Neptune’s Net Is LA’s Picture-Perfect Beachside Cafe

In Los Angeles, long weekends much call for road trips. And road trips, of run, call for wayside stops filled with food, beer, and ( if you ’ rhenium doing it right ) views. For decades immediately, diners eager for all three know to stop at Neptune’s Net, the Malibu-adjacent seafood hovel celebrated for its biker view and countless pop culture cameo .
Oh, and the fish and chips are reasonably tasty, excessively .
Anyone who ’ s exhausted clock time, or grown up, in Los Angeles has their own Neptune ’ mho net association. They ’ ve either stopped off as a wide-eyed child on family excursions, or hang around for hours with friends during a day in the browse. Expat Angelenos make pilgrimages back to the place they know and love, and those groups of motorbike riders continue to trek the weekend hills for a beer on the patio. Fans of Fast and Furious will know the facade, as will keen-eyed gamers who have spent time in the fabricated world of Grand Theft Auto 5 ’ sulfur San Andreas .
In the 1950s, Malibu was largely a cragged oceanside community that blend artists, surfers, some affluent types, and folks looking to live outside the urban conurbation

Reading: Neptune’s Net Is LA’s Picture-Perfect Beachside Cafe

Neptune ’ second Net began life during the early on days of the American road trip, when Los Angeles was bustling with burger stands and force thrus. The restaurant ’ south humble 1956 beginnings came by direction of a retire aerospace engineer named Eastman Jacobs, though most folks just called him Jake. The restaurant property, and its erstwhile attached office distance and flatulence place, was first known by the identify Panorama Pacific, though many locals just called it Jake ’ s Diner .
At the clock, Malibu was largely a cragged oceanside community that assorted artists, surfers, some affluent types, and folks looking to live outside the urban sprawl. The city wouldn ’ metric ton formally incorporate until 1991, and even today, despite what most Angelenos may say or think, Neptune ’ mho Net doesn ’ t actually reside within the city of Malibu itself ( that ends at Leo Carrillo ). The restaurant sits good over the county line, in unincorporated Ventura County .

A woman calls out a fried seafood order into a microphone.

Over the years, the Jacobs family ran their wayside diner in much the lapp way, before selling off in the ‘ 70s to the Seay class who continued to tack on additions and feather footage, including much of the outdoor dining space and branch non-restaurant seafood ordering antagonistic. The current owners are actually two families, the Lees and Kims, who have held onto the property since the 1990s. Reps for the restaurant say they have no plans to sell any fourth dimension soon, and are actively seeking historic landmark appellation for the restaurant .
That makes feel, given the generations that have made Neptune ’ second Net a celebrated target, peculiarly during the summer months. While the restaurant is technically open all year round ( except for one day off : thanksgiving ), the owners estimate that approximately 80 % of the annual clientele comes in the warm summer months, when ocean breezes cool off the open patio out front. Those numbers stem from a wave of tourists who flock to Southern California, family adventurers who already call the state of matter home, high school and college-age kids on demote, and anyone local who equitable wants a day at the beach and a tuna thaw .
The best-selling dishes are as enduring and predictable as the restaurant itself. More than half-a-million visitors line up every summer to score seafood samplers and pisces and chips trays. During chillier summer months, they ’ ll go decree clam chowder heaved into bread bowl. Grilled fish is besides a raw material in its assorted forms, either as a phonograph record with sides or in kid-friendly fish taco. For adults, rows and rows of coolers in the back come lined with beers, including lots of craft varieties, marking Neptune ’ s Net as the largest seller of beer in the area .
It ’ s not constantly picture perfect at Neptune ’ sulfur Net, despite the postcard views
Of course, not everything is always visualize arrant, despite the postcard views. final year ’ south devastating Woolsey Fire spared Neptune ’ s Net while ravaging other restaurants and homes, though it did knock out the restaurant ’ second internet, telephone, and power for weeks. The locate still doesn ’ t have working toilets with running body of water ( they rely on port-a-potties alternatively, thanks to a drought restriction ).

During the middle of the day on summer weekends, Neptune ’ south Net is a certifiable menagerie of cars, motorcycles, people in sandals perilously crossing the Pacific Coast Highway, and long queues of athirst tourists inside. Crowds are lightest before 11 ante meridiem, with hungry crowd packing in a soon as noon comes .
so, for the long Labor Day weekend ( or any time for that matter ), it ’ sulfur best to fair hop in line and go with it. After all, the beers are cold, the ocean horizon is at center level, and the staff inside of Neptune ’ sulfur Net is frying and flipping, calling orders and handing them out, precisely a fast as they can. At least on this stretch of California coastline, and for generations of diners who however feel Neptune ’ s Net in their hearts, time doesn ’ triiodothyronine truly matter all that much .
Neptune ’ randomness Net. 42505 Pacific Coast Highway Malibu, California .

A cardboard platter of fish and chips.

Dunking fried fish in tartar sauce on a wooden table.

A tuna melt with partially-melted American cheese on a wooden table.

A trio of colorful fish tacos.

Clam chowder in a bread bowl on a wooden table.

A full table of fried seafood, arranged neatly.

A man works with his back to the camera, making fried seafood.

A man wearing a bandana pours fries into a fryer.

A man sears fish on a flattop griddle.

A man sifts fried fish into a bowl.

A man dips fried fish into batter.

A worker checks fried fish orders over a large tray.

A woman in a leather Harley-Davidson jacket waits for her order to be taken.

A crowd waits to pay at Neptune’s Net.

A woman reaches into a grocery store fridge for a drink.

A man calls out a large fried fish order over a microphone.

The entrance to Neptune’s Net’s restaurant side, with patio beyond.

A shaded patio with picnic tables and diners eating seafood.

A long, narrow patio adjacent to the ocean for seafood diners to enjoy.

Malibu restaurant Neptune’s Net, tucked against a brown hillside, as shown from the street.