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Finally some good news about the Third Street Promenade area of Santa Monica, which has seen rampant closures in recent months and years.
Mayor Caroline Torosis told the California Post the Entertainment Zone model that allows for open alcohol consumption, adopted in the summer of 2025, is working.
“We’re testing out what works and what doesn’t and we’ve had some really successful activations,” Torosis said. “We’ve seen no increase in any sort of elicit activity. And in fact last year we actually saw a decrease in Part 1 crimes by 12.5 percent.” (Part 1 crimes are a set of serious offenses used by the FBI’s crime reporting unit that include assault and burglary.)
In 2024, as California struggled to recover from the pandemic, Senator Scott Wiener authored SB 969 to allow cities to establish entertainment zones where adults could consume alcohol purchased from bars and restaurants on the street.
The bill was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in September of 2024 and faster than you can say “chug,” San Francisco’s Front Street hosted an Oktoberfest that attracted 2,000 people, compared to a few hundred in previous iterations with a fenced-off drinking patio.
“It just makes it feel more warm and welcoming and not something you have to purchase your way into,” Melissa Buckminster, Director of Marketing and Communications for the Downtown San Francisco Partnership, said. “It’s great to see it has a very tangible impact for our small businesses. They can make as much in one night as they do in one week.”
Six months later, Santa Monica implemented California’s first longterm legal open container rule on Fridays through Sundays from 11 am to 10 pm.
“We were watching Senator Wiener put this together,” Torosis said. “We were watching what was happening in San Francisco. We talked with our public officials and our business community to figure out what kind of framework would work for Santa Monica. What is something that puts Santa Monica on the cutting edge of innovation?”
Santa Monica officials recently voted to expand the Entertainment Zone model to the Santa Monica Pier, Main Street and Montana Avenue, for special events, not every weekend.
“It’s really enabled us to activate more foot traffic for our downtown,” Torosis said. “And we’re really excited to build off the momentum that we’ve had not just for the FIFA World Cup that’s coming, but our amazing beachside festival that’s going to happen later this summer put on by the same time people as Coachella, and of course, the Olympic Games.”
While California’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control is seeing increased interest in Entertainment Zones across California, it’s not been an overnight sensation, according to Public Information Officer Devin Blankenship.
“In general, it’s been kind of slow to spread,” he said.
San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter still practices a ban on open containers anywhere outside of their bars and restaurants and their respective patios or parklets, and Executive Director Michael Trimble said the region is not considering becoming an Entertainment Zone, citing safety concerns from the local police department.
California’s famed beaches and public parks are not turning into Entertainment Zones any time soon either, although Jorge Moreno, Southern Communication Manager for California Parks, said alcohol is allowed in designated parts of some parks, beaches and campgrounds.
For more on where Angelenos can drink al fresco, watch the attached video, part of The Post’s, California Explained, series.
