Porta Via Pacific Palisades is Back in Business
After eighteen months, Porta Via, which survived the 2025 Pacific Palisades fire, along with Palisades Village, is back in business to the delight of locals and restaurant regulars.
While the Palisades is still under construction—slowly rebuilding after the historic fire—Porta Via, an original restaurant and longtime cornerstone of Palisades Village, is once again serving lunch and dinner daily, offering the same clean, seasonal California cuisine with Italian influences, warm hospitality, and neighborhood atmosphere that made it a beloved gathering place since its opening in 2018.
Porta Via founder and owner Peter Garland reflected on the August reopening: "The past eighteen months have been an extraordinary journey. Throughout it all, the encouragement, patience, and support of our guests and the Palisades community have meant more to us than words can express. We are deeply grateful. Returning to Pacific Palisades is about so much more than reopening a restaurant, it's about reconnecting with a community that has supported us from the very beginning. We can't wait to welcome everyone back."
Staff, known as team members, were relocated to Porta Via's Palm Desert and Calabasas restaurants, as well as the seasonal Porta Via restaurant at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, allowing the company to preserve its experienced staff until they could return home.
"Keeping our team together has always been one of our highest priorities," Garland said. "They are the heart of Porta Via, and we're incredibly proud to welcome them back alongside our guests."
Porta Via joins the growing number of businesses returning to Palisades Village as the community continues its recovery. During our recent visit for weekend brunch, I was impressed with the welcoming and relaxing vibe. Sitting outside on a lovely day made for the perfect escape to chill and indulge.
And it’s not brunch, well boozy brunch, without a cocktail to start and the PV Bloody Mary featuring a robust house tomato blend combined with St. George Green Chile Vodka is the perfect way to begin.
We started our meal with The Porta Via Salad with organic butter lettuce, shaved sweet onion, fresh dill and chervil (think parsley), avocado and French feta champagne shallot vinaigrette. The dressing really made this simple salad something extraordinary.
Looking for a fresh and pleasing dish, the New England Lobster Roll with deshelled Maine lobster, toasted brioche bun and served with house made potato chips does not disappoint. With a generous serving of lobster, this is a crowd pleaser.
If you’re looking for heartier fare, the Bistro Burger with ground chuck and brisket, pepper jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, vegan bun, and French fries is the way to go. The burger and fries experience here is truly elevated to hearty heaven.
The menu is seafood heavy with appetizers including tuna tower, fried calamari, sautéed calamari, steamed mussels, and crab cakes but meat eaters can dig into the house-made meatballs or beef carpaccio, and there’s house-made guacamole as well as burrata and heirloom tomato for non-meat eaters.
I have a feeling I’ll be back for the Miso-Glazed Chilean Seabass—an absolute favorite of mine. This entrée is served with sticky rice, toasted sesame and scallions. Yum.
If you’re looking to take your brunch up a notch, you can opt for a spritz, PV Dirty Martini, an old fashioned, including a barrel-aged option, or the Gentleman’s Companion with mezcal and Ancho Reyes chili liqueur. And if you want to opt for a liquid decadent dessert, choose between the Espresso Martini or Chocolate Martini.
With the Palisades Village outpost up and running, a new Beverly Hills location, just three blocks south of its original home on North Cañon Drive, is scheduled to open later this fall.
"On behalf of our entire team, thank you for standing with us,” Garland declared. “This reopening is both a celebration and a new beginning. We look forward to serving the Palisades community for many years to come.”
Porta Via is located at 1063 N. Swarthmore Avenue in Palisades Village. Open daily from 11am to 9pm.
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