Border Grill Owners Return to Santa Monica With a New Mexican Restaurant

Veteran chefs and owners Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken closed the Santa Monica Border Grill back in 2016 after 26 years in business. They will make a triumphant return to the Westside with a new, unnamed Mexican barbecue restaurant. The new all day eatery will open on the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and 20th Street by fall if all goes according to plan.

“When we closed Border Grill on Fourth Street in 2016, we knew that we’d always open another concept again in Santa Monica,” says Feniger. Milliken adds, “We love the community here, the leisurely attitude and creative vibe is exactly why we returned.”

The new restaurant is moving into an area that is transitioning from mostly medical-buildings to one with three forthcoming food businesses this year. Micro-batch roaster 10 Speed Coffee will be directly across the street, and Bruce Marder’s Red Rooster will be only a block away.

Feniger and Milliken ran Border Grill Santa Monica for 26 years, and still run a fleet of Border Grill food trucks and full locations across Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Susan Feniger also continues to run other restaurants inside the Huntington Library. Designer Alexis Readinger of Preen, Inc. (Tesse, Punta Cabras, Odys + Penelope) will put together the new restaurant’s interior.

• Border Grill to Shutter Santa Monica Location After 26 Years [ELA]
• Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger Revive Beloved CITY Restaurant for One Night [ELA]
• Susan Feniger’s First Huntington Library Concept Wakes Up Tomorrow [ELA]

Update: the original version of this article stated that the restaurant would be a Mexican barbecue place. The restaurant is still Mexican but won’t focus on a barbecue component.