Swingers

Worst service ever! It was a hip hit before but the last few times we had terrible experience. We got wrong food, the waitress was very rude, the food is so so and we spent 1,5 hour only with waiting (ordering, food, check.) no way we’ll be back!

We’re big fans of Swingers. It’s a step above your average diner, and has lots of vegetarian and vegan options! We usually get tea and decaf coffee, but I’ve seen some great-​looking milkshakes and fancier coffees ordered and look delicious as well. Depending on the day, service can be slower or quicker, but it usually correlates with a lot of customers vs. not, rather than poor service. We’ve got a handful of times now and have enjoyed the same three things each time. We’ve shared:
— Avocado Toast — Simple and great! Two thick, seedy crusted half pieces of bread (each a good size), slathered with a thick, smooth layer of avocado, olive oil and chili flakes. We’ve had avocado toast with nothing on it and thick hunks of avocado to avocado toast so full toppings are falling off. This is probably one of our favorites with perfectly crispy and thick bread and just the right amount of avocado. The chili flakes are a nice added pinch of heat without being overwhelming.
— Tofu Chilaquiles — So much flavor! Almost looks like scrambled egg whites in terms of texture. Sautéed tofu mixed with corn, black beans and peppers. Really flavorful, while again not having too much spice. Served with blue corn chips and tortillas (corn or flour).
— Spinach and Mushroom Omelet — This is simply executed too, but has very good seasoning, which makes it standout to other omelets I’ve had. Good amount of spinach and mushrooms throughout and almost a basil flavor to it as well. We get fruit rather than potatoes on the side for +$ 1. Fruit is fresh and varied. My fiancé usually enjoys the sourdough toast that comes with it too. It comes unbuttered rather than soaked in it, so you can choose how much you like.
Overall it’s clean, generally pretty quick and solid food. Good breakfast option for reasonable prices!

I’ve had good and bad experiences at Swingers Santa Monica.
Over all swingers is a great diner. I love that they serve breakfast all day. Who doesn’t love breakfast food?

NOPE.
This place is all about «Trendy» when I really just wanted some good food. My dudes Chicken Piccata came to the table cold and unremarkable. My Turkey Burger came with a bun so DRY, I sent it back immediately. No grilled onions. I asked for soft fries, they came to the table over cooked. When I finally received my soft fries, my burger was already sent back so I naturally ate them.
I personally asked the prick manager there named AL for the receipt. As I suspected… he charged me for them. I knew he was an ass hole from when I returned my burger and he didn’t bother to ask what was wrong… I had to tell him. He didn’t even ask if I wanted to order something different, just quickly took my plate with an attitude. He didn’t even know what the term «Soft Fries» meant when I complained!
After he gave me the check, I walked up to the register and politely in so many words told him he was chicken shit to charge me for the fries when they basically got my entire order WRONG. Were was the Customer Service? I pointed out a woman at another table who I spoke with and who’s bun was inedible also. After a few minutes of complaints, he removed the fries and let me know he never orders the burger because of the Dry Ass Brioche Bun. Rather than changing the bun, he just avoids it. Manager of the Year… Right? Too many people taking selfies, drinking coffee and NOT eating! This place may be Organic and Trendy… BUT a Norms or a Denny’s is Better.
It’s just a NOPE for Swingers.

A pretty tasty late night diner– also open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Was happy to find a place open other than the 24hr Denny’s down the street. The menu is lengthy & we had trouble narrowing it down to a couple of items. I ordered the quinoa bowl and it was surprisingly delicious and filling. Service is friendly and efficient, prices are good. Definitely will be back for more, maybe for breakfast next time

Swinger’s is a great place, and I believe it’s open 24 hours! It is considered an upscale diner, but they really exceeded my expectations of a «diner» experience. Most of their food is organic, the taste is terrific and the prices are average/​fair. A great spot to spot stars, too!
I ordered the ahi sandwich because I wasn’t in the mood for brunchy food, and was pleasantly surprised to find a generous slab of seared ahi, a wasabi mayonnaise, and the pickled ginger all packed in between some tasty brown bread. Yummy! Very reasonable prices too!

