If your summer routine in Redondo has been on autopilot since 2022, you are about to walk past three restaurants that did not exist the last time you looked up. The concert lineup on the Pier is the constant. The doors you pass on the way there are not.
This is a look at what a Thursday or Saturday evening actually looks like in 90277 this summer — the free Fisherman's Wharf shows, the new operators along the water, and the Riviera Village anchors that are still doing the work.
The 2026 Summer Concerts on the Pier, at a glance
Free live music returns to the west end of the Pier every Thursday and Saturday, 6 to 8 p.m., no ticket, no cover. The 2026 Summer Concerts on the Pier series returns to Fisherman's Wharf at Redondo Beach Pier, running every Thursday and Saturday from July 2 through August 29, presented by the Redondo Pier Association, with concerts starting at 6 p.m. and wrapping up at 8 p.m.
The programming leans one way on Thursdays and another on Saturdays. You can expect tribute shows on Thursdays (from Weezer to Oasis cover bands) and local contemporary acts on Saturdays.
A partial July calendar to plan around:
| Date | Act | Style |
|---|---|---|
| Thu, Jul 2 | Running Hot | Rolling Stones tribute |
| Sat, Jul 4 | Ernando & The Nandos | Pop |
| Thu, Jul 9 | Bear Supply | AM Gold tribute |
| Sat, Jul 11 | Backspin | Rock |
| Thu, Jul 16 | Say It Ain't Weezer | Weezer tribute |
| Sat, Jul 18 | Sligo Rags | Irish |
| Thu, Jul 23 | Marvin Gaye Soul Serenade | Marvin Gaye tribute |
| Sat, Jul 25 | Chad & the Ship of Fools | Post punk |
| Thu, Jul 30 | Grateful to the Core | Grateful Dead tribute |
August continues with Manuel the Band, Hot Lava (B-52s tribute), Alarmaz (reggae), Fake Matthews Band, Tom Nolan Band, Supersonic-LA (Oasis tribute), CC Stugino, and The Arcadies closing out the run.
Two practical notes for regulars. There is no formal seating — bring a blanket or a low beach chair if you want to settle in. And parking at the Pier structures runs $2 per hour, available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, which is the cheapest reserved dinner-and-a-show parking on the coast if you time it right.
What is actually new on the waterfront since last summer
Three openings have quietly reshaped where a local eats before or after the show. If you have not been down to the Pier since 2023, none of these three existed for you.
BeachLife Grotto. The old liquor store on the Riviera Village edge is now a seafood restaurant tied directly to the BeachLife Festival team. A former Riviera Village liquor store has been transformed into BeachLife Grotto restaurant, opened July 24, the latest project from BeachLife Festival co-founder Allen Sanford and partners. Partners in BeachLife Grotto include Sanford, Frankenreiter, former Redondo Beach Police Chief Keith Kauffman, Pennywise's Jim Lindberg, Rob Lissner, and Michael Greenburg of Skechers. The architectural cue matters if you grew up here: Sanford worked with architect Miles Pritzkat to emulate two bygone favorites, the Admiral Risty in Palos Verdes and Millie Riera's Seafood Grotto. There is also a small retail counter inside — "a BeachLife version of a general store," Sanford said.
California Surf Club. The pairing of the old Ruby's and the shuttered On The Rocks/Chiller's has been the most talked-about waterfront project of the decade, and it now runs as a private club with an attached public restaurant. Work began in 2024, and the California Surf Club opened in May 2025, combining the old Ruby's and the shuttered On The Rocks/Chiller's into a private club and a separate, public restaurant. If you have wondered about the membership economics, they are not a secret: initiation fees for the founding 450 members were $6,000 to $10,000, with monthly dues of $350, of which $100 is a food and beverage credit. The public side is what most residents will actually use.
