Chez Jay

Jay Fiondella was a former merchant marine who arrived in Los Angeles in the late 1950s with aspirations of becoming an actor. The acting career did not take off, but Fiondella used his Hollywood industry connections to identify a small Santa Monica storefront on Ocean Avenue as a potential bar location. Santa Monica in 1959 was a different city than today — less polished, less expensive, and home to a substantial community of working-class Hollywood industry people (cinematographers, sound technicians, stunt performers, and lower-tier actors) who lived in the relatively affordable beachside neighborhoods.

Fiondella opened Chez Jay in 1959 as a deliberately unpretentious working-person's bar — sawdust on the floor (an old American saloon tradition Fiondella borrowed deliberately), dim lighting that flattered after-work drinkers, a small kitchen serving steaks and basic seafood, and a bar program focused on competent American cocktails rather than fashion-driven mixology. The pricing was modest by Santa Monica standards. The clientele in the first few years was substantially the Hollywood industry middle class — not movie stars yet, but the working professionals who made the movies.

The transition to a celebrity-frequented bar happened gradually through the 1960s. Several of Fiondella's industry-middle-class regulars rose through their careers into stardom, and they brought their newly-famous friends to a bar that they remembered as comfortable and unpretentious. Jay himself was famously discreet — he was friends with many of the celebrity regulars but refused to discuss them with reporters or sell their stories. This combination of low-key atmosphere and Fiondella's discretion made Chez Jay one of the few Los Angeles bars where major celebrities could relax without paparazzi or intrusion.

The list of confirmed Chez Jay celebrity regulars across the 1960s through 1980s reads like a Hollywood-Golden-Age roll call. Frank Sinatra was a frequent visitor and reportedly favored a specific corner booth that is still informally known as 'Frank's booth.' Marlon Brando ate at Chez Jay regularly during his Santa Monica years. Steve McQueen — who lived in nearby Brentwood — was a near-daily lunch regular for several years. Warren Beatty, Lee Marvin, Robert Mitchum, Burt Lancaster, and dozens of other major actors were periodic to frequent visitors.

Several specific celebrity stories have become Chez Jay folklore. The peanut Alan Shepard reportedly took to the moon on Apollo 14 (and brought back) was allegedly given to him at Chez Jay before the launch — the story is unverifiable in its details but Fiondella himself confirmed the general outline before his death. Sean Penn allegedly proposed to Madonna in one of the booths in 1985. Various other proposals, breakups, deal-makings, and Hollywood-history moments have been ascribed to the restaurant across the decades.

The celebrity tradition continues to a more modest extent. Current working actors, musicians, and other Hollywood professionals continue to visit periodically, drawn by the same combination of unpretentious atmosphere and famous discretion that made Chez Jay attractive in the 1960s. The restaurant does not promote its celebrity clientele or capitalize commercially on the historical connections, which is part of why the celebrity tradition continues — the people who go there know they will not be hassled.

The Chez Jay menu has remained substantially unchanged since 1959. The signature items are the steaks — New York strip, ribeye, and filet mignon, all served simply with a baked potato and seasonal vegetables. The cooking is competent rather than virtuosic; this is not a fine-dining steakhouse competing with the Mastros and Cuts of contemporary Los Angeles, but rather a 1959-style American steak-and-potatoes experience executed consistently. Per-person spend for a steak dinner with a cocktail and side runs roughly $40 to $70.

The lobster program is the second signature menu category. Maine cold-water lobster (typically 1.25 to 1.5 pounds) is the standard preparation — steamed, served with drawn butter, a baked potato, and seasonal vegetables. The lobster is genuinely good and the preparation is genuinely traditional. Per-person spend for lobster runs roughly $50 to $80 depending on the size of the lobster and additional courses.

The bar program is classic American cocktails competently executed with stiff pours. Old Fashioneds, Manhattans, Martinis, gin-and-tonics, and the full range of traditional cocktails are all available. The wine list is modest (around 40 bottles) and weighted toward California reds that pair with the steak menu. Beer selection is similarly traditional — domestic American lagers and a few imported options rather than craft beer. The whole bar program reflects the 1959 sensibility: drinks should be strong, classic, and unfussy.

Chez Jay's physical atmosphere is the primary reason regulars and visitors return repeatedly. The restaurant occupies a single small dining room — roughly 60 seats including the bar — anchored by a row of red leather booths along one wall, a small bar with vinyl-topped stools along the opposite wall, and a few small tables in the center. The lighting is deliberately dim with red-and-amber tinted bulbs that produce a warm dusky ambiance even in mid-afternoon. Actual sawdust is spread on the floor and replaced weekly — an old American saloon tradition that Fiondella borrowed deliberately and that has been maintained continuously since 1959.

The walls are covered with framed photographs, autographs, oddities, and memorabilia accumulated across six decades. The collection includes celebrity photographs (many signed, all displayed without the kind of look-at-me prominence that would diminish the bar's discretion), vintage Santa Monica imagery, framed news clippings about the bar's history, and a substantial collection of pickled and otherwise preserved curiosities that long-time regulars have brought as gifts. The aesthetic is dense, lived-in, and unapologetic.

The discretion culture remains a defining feature of the restaurant. Staff are trained to leave celebrity diners alone. Photography of other patrons is discouraged. The restaurant does not promote its current or historical celebrity clientele in marketing or on social media. This deliberate low-key approach is why Chez Jay continues to attract working Hollywood professionals — the assurance of privacy is genuinely meaningful in a city where most dining options are designed to maximize visibility.

For Route 66 road-trippers completing the full Mother Road drive at the Santa Monica Pier, Chez Jay is the most natural endpoint dinner option. The restaurant sits about three blocks south of the pier on Ocean Avenue, an easy 5-minute walk from the End of the Trail sign. The combination of completing the drive, photographing the sign at sunset, and then walking to Chez Jay for steak and a stiff Old Fashioned has become a genuine Route 66 tradition for many travelers.

The dinner pairs particularly well with an overnight at one of the beachfront luxury hotels — Shutters on the Beach, Hotel Casa del Mar, or the Fairmont Miramar Hotel are all within walking distance. The standard sequence: late-afternoon pier visit (4-6pm), sunset photographs at the sign (6-7pm), dinner at Chez Jay (7-9pm), and a walk back to the hotel along Ocean Avenue with the Pacific to the west and the pier lights visible to the north.

For travelers not staying overnight in Santa Monica, the Chez Jay dinner still works as a final Route 66 celebration before driving back to a hotel elsewhere in Los Angeles. The restaurant takes reservations by phone (310-395-1741) and walk-ins are usually accommodated on weekday evenings. Weekend evenings, particularly Friday and Saturday, can fill up — reserving 1-2 weeks in advance for weekend dinners during peak tourism months (April through October) is the cautious approach.