Laguna Beach / Coastal Orange County
Restaurants in Laguna Beach sit along two stretches of Coast Highway and in the downtown blocks off it. Downtown has Zinc Cafe on Ocean Avenue and Broadway by Amar Santana on Glenneyre Street, and the 400 block of South Coast Highway has Nick's and the Peppertree Lane courtyard (Watermarc, The Saloon, Gelato Paradiso). Farther south, Selanne Steak Tavern (1464) and Mozambique (1740) are on South Coast Highway, and Las Brisas sits on Cliff Drive with an ocean-view patio. Each operator named here runs one or a few restaurants rather than a national chain, and each one's format had to fit the zone rules below.
Population
22,710
Median HHI
$143,843
Median age
53.9
Homeownership
66.1%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.
Primary retail corridors
Pacific Coast Highway · Forest Avenue · Broadway Street · Laguna Canyon Road · Glenneyre Street
Specific shopping centers in Laguna Beach that already carry credible co-tenancy for this use. Listed in approximate order of fit.
Forest Avenue at North Coast Highway
Anchors / key tenants: walkable historic downtown art, dining, and boutique retail
The cultural and visitor core. Art galleries, chef-driven restaurants, surf/lifestyle, and specialty boutiques cluster on Forest, Ocean, and the lower blocks of North Coast Highway. Strong year-round visitor traffic and an affluent local resident base.
South Coast Highway
Anchors / key tenants: chef-driven dining and boutique retail
Established in 1934 — small intimate center with brick herringbone paths. Tenants include La Rue du Chocolat, Gelato Paradiso, and Smitten boutique. Pure coastal-village positioning.
South Coast Highway between Thalia Street and Diamond Street
Anchors / key tenants: art galleries, independent dining, coffee, boutiques
Just-under-one-mile strip with 26 art galleries, 17 restaurants, and several independent coffee shops with outdoor seating. The artisan-and-gallery node of Laguna retail. Tenants include Stephanos jewelry.
South Pacific Coast Highway, South Laguna
Anchors / key tenants: small-format coastal retail and dining
Spread-out small-format coastal retail running south toward Dana Point border. Lower foot traffic, higher PCH drive-by visibility.
Existing operators are the most honest comp for whether a use can support Laguna Beach rents. These are publicly visible restaurant space businesses currently trading in the market.
Zinc Cafe & Market
350 Ocean Avenue, Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Downtown cafe and restaurant; its own site describes New American meals, coffee, cocktails and a selection of beer, wine and spirits. It also runs a Corona del Mar location.
Nick's Laguna Beach
440 S Coast Hwy, Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Part of the Nick's Restaurants group; address from the group's own Laguna Beach page.
Broadway by Amar Santana
328 Glenneyre Street, Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Chef-owned full-service restaurant downtown, per its own site.
Las Brisas
361 Cliff Dr., Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Ocean-view restaurant with an outdoor patio, cocktails and a wine list, per its own site, which says it replaced the Victor Hugo Inn in 1979.
Selanne Steak Tavern
1464 S Coast Hwy, Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Steakhouse with cocktails, beer and a wine list, per its own site.
Mozambique
1740 S. Coast Hwy, Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Full-service restaurant on South Coast Highway, per its own site.
Watermarc and The Saloon
Peppertree Lane, South Coast Highway, Laguna Beach
Listed with La Rue du Chocolat and Gelato Paradiso as Peppertree Lane tenants on Visit Laguna Beach's undated directory page. Watermarc's own site did not load, so no street number is given.
01
Alcohol changes the permit path by zone. In C-1 (Sec. 25.20.004(A)(3)) a cafe or full-service restaurant is permitted only if it serves no alcohol and has no dancing or entertainment; with alcohol or entertainment it needs a CUP (Sec. 25.20.006(C)), and take-out and drive-in restaurants also need one (25.20.006(F) and (G)). C-N permits non-alcohol cafes and restaurants with or without outdoor seating (25.19.002(E)) and requires a CUP to serve alcohol (25.19.006(B)). In the Local Business-Professional zone every restaurant needs a CUP (25.18.004(J)), with alcohol and entertainment listed separately ((K) and (L)). In South Laguna Village Commercial, outdoor seating, alcohol and entertainment are allowed only as the CUP authorizes (25.25.006(A)).
02
Hearing and design review: the Planning Commission reviews every CUP (Sec. 25.05.030(E)), and the decision takes effect ten business days later unless appealed to the City Council. The Commission also hears design review for non-residential development and for every project in the Downtown Specific Plan area (Sec. 25.05.040(F)(1)(b)). Downtown sites follow the Downtown Specific Plan's own regulations (Sec. 25.40.030), so get Planning's read on the plan's use table for a Forest Avenue or Ocean Avenue address.
03
Parking is usually the deciding cost. Sec. 25.52.012(G) requires 1 space per 100 sq ft including outdoor seating, or 1 per 3 seats if greater, with at least 5 spaces for a full-service restaurant, versus 1 per 250 for retail. Converting a shop to a restaurant is an intensification of use (Sec. 25.52.004(E)), so the difference must be built or bought as in-lieu certificates: no more than three per site without a parking demand study, never more than 50 percent of the requirement, and each issuance needs a coastal development permit (Sec. 25.52.006(E)).
04
Patio and sidewalk seating: in C-1, open-air tables serving food but not alcohol are a permitted use (Sec. 25.20.004(D)(3)), and the required front-yard open space (five feet times the lot frontage) may hold open-air seating for an interior restaurant (Sec. 25.20.008(C)(2)). A sidewalk cafe can seek a parking reduction of up to five spaces through a CUP and coastal development permit (Sec. 25.52.006(G)(2)); in South Laguna Village the limits are five spaces for a public sidewalk cafe and three for a resident-serving restaurant (Sec. 25.25.008(G)).
05
ABC license and the Main Beach rule: ABC's Type 41 (beer and wine) and Type 47 (general) Eating Place licenses require a bona fide eating place with a working kitchen and meal sales, and RBS certification for servers. Type 41 also allows off-premises sales, but the C-1 zone prohibits selling alcohol for off-premises consumption within 200 yards of Main Beach (Sec. 25.20.004(A)), so ask Planning before planning to-go beer or wine near the beach.
06
Kitchen and grease: OC Health Care Agency Plan Check must approve plans for any new or remodeled food facility before construction (Health and Safety Code 114380). The City's Grease Control Ordinance (Municipal Code Chapter 17.40) has been in effect since 2002, and in South Laguna the South Coast Water District runs the sewer under contract with the City and accepts compliance with the City program, with its own General Waste Discharge Permit application.
Zoning, licensing, and demographic figures on this page come from the public records below. Codes and licenses change, so confirm with the city and the licensing agency before you sign.