The Misfit Restaurant

The Misfit Restaurant
225 Santa Monica Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90401
The Misfit Restaurant on Facebook 


Type: Restaurant, Bar
Category: Lunch, Tapas, Dinner
Company: Date, Friends, Visitors, Co-Workers
Cost: Plates $4-$27, Beer $6-$9, Spirits and Wine (menu price)

Quickie: The feel is as if the ballroom class of Bottega Louie had an affair with the wrought-iron grit of Gjelina - and the bastard child was raised by the circus from the movie Water for Elephants. This is the place for those days when you want to drink up at happy hour (3-7, M-F), then get lazy "and just stay" through a dinner/fourth meal of tasty, mismatched small plates.

OTC Tip: On your way out, there is a cookie jar positioned on a pedestal that hosts crumbly, salt-topped chocolate-chip cookies. They are so tasty that I took a handful (and I was sober).

Miss Sallie at Misfit

Review:
Don't be misled: despite the face of the name: you aren't going to find purple couscous or square menus at Misfit -  but aside from the misdemeanor of a misnomer -  you won't consider your time at Misft a mistake.

These days, it's truly impossible to re-invent the wheel in terms of taste and venue: we've done food trucks and canopied wine bars, bi-racial tacos and bacon - scented foams. So, how does one dare to open a new place on an off-branch of 3rd Street Promenade and manage to misstep the prominent shadows of similar-feathered neighbors (The Yard, Bar Chloe, Bodega Wine Bar)?

The answer is simple: 1) Pick a quirky name that reminds everyone of their innate potential for debauchery, and 2) feed them, until closing time.

So, as long you stay on par with the more-established surrounding options in respect to price, hours of operation, and general aesthetic - the crowd will take care of the rest. But enough of the clatter, let's chat about the menu.

The one thing to remember here is that when you order an item, that is exactly what you will get (plus or minus a pickled vegetable). The sandwiches do not come with sides, and if you are a group of relatively strong eaters, y'all will definitely need to order at least two plates per person (or just grab extra cookies upon your exit).

For lunch, our table of four ordered the Ahi Tuna Burger and the following:  

(2) Misfit Burger

French Onion Soup

Roasted Tomato/Basil Soup

Surf + Turf Sliders

Being snoops, we also secretly coveted the bowl of Mac and Cheese with Chorizo at the table next to us (and vowed to order it next time).

So, for a twist one of these nights, definitely corral your friends and give Misfit a whirl - as (perhaps) the point is just that: new, in of itself, is something innovative and different enough.