At Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, the panoramic Pacific views and private cabanas were great, but what stood out most on our stay was the menu at The Grill at Resort Pool, the resort’s poolside dining spot (open daily, 10am to 6pm). Here are the five snacks worth ordering.
Poolside Ceviche
Served in chilled cups with tortilla chips on the side — citrus-and-tomato-marinated shrimp, crisp diced vegetables, and just enough spice to wake things up without overwhelming it. Light and refreshing for a sunny afternoon, easy for kids to scoop with chips, and $20 on the menu.
Loaded Nachos
Tortilla chips under melted cheese, guacamole, pico de gallo, black beans, and jalapeños — a $25 shareable plate that’s easy to split across the table without anyone feeling shortchanged.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
At $12 each, this is the easiest impulse order on the menu — crisp edges, gooey centers, packed with melty chocolate. We ended up ordering more than once: milk for the kids, coffee for us.
Ice Cream Sandwiches
Made in-house with fresh-baked cookies and premium ice cream instead of the usual store-bought version — a classic treat with a noticeably better execution, at $12 apiece.
Gelato Bars
Pistachio, hazelnut, and mango became our go-to flavors here — dense and creamy, a step up from a standard popsicle, and at $12, a lot less messy than a cone.
A Couple of Practical Notes
Arrive early if you want a cabana, especially on weekends or in peak summer — they go fast, and Terranea takes cabana reservations online or by phone rather than first-come-first-served. Terranea actually has four pools, not one: the main Resort Pool (with a 140-foot water slide, the one most families end up at), a quieter Spa Pool for spa guests, the Vista Pool for guests 13 and up, and the adults-only Cielo Point Pool for anyone traveling without kids. The Grill serves all of them, so you don’t have to leave your lounge chair to order. There’s also a full kids’ menu beyond the sweets — burgers, hot dogs, quesadillas, chicken tenders — so this isn’t just a dessert stop if you’re trying to keep everyone fed through a long pool day. And if you’re ordering a lot through the day, splitting larger items like the nachos across the table keeps things from adding up too quickly while everyone still gets to try a bit of everything.
None of these are groundbreaking on their own — a ceviche cup, a plate of nachos, a scoop of gelato — but together they solve the actual problem of poolside dining: getting fed without leaving your chair, without a heavy meal weighing you down in the afternoon heat, or a forty-minute wait to get it. The Grill gets that right, which is why we kept ordering from it all week instead of walking over to one of Terranea’s sit-down restaurants.
