Casa Escobar has lived up to Malibu’s expectations in the year it has occupied the historic Malibu Inn on Pacific Coast Highway across from the Pier. The name has changed, but its domain as a nighttime party scene with good food and drinks has remained.
In 2014, Casa Escobar reopened its Malibu location, which once existed in the Malibu Country Mart until it was destroyed by fire in 2003. Frequently the spot for live bands and DJ sets, charity galas, and a newly minted guitar festival, Casa Escobar has risen from the ashes of the long-gone curse of the Malibu Inn. What used to be a haven for fun-loving Pepperdine students has since become one of the few Happy Hour destinations and Mexican restaurants in Malibu.
Let it be known: Casa Escobar is always a good time.
sliced habanero, and a spicy rim.
Happy Hour is from 3 pm to 7 pm, Monday through Friday, featuring $5 margaritas, well shots, and house wines. Escobar’s Own Sangria is $6 and delicious, while a pint of beer will run you $3.50, a steal by Malibu rates. And Monday Margaritas cost $4 all day.
The Casa Escobar Tequila and Mezcal menu showcases over a hundred brands for shots, margaritas, or margatinis. Tequila shots range in price and quality, anywhere from a $7 shot of Rancho Allegre Reposado to a $90 shot of Tres, Quatro, Cinco. The mixing of high and low culture and styles is a common theme at Casa Escobar.
The restaurant and bar has also become a classic Taco Tuesday haunt, pandering to the infectious but fake weekly holiday of cheap tacos and drinks. The interior, which kept the Inn’s vintage feel and added a few Old World touches, houses everything from live music to salsa dance lessons. Throughout the week, PCH drivers can spot a new act sprawled on the marquee for that night.
The food is a modern mix of organic and healthy ingredients and traditional Mexican food like mole, carne asada, and quesadillas. Their mainstay dish is the molcajete, a $28 confection made with chicken, steak and chorizo, served with cactus leaves, queso fresco, fresh salsa and avocado in a tall bowl with a sprinkling of Grandma Rosa’s sauce.
Hwy., Malibu and open Monday through Thursday 11:30 am to midnight, Friday and Saturday
11:30 am to 1 am, and Sunday from 11 am to midnight.
The restaurant’s legacy can be traced back to Escobar’s great-grandparents, Pasquel and Simona Escobar, who opened a taqueria, or taco stand, in West Los Angeles in 1924. In 1946, Juan and Rosa Escobar, Kathy Escobar’s grandparents, opened the original Casa Escobar, down the street from the taco stand. From there, the Escobar’s success took off, and the family to moved to Bel Air and later Malibu. Now, the Mexican chainlet has several locations throughout California, including Santa Monica and Marina del Rey.
Casa Escobar is located at 22969 Pacific Coast Hwy., Malibu and open Monday through Thursday 11:30 am to midnight, Friday and Saturday 11:30 am to 1 am, and Sunday from 11 am to midnight.
For more information visit casaescobar.com or call 310.456.1999.
