Where to Take a Date in Semi Open, Covid-19 Era Santa Monica

There's no doubt about it: Restaurants are beginning to serve diners again, albeit with outdoor seating and waitresses in masks. As always, some place are cooler than others. Where to take that high class date?

We would start at Sidecar Donuts on Wilshire near 6th Street. You can people watch while waiting in line. Everyone's wearing masks, of course, but that only makes you feel more like a super hero.

If you take a date to Dunkin' Donuts, she'll wonder if you're downshifting after losing your job during Coronavirus. But if you take her to Sidecar, she'll know you're ready, willing and able to shell out $5 per donut, just to get one that's soft and warm. Don't get me wrong--they really are better donuts, and well worth standing in line for.

Similarly, Primo Passo coffee on 7th and Montana Ave will sell you a handcrafted cup of coffee for $6, that you could buy across the street at Starbucks for less than half as much. But it will be freshly poured through a cone filter, and actually taste just a bit better.

No less than three Coffee Bean locations have closed in Santa Monica, including stores at Ocean Park Blvd and 31st Street, 9th and Wilshire and Main Street and Ashland. Some Starbucks locations didn't survive Covid either, but Primo Passo survives.

If you're hungry for more than just coffee and cake, the Whole Foods Market on Wilshire and 22nd Street has once again begun to serve hot meals. The difference is you won't be dishing them out yourself. To lower virus transmission, the grocery chain owned by Amazon has an employee to dish it out. You point and say, a scoop of this, two scoops of that. Less fun, but more sanitary.