Food is great! Tuna melt, breakfast burrito, ahi sandwich and Edwin’s pasta was on our table and it all looked good and tasted great.

I wasn’t going to write a review about how horrible I felt the night after eating dinner here until my Vegan friend told me she’d gotten food poisoning from here twice! I was willing to give it a second chance but after she told me that she did and got sick a second time I’m sure I won’t be eating here again. I had the Fredo’s Pasta and I can honestly say it was delicious, the restaurant is so cute I loved it, but I’d rather eat food that’s just as delicious at a «hole in the wall» diner and be satisfied rather than be clogging toilets; vomiting all over the place I head to after.
I’ve got my mind set on never coming back, on the other hand I know they didn’t make me sick on purpose so I will say that their service was really great. My cup was never empty and the girl I was with were constantly asked how we were doing and how the food was. I hope your visit is much better than mine was.

Let’s face it, Any place that serves a pickle as a side just because… Boom
This place is fun. Yummy shakes and hot staff.

My go-​to diner brunch! Haven’t tried any other food besides the breakfast menu. It’s straightforward with veggie/​vegan options, and you simply can’t go wrong if all you’re craving is some simple breakfast food.
Top items are the All American, Breakfast Burrito, Fried Egg Sandwich and any omelet every now and then. Quinoa and Eggs was pretty tasty too when I felt like being healthy: p

I’ve been here once, and it was at 3 AM on a Friday night. It is very busy at this time, but I would say well worth the wait. They offer a full menu at this time and the food is delicious. They have many vegetarian options, and we ordered the Vegetarian Cobb salad with tofu and these nachos. Nachos were delicious and the salad was, too! Salad usually isn’t my favorite choice after a night of drinking, but it was actually very good and I didn’t feel as terrible the next morning ;)
Service is fast and friendly, the environment truly has that 60s diner feel and if you plan going for late night on a weekend, expect it to be loud and filled with people in their early 20s!
Good option for late night, I would come again!

I came here with my buddy the other night at the tail night of our bar hopping adventure. We went from Santa Monica, to the South Bay, to Orange County, and back to Santa Monica. We were starving, and this place was the first place that came to mind.
We parked my car at my buddy’s place, and Ubered our way over here. This diner was busy, but not overly so. We were seated right away, and our drinks were brought to us promptly. I ordered the organic eggs breakfast: 3 eggs, breakfast potatoes, wheat toast, and turkey bacon. The taste was bland, it was nothing special. Granted, it did the trick of curing the munchies and preventing a bad hangover the next day. But the taste was nothing special.
The service was pretty good, though. I will give it three stars. I may come back here to try out other dishes, and I hope they are cooked with more effort than the meal I had last night.

And then Andy Dick showed up…
Not even kidding. When we came here the other night (typical 2am outing), we found Andy Dick eating to the table next to us. When in LA!
Aside from that note, Swingers is your classic late night food when you want American or breakfast. They even serve alcohol! We normally get Coronas when we go.
If only Bay Cities was open late at night (next door)…

I haven’t been here for a long time since I moved to Europe years ago. But I remember this was our spot after nights out with friends.
Tuna Melt, Tuna Melt, Tune Melt :)
I’m looking forward to going back there one of these days.
Love the interior design. hope they leave it open for ever instead of replacing it with some other stupid boring chain-​restaurant!

