Fig is the restaurant inside the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows on Wilshire in Santa Monica, and it has been in our family rotation for years. We have been for brunch in the garden, for a full-price family dinner, and, more and more often, for FIG at Five, the happy hour that takes 50% off the entire menu. Here is what we order at each, and why happy hour is now our default.
What Is FIG at Five?
FIG at Five runs Tuesday through Saturday, from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM. During that one hour, you receive 50% off everything: drinks, food, dessert, and even the kids’ meal prices. Not a discount on a limited happy hour menu. Not a couple of reduced-price bar snacks. Fifty percent off the full menu, including filet mignon, burrata, and whatever cocktail your husband has been eyeing.
To put this in real numbers: you can order two cocktails, one appetizer, one salad, two mains with two sides, and two kids’ meals, a complete, beautiful dinner with alcohol and vegetables and dessert, and walk out spending around $200 with tax and tip. At a restaurant inside the Fairmont Miramar, in Santa Monica, with filet mignon on the table. I have done the math many times because it still surprises me every time the bill arrives.
What We Order
We have developed a happy hour order at FIG that I will share with you, because it took some iterations to get right and I like to spare people the trial and error.
We start with the Sweet Potato Falafel, which I did not expect to love. Falafel is a dish I respect but rarely find exciting, and sweet potato falafel at a hotel restaurant is a combination that could easily go wrong. FIG’s version is executed well: the sweetness of the potato is balanced by the herbed exterior, the texture is right, and it’s the kind of appetizer that makes you glad you ordered it rather than something more predictable.
The Persimmons and Burrata is one of the better dishes on the menu. The combination of ripe, sweet persimmon with creamy, fresh burrata and whatever accompaniments the kitchen is running is the kind of dish that reminds you why seasonal ingredients matter. If persimmons are in season and this dish is on the menu, order it.
For mains, we order the Filet Mignon: mostly because of what it does to my husband Brad. He’s a ribeye person, and has been for the entire time I’ve known him; he regards filet mignon with polite skepticism at best. At FIG, he eats the filet and has nothing but compliments. The preparation is precise, the quality of the beef is evident, and at 50% off the regular price, there’s no competition from anything else on the menu. The filet wins every time.
The sides are equally worth ordering. The heirloom carrots, the honey-nut squash, and the marble peewee potatoes are all excellent: the kind of vegetable preparations that are interesting enough to eat on their own rather than functioning purely as accompaniments. FIG takes its produce seriously, and the sides reflect that commitment as clearly as the mains do.
To Drink, and for the Kids
Brad had the Apple Pie Old Fashioned on our most recent visit and was vocal about it in the way he is only vocal about drinks he actually loved. The cocktail program at FIG is thoughtful and the happy hour pricing means you can try more than one without the math anxiety that usually accompanies hotel bar cocktails in Santa Monica.
The girls order the chicken tenders from the kids’ menu. They are happy. The kids’ meals are half price, which means everyone at the table is eating well and the bill is not going to require a recovery period.
The Setting: Inside Is the Right Call
FIG has the garden, and the garden is beautiful: mature plantings, the Moreton Bay fig tree the restaurant is named for (planted, per the hotel’s own history, back when the property was still a private 1889 mansion), and tables with a quality of enclosure that makes time feel slower. We know this because we have sat there. We also know that Santa Monica afternoons in summer have a specific outdoor temperature situation, and the garden can get warm in a way that competes with your ability to enjoy the meal. We now sit inside instead. The interior is polished and comfortable, with enough warmth to feel like a destination rather than a hotel dining room. I recommend following our lead on this one.
The Service
The service at FIG is consistently excellent. The staff is warm, attentive, and knowledgeable about the menu in a way that enhances the experience rather than just facilitating it. We have never had a bad interaction with the team here. On a happy hour visit where the restaurant fills quickly and the pace is elevated, the staff manages the room without the corners-cutting that characterizes busy service at lesser restaurants. They are always so sweet. I have no complaints, and I am not a person who withholds complaints when they are warranted.
The Practical Details
Reservations are not optional. They are required. FIG at Five is not a secret to the people who live on the Westside, and the restaurant fills up fast during the happy hour window. We have tried to walk in during happy hour exactly once. I will not describe what happened except to say that we now always reserve. Make your reservation in advance and arrive on time. You have one hour to eat and the clock matters.
Valet parking is available at the Fairmont Miramar. The restaurant validates, but there’s still a charge after that. $11 plus tax for the first two hours, so figure on roughly $12 to $13 for a typical happy hour dinner. Street parking on Ocean Avenue is possible but not reliable at the dinner hour in Santa Monica. Budget for the valet, consider it part of the experience, and don’t let it be the thing that surprises you.
Our Full-Price Family Dinner at Fig
Before happy hour became our habit, we came for a regular dinner with the girls. It is still a great choice when the 5:00 PM window does not work.
What We Ordered
Fig sources many of its ingredients from the Santa Monica Farmers Market, and it shows. I went with the house-made gnocchi in sage brown butter, finished with shaved Parmesan — tender, buttery, and not trying too hard. Brad ordered the prime steak with herb butter, grilled to a proper medium-rare and served with seasonal roasted vegetables.
Our daughters got the kids’ chicken nuggets, which are actually made from free-range chicken breast, hand-battered rather than the frozen kind most places serve, and came with house-made honey mustard and ranch that disappeared fast.
On the drink side, I had a Cucumber Basil Gimlet and Brad had the Fig Mule, a seasonal twist on a Moscow Mule made with fig syrup and fresh lime. The girls went through a round of berry spritzers — muddled fruit and soda water. If you’re into that kind of inventive, fruit-forward cocktail program, our Teleferic Barcelona sangria write-up is worth a read too.
Service
Our server, Michael, remembered us from a previous visit — specifically that our daughters had loved the chicken nuggets last time, and he joked that they’d have to “upgrade” to something new eventually. Water glasses got refilled without us noticing, and the pacing between courses never felt rushed or slow. That consistency wasn’t luck — it’s what keeps us coming back to Fig whenever we want a reliable family dinner in Santa Monica.
Dessert
Don’t skip it. Our favorite was the Butterscotch Pot de Crème, topped with salted caramel and whipped cream.
The Honest Verdict
I have searched the Westside of Los Angeles for a happy hour that delivers: not a few discounted drinks and a plate of fries, but a real meal, excellent food, and an experience worth building an evening around. FIG at Five is the best one we’ve found, and nothing else has come close since we started going. The combination of the quality of the food, the 50% discount applied without restriction, the service, and the setting inside a Santa Monica landmark hotel makes this a standing reservation in our household. These days we skip FIG for brunch and dinner both and just go for happy hour, because it beats a full-price dinner at most other restaurants in the city.
| Address | 101 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90401 (Fairmont Miramar Hotel) |
| Happy Hour | FIG at Five: Tue–Sat, 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM, 50% off everything |
| Reservations | Required. Book in advance, it fills fast |
| Parking | Valet available with restaurant validation (~$12–$13 after tax) |
| Budget | ~$200 all-in for a family of four with cocktails and full dinner at happy hour |
| Must-Order | Sweet Potato Falafel, Persimmons & Burrata, Filet Mignon, Apple Pie Old Fashioned |
| Best For | Families, couples, anyone who wants an excellent dinner at half price |
