What to Eat From Onda’s New LA-Mexican Daytime Menu in Santa Monica

As promised, star Santa Monica restaurant restaurant Onda has expanded into breakfast and lunch service inside the Proper Hotel. The modern California-LA-Mexican restaurant, run by internationally-known culinary stars Jessica Koslow (Sqirl) and Gabriela Cámara (Contramar Mexico City, Cala San Francisco) started up daytime service yesterday.

Onda has always been planned as an all-day space on the sunny Westside, a common feature for nearly any restaurant that operates within a hotel. The team, including chef de cuisine Balo Orozco and pastry chef Jess Stephens, originally opened for dinner and drinks only, focusing on dishes like a cheesy turkey quesadilla and a fermented chile guacamole. Now they’re pushing into pastry — conchas, cookies, bunuelos, and more — and leaning into everything from that famous Sqirl crispy rice salad to frittatas, masa ricotta pancakes, and beyond.

Lunch will run seamlessly starting at 11 a.m., with breakfast starting at 8 a.m. For midday service, look for salads, a turkey salad sandwich, and all-day breakfast staple plates like chilaquiles and a tlacoyo. Reps for Onda tell Eater that the menu will continue to grow and evolve in the coming weeks and months, not only seasonally but as Koslow, Cámara and team continue to flex their culinary muscle. And yes, there will be lots of coffee and espresso drinks and tonics for all.

Onda is now doing daily breakfast, lunch, and dinner service, running from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. (11 a.m. starts lunch proper); diners order at the counter during the day. Sit-down dinner service runs 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.