The Lobster sits at the corner of Ocean Avenue and Colorado, right at the foot of the Santa Monica Pier, and has the most direct ocean view of any restaurant in the immediate area. The menu focuses on seafood — Maine lobster prepared several ways, oysters, fish — with the kitchen executing reliably rather than innovatively. The view is the main event, and the food is good enough that you are not just paying for the location.
Lunch here on a clear day, with the pier visible to one side and the beach below, is a distinctly Santa Monica experience. Reservations recommended for dinner; lunch is usually easier to walk into.