Gladstones Malibu – Pacific Palisades, CA

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Gladstones Malibu – Pacific Palisades, CA

Visited: July 2025

Gladstones restaurant has been nestled between Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) and the Pacific Ocean in Pacific Palisades since 1972. With a fabulous deck overlooking the beach, I have downed many a meal and cocktails on this deck.

Our investment club used to meet once a month for breakfast at Gladstones with some of the guys driving all the way from Orange County (now, that’s a trek). We never made much money (“buy high, sell low”), but we had a lot of fun times here. Former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan even owned it for a couple of decades.

The January 2025 fires burning through Pacific Palisades made it across PCH and torched a number of homes along with sections of the famed restaurant on Will Rogers State Beach. After six months of clean-up, on July 4th, they reopened the deck, while the interior of the restaurant is still under renovation with plans to reopen in 2026.

New to the deck area is a “community circle” near the entrance with a fire pit surrounded by mural-covered walls. The murals are the work of a local artist, Jonas Never, who gained prominence in 2015 after a mural of the late Stuart Scott, an ESPN sportscaster, went viral. Never has created numerous sports murals around the Los Angeles area including Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods and Jackie Robinson, to name a few.

Never said, “Gladstones has been an important part of my life for decades. I’ve eaten (and drank) there countless times and became really close with multiple generations of their staff when they’d come visit me at JP’s on Sunday nights.

“I love that now I’m really a part of Gladstones, with some walls dedicated to the beauty and history of the area. It was really special honoring 9 local places that burnt down during the fires earlier this year. They may be gone, but at least their memory will live on through this mural.”

He created the Gladstones name with local beach images inside the lettering …

… and a 1953 Corvette driving down PCH from Malibu, There are plans for an additional mural in the future.
Tracy and I met our friend, Jeff, for lunch after visiting the also recently reopened Getty Villa museum. The menu at this time is limited to lunch, dinner and drinks, and only on the patio, with that iconic view out onto the blue Pacific.

Tracy and I each started with a bowl of “World Famous” clam chowder. Was it world famous? Not quite, but it is quite tasty. Jeff went with Fish & Chips, classic beer-battered cod, house cut French fries, tartar sauce and coleslaw. Tracy was hungry and ordered a crab cake, while I ordered a super healthy side of Hand Cut Kennebec fries.

Revisiting this old-time favorite of mine rekindled a lot of great memories, and we are very fortunate it survived the wildfires.

For a truly classic So Cal beachfront dining experience, stop by Gladstones. Cheers!

Gladstones Malibu
17300 Pacific Coast Hwy.
Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
Paid Parking ($13) and Valet Available
As of July 2025, Open daily from “11 am ‘til Sunset”
www.gladstones.com