Redondo Beach Grill. A 32-year run ended on PCH this spring, and the replacement is new enough that half the neighborhood has not tried it yet. The eatery, located at 525 S. Pacific Coast Highway, was open for 32 years but closed March 1, and reopened March 21 with a different menu under the name Redondo Beach Grill. The owners have said that they chose to change the restaurant's theme due in part to rising seafood costs. That last detail is worth sitting with — a longtime PCH operator restructured its concept around ingredient cost, which is the kind of local signal you will not find on a portal.
Riviera Village as the pre-show anchor
The Pier is three miles north of the Village, close enough that a Village dinner then a drive up Catalina to Fisherman's Wharf is still the cleanest sequence for a Saturday. Riviera Village sits three miles south of King Harbor in Redondo Beach.
The through-line at the Village this year is that the density of sit-down options has not thinned. Salt & Pearl, Riviera House, Turquoise, The Hook & Plow, The Craftsman, Vida Modern Mexican, and Il Posto are all still on the block, and Yelp's most recent Riviera Village restaurant ranking, updated May 2026, lists Salt & Pearl, Turquoise, Il Posto, Riviera House, The Hook & Plow, The Craftsman, and Vida Modern Mexican + Tequila among the top spots. For a pre-concert seat, Riviera House still keeps a lunch service Monday through Friday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with dinner from 4 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and Sunday, and 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, which is the practical shape that matters when you are trying to make a 6 p.m. downbeat.
The number that surprises people: Riviera Village is a collection of over 300 shops, restaurants and services. Three hundred storefronts inside a twelve-block walk is a density most South Bay locals underestimate, and it is the reason the Village keeps absorbing new operators without feeling churned.
If a farmers' market run is part of your Thursday, the Pier's own market is the shorter drive from most of Redondo, and the Hermosa Beach Farmers' Market runs every Friday from 12 to 4 p.m. for anyone building a weekend around it.
What is under construction, and how it changes your walk
Two projects will shape the physical waterfront over the next several summers, and both are worth knowing about if you use the boardwalk regularly.
The King Harbor Amenities Plan is the umbrella framework. The Amenities Plan was approved by City Council on October 18, 2022. It advances community plans for Moonstone Park/Mole B and Seaside Lagoon, prioritizes what should be rebuilt or renovated, and locates new recreational and operational elements, such as the sportfishing pier, a small hand launch, and public boat launch. Translation for a local walker: expect the stretch between Mole C and the Horseshoe Pier to be the focus of visible work over the coming summers.
The International Boardwalk repave was the first tangible piece. Improvements at the International Boardwalk in King Harbor began Sept. 3, replacing the old asphalt with durable concrete pavers while making safety updates. If your dog-walking loop dropped down to the Boardwalk last fall, that is why the surface underfoot is different.
Above the waterline, the PCH corridor is also moving. Redondo Beach City Council approved a mixed-use project at 401 Pacific Coast Highway in February 2026, reversing a December 2025 rejection by the Planning Commission, and 43 homes are coming to 122 Pacific Coast Highway from City Ventures. Farther north on PCH at Palos Verdes Boulevard, Legado Redondo will rise at the corner of PCH and Palos Verdes Boulevard, featuring apartments, a hotel, and retail. These are not concert-night details, but they are the reason your commute past PCH looks different this summer than last.
Putting the evening together
The tight version of a Thursday: park in the Pier structure by 5:30, grab something from a Village restaurant beforehand or a pier vendor on arrival, blanket at Fisherman's Wharf by 5:55, music from 6 to 8, then a nightcap at BeachLife Grotto or a walk down the newly paved Boardwalk. The tight version of a Saturday: same shape, with the local-band billing instead of the tribute act.
The version that will surprise you: three of the operators inside that evening did not exist for you two summers ago. The Pier concerts are the ritual. The dining room around them is not the one you remember.
If you are thinking about how any of this shows up in the value of a home a few blocks from the Village or the Esplanade — how new waterfront operators, PCH mixed-use approvals, and the King Harbor plan translate into what buyers actually price in — that is a conversation Lisa B Realty is built for. Reach out when you would like a considered read on your block, or use our valuation tool when you are ready for a number.
