Walk south from the pier on a Tuesday evening in July and you can hear the change before you see it. The old rhythm of Pier Avenue was open-air sports bars and fish shacks feeding the beach crowd. The new rhythm is quieter, later, and comes with a reservation. Three of the most talked-about openings in the South Bay this year are within four blocks of each other, and two of them replace names that Hermosa locals could have recited from memory a year ago.
That is the throughline for the season. Hermosa Beach is not adding restaurants so much as swapping them, and the operators moving in are chef-driven and design-forward rather than volume-driven. If you already live here, the practical question is which of these places is worth your Friday night, and which of the standing anchors still hold up against them.
The Pier Avenue turnover
The most anticipated arrival is Kasamar, a coastal seafood tavern from co-founder Stephanie De Los Santos. The project is expected to open in August 2026, and the new concept is expected to replace Playa Hermosa Fish & Oyster Co. in that Pier Avenue address. If you spent any time at Playa Hermosa over the last decade, the location will feel familiar. The concept will not. Early materials point to a focus on coastal dining with an emphasis on approachable seafood and drinks in a relaxed tavern setting, closer to a neighborhood chef's counter than a happy-hour oyster bar.
A few doors away, Tiki Kai has already opened at 73 Pier Ave in Pier Plaza. It comes from a hospitality group most Hermosa residents already know without realizing it. The new tiki concept comes from the hospitality team behind the South Bay's The Hula Hula Room, Eat at Joe's, Paddy O'Brien's Irish Pub and The Bounty Room. The physical space telegraphs the ambition. Beyond the 14-foot tiki mask door hand-carved by Peter Asmar of Asmar Studios, interior designer Davis Ink has created a vibrant island-inspired space, with a partially covered lounge featuring a "lava island" feature. The bar program is a straight tribute to mid-century cocktail history, with head mixologist Kyle Rioux honoring Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic's with a cocktail program that showcases small-batch producers and traditional recipes. Hours are worth committing to memory: it opens at 4 p.m. daily and closes at 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, midnight on Friday and Saturday and 10 p.m. on Sunday.
The third piece of the turnover is the arrival of Sushi Bar in the former Slay Hermosa location. Sushi Bar is an elevated omakase experience known for highly curated tasting menus featuring premium seasonal seafood. Read the three openings together and the pattern is hard to miss. This continues the trend of more chef-driven dining concepts coming to Hermosa Beach as the area continues to evolve into a serious dining destination.
"We hope Tiki Kai can be a place where locals walk in to find friends waiting to greet them, and where tiki lovers can venture to beautiful Hermosa Beach to experience a new destination," said co-owner Brian Eldridge.
That line is worth pausing on. The operators moving in this year are not framing Hermosa as a weekend destination for Westside diners. They are framing it as a place they want the neighborhood to adopt.
What still holds up
The temptation with any roundup of new openings is to pretend the standing rotation does not exist. If you have lived in Hermosa for more than a summer, you already know that is not how the corridor actually works. A few of the anchors are still, on any given weeknight, the smarter call.
RYLA at 1220 Hermosa Ave remains the most technically ambitious kitchen in the city. Helmed by husband and wife chefs Ray Hayashi and Cynthia Hetlinger, it blends contemporary cuisine with a Japanese focus and diverse Asian influences. The Local White Seabass Steamed in Lotus Leaf and the Black Truffle Fried Rice are still the two dishes worth taking a visiting friend to try. Produce comes in weekly from the farmers market, which is not a marketing line so much as a scheduling constraint the kitchen actually plans around.
AttaGirl LA at 1238 Hermosa Ave, effectively next door, plays the opposite hand. The menu balances mezze spreads, wood-grilled skewers, handmade pastas, and fresh seasonal ingredients, with dishes like spicy whipped feta with plush pita, charred octopus, spiced lamb bolognese, and rosemary-marinated beef tenderloin. It is louder than RYLA and better suited to a group of six than a quiet two-top.
Baran's 2239 stays the quiet pick. Tucked into a small commercial center a few blocks off the sand, it is run by the Baran brothers, Jonathan and Jason, with Executive Chef Tyler Gugliotta leading the kitchen, and a beverage program of over 100 wines by the bottle and more than 40 beers. When Kasamar opens in August, Baran's will still be the room to book for a birthday you actually care about.
And for breakfast, the answer has not changed since 1984. Martha's at 25 22nd Street continues to fund the Hermosa Beach Education Foundation through its $1 for every Avocado Toast sold donation, which is one of the more durable examples of a local business genuinely tied to the school community it feeds.
The summer calendar worth clearing your Saturday for
The event lineup for the balance of the summer is unusually stacked. Rather than list everything, here are the dates that matter if you live within walking distance of the Strand.
Fiesta Hermosa, Labor Day Weekend, September 5 through 7, 2026. The second of the year's two Fiestas is confirmed on the Fiesta Hermosa site for Labor Day Weekend, September 5-7, 2026. If you have spent a Memorial Day at the earlier edition, you already know the parking math. Parking is scarce, remote free shuttle parking is offered, and public transportation is highly recommended.
Hermosa Beach Certified Farmers Market, weekly on Fridays at 1035 Valley Drive. Worth building the week around if you cook. It is also, quietly, the same market RYLA's kitchen sources from.
The Comedy & Magic Club, ongoing. Still one of the country's more improbable comedy rooms. Jay Leno's Sunday sets remain a fixture on the schedule.
The Lighthouse Cafe, Sunday afternoons. The Sunday Funday Yacht Rock Party with Yachtzee continues to run from 2 p.m., which is exactly the right texture for a walk-home-after Sunday.
Sea Sprite Beach Club, July through August programming. Food and dining pop-ups along the Strand throughout the summer.
The cultural footnote worth reading
One item does not fit neatly into the dining or events buckets, but it is the most locally specific update of the year. The Hermosa Beach Historical Society inducted John Van Hamersveld, designer of the Endless Summer poster synonymous with surf culture, over 300 album covers and posters ranging from the Rolling Stones to the Beatles to Jefferson Airplane, and Hermosa Beach's own 'Great Wave' mural, into the Surfers Walk of Fame this spring. If you have walked past the Great Wave mural without knowing whose hand drew it, that is the answer.
The museum's summer programming leans into the same local-history register. The upcoming Happy Hour with History: Speakeasy Summer Beer Tasting on Thursday, September 19, includes a presentation on the history of Prohibition in Hermosa and stories from local watering holes, followed by a blind taste test and the new "Cheers, Hermosa!" exhibit. It is a $10 evening that will teach you more about how the pier corridor became what it is than any real estate brochure ever will.
The one claim to leave with
The Pier Avenue that Hermosa long-timers grew up with is not disappearing. It is being edited. The operators arriving in 2026 are betting that residents want a chef's counter within walking distance of the sand, and the operators who have been here five years or longer are still making a strong case that the anchor tenants can hold their own. Between Kasamar's August debut, Tiki Kai's already-open room at 73 Pier Ave, and Sushi Bar taking shape in the former Slay space, the coming twelve months will decide which side of that bet was correct.
If you are curious how any of this shapes the value of the home you already own here, or you would like a quiet conversation about what the corridor's evolution means for a future move, the Stearns Lieb Team is happy to talk. Request Your Home Valuation whenever the timing feels right.
