Located on Swarthmore (across from CVS), Beech Street has one of the loveliest places to dine in Pacific Palisades, either outside in its quaint courtyard or inside near the fireplace.
Families love to come here because not only does it have a kid’s menu that includes a cheese or pepperoni pizza, penne with butter, penne marinara (with a meatball) and chicken and veggies, but the adult food is quite tasty and flavorful.
Even though sit-down dining will have to wait, this restaurant has savory, mouth-watering food on an extensive menu that offers numerous options and includes gluten-free and low-fat.
With more than 170 reviews on Yelp, the restaurant received five stars from one reviewer, who ate there in January and reported: “Beech Street is easily one of my favorite restaurants in the Palisades! They have a wide variety of phenomenal salads, a great lentil soup, great pizza, and the best brownie ala mode I have eaten in at least a decade!”
The restaurant lost some points because several people commented on the service, but everyone seemed to agree that the food was top-notch and tasty.
The goat cheese ($12) baked in a marinara sauce with warm bread sticks is one resident’s favorite appetizer. Yet another said the toasted ciabatta with the garlic sauce and mozzarella cheese ($11.75) was “the perfect way to start a meal.”
There’s a wide range of salads from the New York chopped ($15) and the Beech Street house ($13.50) to the arugula artichoke ($13) and the beet salad ($13.75) that includes red and golden beets, arugula, toasted walnuts and shaved parmesan. The salmon salad ($21) includes sautéed salmon on a bed of mixed greens, with tomatoes, zucchini, carrots and a balsamic Dijon vinaigrette.
Sandwiches, which are served on ciabatta bread with a choice of house salad, Caesar salad or pasta salad, range from the Chicken Chili Rocket ($14.50) with chicken breast and spicy Dutch chilies, arugula and brie cheese to the Italian Grinder ($14.50) capicola ham, genoa salami, prosciutto, provolone, lettuce, onion and tomato to the Sausage and Peppers ($14.50) with grilled sausage, roasted peppers and caramalized onions.
The pastas and risottos include the spaghetti Bolognese ($19.25), linguini and clams ($23.00), lobster ravioli ($23.75) and seafood risotto ($25.75).
The entrees are all tempting and include several chicken dishes, such as chicken parmesan ($25.25 and $21), chicken marsala ($25.25) and chicken picatta ($25.25). There are two salmon options ($30.50): sautéed wild-caught salmon or poached salmon with steamed asparagus, and a Fish of the Day.
When I dined there last, we split one of Beech Street’s yummy salads and ordered a pizza, which made for a perfect lunch. A typical Neapolitan cheese pizza is $22, but diners can select their own ingredients to satisfy cravings.
The calzones ($18) are also delightful and are large enough to satisfy a teenage boy’s appetite or provide a second meal for someone with a slower metabolism.
(Visit: beechstreetcafe.com or call 310-573-1940.)
