Tar & Roses

Really great tasty food and great value for money. Server was very attentive and timed the courses perfectly. It was a bit loud, but a great experience nonetheless.

Beautifully crafted tapas dishes that were complex and married multiple textures and flavors. Yet the restaurant is not stuffy and has a “vibe”. No mixed drinks on the menu but wine and beer options are extensive. Great place to go with friends.

Amazing food! This is one of my favorite restaurants! The food and service are outstanding! Always great to go back there.

Busy restaurant, good service with knowledgeable staff. Had fish to share- so good- would certainly return

Been there several times and so far never disappointed about the food and atmosphere. Only little thing this time was that server suggested that we ought to take one main more which ended up being far too much and thereby also a bit more expensive.
But apart from that lovely will for sure go again.

A little pricey with small portions that is just shy of making it feel like its worthwhile to return to for dinner any time soon. Also, waiting area isn't great, particularly if you want service to get some drinks.

Best meal in Santa Monica. We had the oxtail dumplings, sunchokes, gnocchi, and the duck. The duck was a little chewy, but amazing flavors in all the dishes. We had the Strawberry Tart for dessert. So good!

This place never disappoints. The food was amazing as usual. Our server also made sure that we were satisfied with every dish we ordered.

Did not enjoy the food. The best part of meal was the dessert.
Sorry I wanted to like this place.

Lovely service, and a beautiful room, yet each dish was over saturated with oil. Each time a sous chef prepares a recipe with more oil than necessary, each dish begins to feel the same. We had a variety of dishes, all with lovely flavor profiles. If only the oil amount could be reduced. Also the energy of the room is excellent, unless you want to have an intimate conversation.

Great food, but it seems like a lot of the same dishes that were there five+ years ago. Still, they are excellent and it’s a great place for dinner. My wife was very happy with her birthday dinner.

This place never disappoints. Although there isn’t much of a change in their menu the past years, Tar& Roses maintain their standard in the consistency of the delicious flavors! (Trust me, this isn’t as easy as you think!)

Favorite Dishes
-Oxtail Dumplings
-Bone Marrow
-Strawberry Tart

My second visit did not disappoint. Service was just OK but food was phenomenal like last time. Fantastic meal!

I had some of the best food I’ve ever eaten (the gnocchi was a personal favorite, though the lavender honey on the roasted cauliflower was spectacular) with fantastic wine pairings recommended by my lovely waitress. The service was perfect for me. Not too intrusive...just helpful and attentive and friendly. You can tell people enjoy working there. Even when something technically went wrong, before I could think about it, they addressed it. This place makes me wish I lived in LA!

We were just looking for a great post Thanksgiving meal and Tar and Roses fit the bill perfectly. Our waitress was informative,courteous without being overbearing making suggestions when we asked which turned out to be outstanding. The oxtail appetizer was delicious melt in your mouth, we ordered 2 vegetable dishes sun chokes and carrots both delicious. For entrees we ordered the duck and flatiron steak wok one of our party ordered the fried lettuce. That was more then enough and the wine was reasonably priced. Of our party of 3 I was only newbie and will definitely be back

Took my daughters for a special evening. Everything was amazing from the first step into the restaurant to the end of our delicious meal. Our waiter was helpful and sweet as he helped this high maintenance group navigate the menu. He provided recommendations that delighted all of us. I asked him to pick a wine at his discretion and it was lovely and reasonably priced. I wish I lived closer, Tar and Roses would be my neighborhood restaurant.

We were promptly seated and our server was very helpful in making some good selections. The food, especially the yellowtail crudo and oxtail dumplings, was amazing. It is a bit on the pricier side because you have to get quite a few plates to fill up. We had a group of 4, and each plate really just had like 2 bites/each. But the ambience was great, and all the staff is great at taking care of everyone!

The vibe, food, and wine list were unpretentious and delicious. Service was attentive and considerate. Overall, a wonderful evening.

