The Fia garden brunch is the one I recommend most consistently when people ask where to go for weekend brunch in Santa Monica. We’ve been for brunch specifically six times now. The garden is the reason — a courtyard removed from the street that makes the meal feel like a specific kind of morning rather than just a restaurant visit.
I’m a Registered Nurse, and most of my week is fluorescent lighting and other people’s emergencies, so on a Sunday off I want the opposite of that: somewhere quiet, with good coffee and nothing beeping. Fia, tucked into an unassuming stretch of Wilshire, is the closest thing I’ve found. But is it worth the $39 price tag and the fight for a reservation? Here’s what six visits have taught me.
The Garden Is the Whole Point
The first thing you notice walking through Fia’s front doors is the temperature drop. The patio sits under massive, leafy trees that filter the California sun into something softer than the sidewalk you just left.
The one thing to know: when you check in, the host may offer you a table in the interior dining room. It’s pretty — dark wood, velvet booths — but it’s not why you came. Ask for the garden. If it’s chilly, the patio heaters are strong enough that it won’t matter.
Getting a Table at Fia Takes Real Planning
Fia books through OpenTable, and weekend garden tables go fast. A few things that have helped us:
- Book two weeks out. Looking three days ahead for an 11:30 Sunday slot is usually too late.
- Turn on OpenTable’s notify feature. People cancel morning reservations constantly — usually the night after they’ve overdone it somewhere else.
- Plan a month ahead for groups of six or more. Garden tables that size are rare, and it’s the first thing to book up before a birthday.
What $39 Actually Gets You
The brunch special includes a basket of house-made pastries for the table, a mimosa or daily mocktail, and a main entrée. The pastry basket alone — buttery croissants and whatever’s in season — would run close to $15 on its own if you ordered it separately, and the mimosa is a real one, not the cheap-champagne-and-Tropicana version.
Where it adds up: several mains carry a $10 supplement. The lobster tartine is good, but that puts it at $49 once you add the supplement. If you’re not set on lobster, the Southern Fried Chicken is included in the base $39 and, honestly, is the better value of the two.
What to Order, and What to Skip
Order these:
- The Dutch Baby. This is the dish Fia is known for — a puffed pancake baked in a cast-iron skillet and topped with roasted apple butter. It takes 20-25 minutes, so tell your server as soon as they introduce themselves. It’s big enough to split if one person wants sweet and the other wants savory.
- Chilaquiles Rojos. A lot of restaurants over-polish chilaquiles until there’s nothing left of the original dish. Fia keeps the soul of it — farm-fresh eggs, a red sauce with real kick — without going overboard.
- The Waldorf Salad. It’s rare to see one on a menu at all these days. Good, lighter option if you want something that isn’t rich, especially in summer.
Skip these:
- Shrimp and green grits. Fine, but it’s the kind of dish you could make just as well at home for a fraction of the price.
- The fruit plate. Pleasant, forgettable, and not worth using your one entrée slot on unless you’re on a specific diet.
- Crab Louie salad. I’ve never been fully confident the crab is as fresh as it should be for the price. Ask your server before ordering if you’re unsure.
A Word on the Bottomless Mimosas
For an extra $28 you can upgrade to bottomless mimosas. My honest advice, nurse hat on for a second: it’s a fast way to turn a nice Sunday into a rough Monday. I stick with the single mimosa that’s already included, then switch to their coffee or a mocktail. It keeps the morning feeling like a reset instead of a recovery project.
Parking Is Its Own Project
Santa Monica parking is never simple. Valet runs $15-20 and is easy but slow. The 2nd Street structures are a short walk away and give you the first 90 minutes free. If you’re doing the bottomless mimosas, skip driving altogether — we’ve had good luck with Waymo specifically, usually just a few minutes’ wait on both ends, and it costs about the same as valet plus tip.
So, Is It Worth It?
After six visits, yes. Fia is a 9-out-of-10 brunch for us — it wins on atmosphere, the $39 special is a good deal, and the only real knock is how hard the reservation is to land. It’s a good pick for visiting parents, a fancy girls’ brunch, or just an excuse to disappear from the world for a couple of hours. We’ll keep going back, kids and all.
Read More on Culinary Passages
If you enjoyed this, check out a few other posts along the same lines:
- The 2026 Los Angeles inKind App Guide: How to eat at Fia and Perch for 30% less.
- 7 Expensive Luxury Cruise Packing Mistakes How to stay healthy while indulging at sea.
- The Gehry-est Place on Earth: Exploring the architectural chaos of Edgemar, Santa Monica.
- The Ultimate Guide to Weekend Brunch at Perch LA
