Bars in Santa Monica open late

The Daily Pint

A British-themed neighbourhood dive on the quiet end of Pico, well inland from the beach crowds. It keeps an ever-changing craft tap list, a whisky collection reviewers put north of 500 bottles, and billiards and darts in the back. It runs to 2am every single day, which almost nothing else in Santa Monica manages. Time Out's own warning is fair: this is a laid-back locals' hangout, not a night out.

The Gaslite

Southern California's longest-running karaoke bar, going since 1962 and open 6am to 2am every day of the year. Singing starts at 6pm and runs to 1:30am, the popcorn is free, and the crowd is a genuine cross-section of Santa Monica rather than a scene. It sits at the divey end of the spectrum and is proud of it. If you want a quiet drink and conversation, this is the wrong room.

Chez Jay

A 1959 surf-and-turf shack across from the beach on Ocean Avenue, and an official Santa Monica landmark: red-checked tablecloths, taxidermied fish and heavy pours. The kitchen still does steaks and steamed clams at prices that have not caught up with the neighbourhood. It only runs to 2am on Friday and Saturday; the rest of the week last call is midnight. A breezier outdoor annexe, the Backyard, closes earlier.

Ye Olde King's Head

The big British pub a block off the Promenade, with a formal dining room, a proper pub side, and a bakery and shop attached. Fish and chips, Cornish pasties and scotch eggs alongside English and Irish taps, with the doors open until 2am seven nights a week. It is the most reliable late option downtown if you want real food with the drinks. One caution: listings disagree on whether it sits at 116 or 132 Santa Monica Blvd, so check before you walk.

Tavern on Main

The Main Street corner bar that spent decades as Rick's Tavern, now reopened under new ownership and voted Santa Monica's most loved happy hour of 2025. TVs inside and out, the unofficial home of Detroit sports in LA, and Main Street's only pool table. The kitchen sticks to burgers, wings and other pub standards. It goes to 2am Thursday through Saturday and closes at midnight earlier in the week.

Barney's Beanery

The Third Street Promenade branch of the 1920 Route 66 roadhouse, and the most dependable late-night kitchen downtown: food keeps coming well past midnight and the doors stay open to 2am, 365 days a year. Over 60 HD TVs and a couple of hundred beers make it the default for catching a game. Thursdays are trivia at 9pm and Fridays are karaoke. It is loud and touristy, which is either the point or the problem.

Harvelle's

The oldest surviving music venue on the Westside, running since 1931 in a small, dark room off Fourth Street. Live blues, R&B, soul, jazz and the long-standing Toledo Show fill the calendar seven nights a week, 8pm to 2am. Most nights are ticketed, so check the schedule before you turn up. It is a show more than a bar, but it is a bar that is still going at 1:30am.

The Room Santa Monica

A dim, no-frills dance bar on Santa Monica Boulevard, entered from 14th Street, and one of the few rooms in the city where people actually dance. It runs Thursday to Saturday only: reggae and dancehall on Thursdays, 90s night on Fridays, open-format on Saturdays, all to 2am. Happy hour from 9 to 10:30pm keeps beers at $6 and cocktails at $9. There is a smart-casual dress code and, depending on the night, a small cover.

Bar Chloe

A small, dim 1930s-styled cocktail parlour tucked between a hotel and an office block on 2nd Street, walk-ins only and 21-plus. The list is classics done properly, with grilled cheese and a few other snacks standing in for a kitchen. It is the quietest late option here: Thursday through Saturday it goes to 1am, midnight the rest of the week. Mind the door policy, which rules out flip flops, shorts and beach attire.

Sonny McLean's Irish Pub

A Boston-leaning Irish pub on Wilshire that doubles as the Westside's most serious sports bar: 23 HDTVs inside, six more in the beer garden, and close to every sports package going. Forty beers on tap, a long whiskey list, and a kitchen doing both Irish standards and New England dishes. Open to 2am every night. There is no live music, just a jukebox, so it is a watching-and-talking pub rather than a going-out one.

The Bungalow Santa Monica

The indoor-outdoor lounge inside the Fairmont Miramar, a block from the beach, and the most polished room on this list. Baja-styled bungalow rooms, fire pits, pool and ping-pong, and cocktails at around $22. It opens Thursday, Friday and Saturday only, 5pm to 1am. Expect a queue and a crowd at weekends, and hotel prices to match.

The Santa Monica Whaler

A big beach bar at Ocean and Broadway, sibling to the long-running Venice original, built around sunsets, sports and fish tacos rather than anything fancy. Ocean views from a spacious room, and happy hour from 2 to 6pm on weekdays. Friday and Saturday are the late nights, running to 2am; Thursday it closes at 1am and midnight covers the rest of the week. A sensible landing spot coming off the Pier.

Cabo Cantina

A Promenade party bar with two-for-one drinks all day every day, a loud jukebox and a patio facing the shoppers. Margaritas and Mexican bar food, plus a second happy hour from 10:30pm to 12:30am that is the reason people end the night here rather than start it. Fridays and Saturdays it goes to 2am, other nights 1am. It is not subtle and does not try to be.