiance makes it the perfect choice for any gathering. And if you have the pleasure of being served by Christian, you're in for an even more exceptional experience.

In conclusion, if you're looking for a venue that will exceed your expectations and leave a lasting impression on you and your guests, look no further than Wally's Restaurant in Santa Monica. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

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Holiday Gift FAIL - Let me start by saying that I gave multiple opportunities to Wally's to fix this issue via phone (vms) and email and received no response. My initial order was simple - two bottles of wine to be shipped locally to a vendor for the holidays. I placed my order on 12/9. Around the 20th I checked in w/ my vendor and the gift had still not been received. After no less than 15 calls to not only the main customer service line but direct lines to the Santa Monica store, I finally spoke to someone who I had to force to help me as I had gotten nowhere with VMs/emails to customer service. Apparently a wine I chose was sold out and nobody contacted me so the order was just on hold with no solution being made. She was not clear at all in her next steps - I hung up assuming that the red that was out of stock was being replaced and they were refunding me as an apology. The package FINALLY arrived on 12/29 and was one bottle of white wine only. I called, left vms and sent emails again repeatedly to try and voice my issue with a manager and have received no call yet. My purchase wasn't large but as someone who comes from a hospitality upbringing, every customer is important - no matter how big or small they are. In a world where the F&B industry is in shambles, I expected customer service - especially at an establishment of this caliber - to be 100x better. I will let everyone I know how terrible these people are and to source their wine needs through other extremely kind and notable local vendors - ie. Esters Wine Shop, Venice Beach Wines, Uncorked, Barsha - and to NEVER do business with Wally's again. This is not to mention that we do work events and gatherings at Wally's which I can say with 100% certainty I will not support rebooking...

The menu has a lot of top line options - truffles, caviar, wagyu, etc. - and I'd say that the kitchen does a reasonable job of delivering these at an appropriate level of quality. The atmosphere looks to fit this standard as well.

However, we noticed quite a few gaps in the armor that brought down our appreciation of the restaurant.

In terms of atmosphere, the big issue was that the chairs are hard wooden stools with no back and our booties got a bit chilly by the end of the meal because there's not much insulation. Not a big issue but it seems a bit strange to bring a hot date to eat $300 caviar on a tiny stool.

We ordered the "two person only" scallops dish. It came with only three scallops. They were large for scallops but that's still about the size of a single New York steak, all added together.

They ran out of the desert that I ordered so, without asking me, brought an other one, dumped it on the table, and mentioned something about, "If you don't like it..." To be honest, I didn't like it. My wife did so it did mostly disappear but I wasn't given any choice and the waiter never checked. In general, he seemed too be acting like he felt like it was his job to appear snooty and disinterested.

On the whole, I'd say that it would be a good place if it didn't feel like they were trying so hard to be an upscale location to take other people to really impress them with opulence. But, given the opulent menu options, it felt like they didn't really know how to do most of the other stuff...