Ranging from$1.00- taco on Taco Tuesdays to prime rib early-bird special to Italian food that will dent your wallet; Santa Monica Canyon offers a variety of dining choices in an convenient neighborhood setting. Check out Santa Monica Canyon restaurants.

Celebrate New Year in Santa Monica: Guide to New Year’s places to eat, drink and party!

UPDATE: Oktoberfest 2010 has been cancelled. Due to some security difficulties affecting their insurance coverage, Oktoberfest Southern California has been postponed until 2011. Every ticket holder will be fully refunded.

Having achieved success in San Francisco with its Oktoberfest by the Bay, American Showplace Productions will recreate more of the same magic for the Socal population with their first annual SoCal Oktoberfest 2010, which will be held at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica from October 8-11, 2010. You will be entertained to the world-famous 21-piece Chico Bavarian Band, The Internationals, traditional Bavarian dancing and world’s best beers along with a wide variety of authentic German cuisine and delicious pastries, to satisfy your sweet tooth. The cost of admission is $20 and includes entry and entertainment. Food, dessert, wine and beer will have to be purchased separately. Children are allowed only on Sunday. Admission fee is $5 for children between 13-18 years and free for those under 12.

Oktoberfest  Schedule
Grand Opening
Friday, October 8
5 PM – Midnight

Saturday, October 9 (two sessions/ $20 per session)
Session 1: 11 AM – 4:30 PM
Session 2: 4:30 PM – 12:30 AM

German Day 2010

Sunday, October 10
11 AM – 6 PM

4 things that will make your Oktoberfest experience even better

1. Avoid the rush. Buy your tickets early online and avail fabulous discounts of $5 off per ticket on Friday and 2-For-1 Sunday.

2. More the merrier: Parking is free if you have 4 or more people in your car. It is $10 otherwise.

3. To enjoy the festivities, spend at least three or four hours at the fest and you will catch up all the Octoberfest music and dance performances.

4. Get in the spirit of Oktoberfest. Wear Trachten or other Octoberfest costumes.

Art, Music and Beer all under one roof. Now that’s a combo that you don’t find often.

Celebrating locally produced art, music and the finest craft beers around, 18th Street Arts Center, in association with Library Alehouse, is bringing you the first craft beer festival known as B.A.M. acronym for Beer, Art and Music Festival on October 2, 2010 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at 18th Street Arts Center.

For a price of $35, you get to taste 20-plus breweries, savor organic gourmet and sweat treats by green truck and big swirl truck, groove to the music of 4 bands and soothe your eyes to some amazing art. What’s more? You get a B.A.M. Fest logo tasting glass and all proceeds from the event will go towards 18th Street Arts Center, a Santa Monica 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Tickets will sell out soon, so purchase tickets for BAM today.

Celebrate authentic fresh cuisine and some top rated boutique wineries offering the best of food and libation in California at the Santa Monica food and wine festival on October 2, 2010. The event will begin at 11.30 am till 7 p.m. at 2030 Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90405 located between the Casa Del Mar Hotel and Beach Park.

Admission tickets need to be purchased in advance. General Admission is $40.00 and include wine tastings, food voucher, concert, cooking demonstrations, entrance into the festival. You can also purchase VIP admission tickets for $65.00 which includes all of the above plus upgraded food vouchers, VIP reserved seating, sponsor and exhibit. Purchase Tickets Now.
For more information visit Santa Monica food and wine festival

Tequila aficionados are in for a treat with the launch of the “BIG RED” bar and menu serving 456 tequilas and mescals at Lula Cocina Mexicana in Santa Monica. Voice of Santa Monica spoke with Martin Lee, Director of Operations at Lula Cocina Mexicana, about the launch and what should the tequila aficionados expect from “Big Red”.

Rhone Rangers ride back in Santa Monica on August 8, 2010

The Rhone Rangers are in town for their annual trade & consumer tasting on Sunday, August 8 from 2 pm – 5 p.m at Pier 59 Studios West, 2415 Michigan Ave, Santa Monica, CA. Complimentary appetizers and tapas plates will be served by Schaffer’s Genuine Catering (Venice, CA) from 12 noon – 2 PM. The tickets for general admission cost $35 and for VIP admission $75. You can buy tickets here.

This time round the participating wineries so far include: 10 Knots Cellars, Anglim, Calcareous, Caliza, Cass, Chateau Ste Michelle, Clavo Cellars, Cliff Creek Cellars, Cline, Columbia Crest, Curtis, Derby Wine Estates, Ecluse, Edward Sellers, Epiphany, Fess Parker, Four Vines, Halter Ranch, J. Lohr, Jada, Justin, Katin, L’Aventure, Michael-David, Ortman Family Vineyards, Qupe, Stark, Tablas Creek, Tercero, Terry Hoage, Treana, Unti, Vina Robles, Vines on the Marycrest, Zaca Mesa. Additional wineries are also signing up.

If you are new to Rhone rangers wines, start by reading the interview we had with Cheryl Quist, Executive Director, Rhone Rangers.

If this is your first time at a wine tasting event get a basic introduction to the world of wine and then move to different Rhone wines. Also you are going to be tasting a lot of wines so learn how to spit wine if you don’t already know. It is imperative because you don’t want to sort of lose it towards the end of the day.

TGILF: Last Friday’s on the Main street on 2/26
After the success of the first last Friday’s on the main street, the second last Friday’s event for this month definitely rings a bell of excitement. While the weather forecast indicates a cloudy day, we still hope to see many throng the streets of ‘Main’ to attend this month’s last Friday’s on 26 February, 2010.

Great taste at great price: DineLA Restaurant Week features Santa Monica’s finest restaurants
Local foodies and visitors get ready for the feast! DineLA Restaurant Week begins tomorrow giving you the perfect opportunity to dip your taste buds into some amazingly priced three-course lunches and dinners at Santa Monica’s finest restaurants.

Santa Monica Special December 2009

Santa Monica Pub Crawl

The streets of Santa Monica were filled with merry cheers as the first Santa Monica pub crawl pulled in thousands of people dressed in holiday attire which included Santas’, Snowmans’, elves and some naughty reindeer’s. Read more on Santa Pub crawl 2009.

WhiskyLive event in Santa Monica this October

WhiskyLive, world’s premier whisky tasting show will be held at the Santa Monica civic auditorium on October 20, 2009 from 5.30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Read more about WhiskyLive and main highlights of the Whisky Live event.

Annual Taste of Santa Monica this September

The 8th annual Taste of Santa Monica in partnership with Kooza by Cirque Du Soleil promises to present an evening of fun, food, frolic and more. Read more about the Taste of Santa Monica 2009 event.

Santa Monica Seaside Wine Tasting

Seaside Wine Tasting Pavilion (part of the Twilight Dance Series)

Wine Pavilion Opens at 6 p.m
Place: Santa Monica Pier
Read More: Interviews & Pictures

Rhone Rangers Wine Tasting Event – Los Angeles

The Rhone Rangers are in town for their annual trade & consumer tasting on Sunday, August 9 from 12 noon – 2 p.m at Pier 59 Studios West, 2415 Michigan Ave, Santa Monica, CA.

Join their mailing list and get notified about the wine tasting events in the future.
Read More about the wine tasting event. Also Interview with Cheryl Quist, ED, Rhone Rangers and Rhone winemakers