Outstanding Food and service.
Best in Santa Monica

We don't live in SoCal, but whenever we visit we make sure to dine at Tar & Roses. Their food is beyond delicious, the service is top notch. They go the extra mile to make dinner an event.

Great food great service

Delicious food and wine, knowledgeable servers and a great experience. Five courses with only dish that was not outstanding.

The very best! Food is amazing! Jeff our server was great!

Great food and wonderful service. Our server suggested a nice light red spanish wine to go with our venison, bone marrow and octopus. Fantastic meal! Definitely coming back again!

The food is consistently delicious and with inventive twists. The service is consistently friendly and knowledgeable. Sat in the back room for the first time - very nice. Our party of four - everyone really enjoyed the food, wine, and experience.

We had a wonderful time. We showed up an hour early expecting a bar where we could have a drink. Unfortunately everything was full but they we able to get right to a table. The food was fantastic, server very pleasant. We will be back.

The food is amazing, must get the friend cauliflower (hands down was my favorite of the dishes). If you are going hungry with a table of four, waiter recommends between 8-10 plates so it can get a tad expensive. The only thing my family and I didn't like was they wanted us to pick out all of our plates early on in order to "time" everything however we felt like we were rushed, having 6-7 plates in 45 minutes was a little fast.

Excellent food. Very pleasant space and nice staff. Will be back!

The octopus was maybe the best I have ever had and the oxtail ravioli was spectacular.

Fabulous meal this week. Visited a little over a year ago and this was our top pick as we were back for a visit. The BEST restaurant experience we have had in SM. Red snapper and the strawberry dessert are not to be missed. Attentive waitress and chef / owner.

We were visiting from out of town and found this restaurant doing some research online. We had an 8:30 reservation and when we arrived, they said it would be a short wait because the other party was just finishing dessert. It was fine - no big deal. We had a glass of wine and in about 20 minutes they got us a table AND gave us a cheese board and wood roasted English Peas (both delicious) as an apology for the wait. We were very impressed, because I've often had to wait for a table past my reservation time and I've never been comped anything unless it was an extremely long wait. That started us off with a good impression. We shared a bunch of small plates and liked everything a lot! Too many things to list right now, but Oxtail Dumplings and Lamb Belly stand out.

Amazing food and service!!

My husband and I love Tar and Roses and have yet to have something not great off the menu. The mushroom small plate is a standout in our opinion and is so meaty and flavorful, it is satisfying to carnivores like us. The staff are always lovely and accommodating, too. Love this place!

Eaten here many times. Haven't been disappointed yet.

We were seated in the back room which seemed a little quieter. My husband and I shared. Every dish we tried tasted amazing! Loved the brussel sprouts, fall salad, octopus, and the lemon ricotta gnocchi was probably the most delicious. With a couple of glasses of wine we were too full to try dessert. Next time! Service was great also.

First time dining at Tar & Roses. Our party of 4 all enjoyed the meal. Service was excellent. Menu is very interesting and I look forward to a return visit. Reserve in advance — this restaurant is busy.

We love the food here and have driven from Long Beach to celebrate birthdays in Santa Monica a half dozen times. But the prices for a glass of wine are too expensive.

Overall wonderful, but quite nursy as so many restaurants . In the back it was a lot better.

The ambiance was amazing. The food was delicious and the waiter was very knowledgeable about the food and all of the wine pairings!

Rushed, rushed, rushed!! That’s all I can say! We gave it a one last chance and this was it. When the manager, the waiter and the busser take turns every five min to ask you same question, over and over again, nothing else matters (if we are done while food was still in our plates). We are not ready yet, we remember saying during our meal numerous times. And my glass of wine which I wasn’t finished with disappeared before I had a chance to say, I’m not FINISHED. Not coming back. Thank you but no thank you. Celebrating two birthdays, ordering premium items of the menu and drinks was not good enough for our server to give up a break from wanting us to leave. Makes no sense. So many other options with much more superior service around Santa Monica, or let’s just call it simple, good service.