+2 stars for: location, atmosphere (fun hip version of a diner), customer service, open late, and the NACHOS (see below)
–3 stars for: most of what we ordered was gross!
A group of my friends LOVES this place, and whenever they want to go I detach from the group, give hugs and goodbyes and call it a night. Something nagged at me that I just didn’t think I’d like it. Seriously guys, there was a reason I never went in here before.
Actually, there are at least 4 reasons. And they all have to do with their food.
On a more positive note, the place was packed with people of all ages (this was Saturday around 11 pm, so it was a lot of teens and college students but older folks post-​drink, too). The atmosphere was fun. It’s kitschy yet hip at the same time — most of the waiters have tattoos and wear super awesome outfits. And everyone is hustling and trying their best to please.
But the food is another story. Here’s what it comes down to for me: just don’t have the calorie bank in my body to eat crap. Why spend stomach space on «meh» food when you can spend in on something mouth watering, creative, and delicious? Ok ok… I get it. Sometimes you just need some greasy spoon diner food to satisfy late night hunger. But there’s delicious and satisfying greasy spoon diner food and there’s Swingers.
I ordered the pancakes, which were like cardboard. I didn’t pay the extra $ 1.50 for real maple syrup, which I’m glad for, because those dry, chewy pancakes would have wasted such lovely maple syrup. I took one bite and pushed it aside.
I tasted some of my friends’ foods: pasta with bacon (uh, that was bacon? — no flavor whatsoever); tomato soup (welcome to a cup of cream mixed with pasta sauce — overly bitter and simply disgusting), vegan BLT (more cardboard). I couldn’t reach so far to try my friend’s chicken picatta dish, but she had to order brown gravy to make the broccoli taste better.
The only redeeming dish was the Nachos. We ordered it with beans, and it also had cheese, salsa, sour cream, and avocados on it. I believe there’s a vegan version but I’m not brave enough to try it. It was AWESOME. And for some reason they use blue corn chips. Seriously, I ate the lion’s share of it even though it was for the whole table. I’d *definitely* go back for the nachos. :)
Overall, this is a place that is fun to go with friends late at night. Now that I know the nachos are legit, I don’t have to be a party pooper when my friends want to go here.
Parking situation: late at night, the side streets East of Lincoln usually have a couple spots. Bodega around the corner has valet.

This is great place to go after a night out! There are so many options to choose from, so everyone in your group is satisfied.
I ordered the Avocado Toast. It was served on delicious wheat bread and the perfect snack if you’re hungry, but don’t want to indulge in something rich and caloric-​drenched. The toast is a little spicy though, they sprinkle red pepper on it, so if you’re not a fan of spice, you can tell them to hold the pepper.
This atmosphere here is hip and fun! Service is friendly and it’s open pretty late for that post-​bar/​club hunger!

Really cute non-​descript place in Santa Monica, walking distance of all the sights. 50’s/mid-century vibe, but new. Great breakfast menu. No waiting!
My DD met some friends there recently, and parking was convenient as well.

Nothing like ringing in a holiday weekend with some good ol’ comfort food ;) My boyfriend took me here last night. I love diners, and this is a very cute one. The light fixtures and mosaic wall are lovely touches of décor, and there’s a neo-​retro feel to the diner. Oh, and of course, the booths have vinyl cushion seating. This type of attention to detail is always awesome in my book :)
So. Many. Options!
Ultimately, though, I chose the warm embrace of an open-​faced turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes, gravy, and cranberry sauce. It was heaven. I thoroughly enjoyed my plate to the very last bite. (Did I use the last bit of mashed potato to scrape up the remaining gravy? You bet I did!)
The prices are reasonable, and the service is quite good. (My only quibble — and a minor one at that — was that it took longer than necessary to get our cards back because another patron was telling the waitress her life story; at least, it felt that long… haha)
Any place that serves its mashed potato as a big fat scoop deserves my money. Hehehe. (And thank you again for the extra cranberry sauce!)

I like this place. The vibe is distinctively Swingers. I came on a weeknight and it was pretty empty. You feel transported to a different decade. I love the Diner feel.
1. Cobb salad: It was very fancy! One of those pre-​mixed salads with all the condiments on top. Good size.
2. Chocolate chip pancake: A classic, but always a fun way to end the evening.
3. Brownie a la mode: This was awesome! Looks kind of messy on a plate, but the ice cream and brownie combo is great.

I only put in reviews that are positive. If a place in bad I just let it die alone. Here we go, Swingers is the quintessential diner. An old IHOP built in the 60’s is now transformed into a great diner food. Yes they have all the health minded additions though if you want a milkshake and greasy burger your set.
The wait staff is awesome! Attitude to match the tattoos and torn nylons. Most of the time you just grab an open seat and see if anyone notices your there. Cool, I like it. Swing in and out this place rocks.