If you have lived here more than a summer, you already know August in Manhattan Beach runs on two clocks. One belongs to the pier, where the world shows up for volleyball. The other belongs to Polliwog, where the neighborhood shows up for a blanket and a bottle of wine. What has changed this year is the third piece: the restaurants worth walking to when the whistle blows and the amps go quiet. For the first time in a while, the best new tables are not all downtown.

The Pier Weekends

Two events bookend the month at the sand.

The first is the Charlie Saikley 6-Man Beach Volleyball Tournament on August 1 and 2, 2026, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM on the south side of the Manhattan Beach Pier. Saikley is the local one. Costumes, team themes, amateurs on the same sand as the best players on the beach, and a crowd that treats the day like a block party. It sits inside the wider 63rd International Surf Festival, running July 27 through August 2 across Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, and Torrance, with signature events including the Judge Taplin Lifeguard Medley Relay, the Dwight Crum Pier-to-Pier Swim, and the 6-Man itself.

Two weeks later comes the bigger machine. The Manhattan Beach Open by AVP returns August 13 to 16, with the Walk of Fame Ceremony on August 13 at 3:30 PM and competition August 14 through 16, drawing decorated Olympians and former champions to the pier. The Main Draw features 32 teams in a double-elimination format, general admission is free on a first-come basis, and VIP experiences are available.

A practical note the visitor guides bury and locals learn the hard way: pier-area parking lots and surrounding streets close beginning Thursday, July 30, and the AVP has no dedicated event parking. If you live west of Sepulveda, you already know the answer is your bike. If you live east of it, park at Polliwog or Manhattan Village and walk the rest.

The Polliwog Sundays

The pier belongs to everyone. Polliwog belongs to you.

Concerts in the Park returns to Polliwog Park every Sunday from July 5 through September 6, 5 to 7 PM, presented by Manhattan Beach Parks and Recreation and sponsored by Chevron, with 10 performances spanning ABBA tributes to classic rock to Afro-Latin rhythms. Admission is free. The full 2026 lineup:

The lineup covers Big Band, Motown, and the hits of the 70s, 80s, and 90s, which is to say it is designed for the person who wants a Sunday evening with their kids, not a set of new discoveries. That is the point.

A note on etiquette, because visitors get this wrong every year: bring a low chair or a blanket. A tall camping chair behind a family on the grass earns you a polite request to move and a less-polite look if you do not. Show up earlier than you think you need to if you want the amphitheater bowl. Eat first, or bring the food with you.

Aug 16 collides with the AVP finals weekend at the pier. If you have out-of-town guests, that is your split-shift day: volleyball in the late morning, home to change, Polliwog by five.

The Weeknight Rhythm

Two smaller traditions do more for the daily texture of August than any single Sunday.

Tuesdays, the Manhattan Beach Certified Farmers Market runs 11 AM to 3 PM at the Civic Center Parking Lot and Plaza. It is a walk-over from downtown, and it is a lunch, not just a shop.

Thursdays, Manhattan Village hosts Summer Vibes from 5:30 to 8:00 PM through August, with live music, a pop-up margarita bar, and family-friendly activities. This is the East MB equivalent of a downtown happy hour, and it is the reason the next section matters.

The Restaurants That Change The Calculus

Here is the shift worth paying attention to, because it changes how you plan your August night out.

For years, if you were watching the sun set over the AVP or leaving a Polliwog concert with a hungry family, the answer for dinner was downtown, which meant a wait, a parking hunt, or both. Two openings this summer, plus one more coming, have flipped that math for anyone east of Sepulveda or anyone happy at Metlox.

The east-side anchor is new. Saint & Second opened its new location in Manhattan Village on July 21, bringing the modern American concept from the Hofman Hospitality Group to the South Bay for the first time, alongside its existing Long Beach and Topanga locations. The address is 3160 N Sepulveda Blvd, Suite S100, which is a walk from most of East Manhattan Beach and a five-minute drive from Polliwog. Hours are Monday through Friday 11 AM to midnight, Saturday and Sunday 9 AM to midnight, with weekend brunch 9 AM to 3 PM and a weekday social hour 3 to 6 PM. The social hour is the tell. Manhattan Village has needed a real bar-and-food anchor with late weekend hours, and this is the first one in a while that qualifies.

At Metlox, the courtyard finally has a daytime tenant that fits it. Great White, the all-day café that first opened in Venice Beach in 2017, is opening at 401 Manhattan Beach Blvd in the former Pitfire Pizza space, according to a recent liquor license application. The Venice original is where you go for grain bowls after a walk. The MB version will sit inside a courtyard that has spent the last few years waiting for something that is not a coffee shop.

Downtown is not standing still either. Coucou, the French bistro concept already popular in Venice and West Hollywood, is coming to downtown Manhattan Beach in the former Nando Trattoria space on Manhattan Avenue, blending classic French bistro cooking with a California coastal influence and a strong aperitif and cocktail program. If you have watched that room turn over more than once, this is the opening most downtown regulars are watching. And a few doors down, Bread Head has taken over the former Tacolicious space at 1116 Manhattan Avenue, known for focaccia sandwiches layered with high-quality meats, cheeses, and flavor-packed spreads. Grab one before a Polliwog Sunday and skip the picnic prep.

The reference points have not moved. Fishing With Dynamite at 1148 Manhattan Avenue remains the best-reviewed restaurant in the city, the oyster bar and coastal seafood spot chef David LeFevre built into a local institution, listed in the 2025 Michelin Guide USA with multiple appearances on OpenTable's 100 Best Restaurants in America. The Arthur J at 903 Manhattan Ave cooks every steak over a live wood fire grill using white oak embers, with USDA Prime, True Japanese Wagyu, and Black Angus, and the mid-century room, the martini program, and the Emmental popovers with strawberry butter make it the top choice for a special occasion dinner in the South Bay. And Love & Salt at 317 Manhattan Beach Blvd, the American-Italian pizza-and-pasta staple steps from the pier, has Chef Chris Feldmeier back running the kitchen after his time at Nancy Silverton's Osteria Mozza in Hollywood, which signals a new chapter worth revisiting.

The Shift Worth Naming

Line the map up against the calendar and the argument is short. August pulls you to two places, the pier and Polliwog, that sit on opposite ends of the city. Until this year, dinner after either one funneled to the same six downtown blocks. With Saint & Second open on Sepulveda, Great White moving into Metlox, and Bread Head running sandwiches on Manhattan Ave, the after-plan is now three plans depending on which direction your car is already pointed. That is a small thing, and it is also the thing that makes a summer feel less crowded even when the crowds are the same size.

Plan the pier days early. Bike the AVP weekend. Bring the low chair to Polliwog. And for the first August in memory, do not assume dinner has to be downtown.

When you are ready to talk about calling Manhattan Beach home, or preparing a South Bay property for its next chapter with the kind of preparation these evenings deserve, Charity Joiner + Company is here to help. Request a Red-Carpet Consultation.