Breakfast by Salt’s Cure Hits Santa Monica with Second Location

It took over two years for chef Chris Phelps to find a second location for Breakfast by Salt’s Cure, his perennially packed daytime spot in West Hollywood. Prior to the pandemic, most vacancies that he looked at were pricey new developments that attracted fierce competition leaving no room to negotiate rents. Furthermore, landing any sort of prime Westside location was nearly impossible given the area’s high rents coupled with low tenant turnover. But with the pandemic shuffling the city’s real estate market — triggering a wave of restaurant closures in every neighborhood — Phelps hit the real estate jackpot when an ideal space on Santa Monica’s Montana Avenue became available last fall.

“I don’t think we could have gotten in there without a pandemic honestly,” says Phelps. “We’re a little breakfast place and we’re busy but it’s a smaller ticket price. We were able to just slip in and that was pretty easy.”

Taking over the former site of Osteria Bigoli, the second outlet of Breakfast by Salt’s Cure opens Wednesday, March 24 at 7 a.m. Once full-capacity dining is permitted in Los Angeles, the restaurant can seat up to 30 diners with both an indoor and an outdoor footprint. A mural titled “Malibu Sunrise” by artist Pau Quintanajornet adorns the restaurant’s interior wall.

Andrea D’Agosto

The menu is largely a carryover from the original location with a half dozen varieties of griddle cakes, a breakfast sandwich stuffed with sausage, egg, and cheese, and a slew of sides that pair well with just about everything on the menu. Special to the Santa Monica location are the vegan and gluten-free banana nut griddle cakes served with a vegan cinnamon butter, as well as breakfast pantry items for sale like eggs, avocados, and griddle cake mixes. The restaurant will be serving champagne and sake bloody Mary’s once its beer and wine license is finalized in the coming months.

Phelp’s future plans for the restaurant include introducing special hashes, farmers market fruits, and maybe even pie, along with hosting pop-ups with like-minded chefs after hours. A third Breakfast by Salt’s Cure location is slated for this fall on Santa Monica’s Main Street in a shared space with Standing’s Butchery.

Breakfast by Salt’s Cure is open for takeout and delivery from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily.

• Mei Lin’s Super Crunchy Fried Chicken Sandwich Spot Daybird Opens in Silver Lake [ELA]
• A Major Slice of Mexico City Life Comes to This Lush New Arts District Rooftop [ELA]