Brentwood Country Mart: Brunch, Boutiques, and Sunday Ritual

On the corner of 26th Street and San Vicente Boulevard in Brentwood sits a low-key open-air complex that has been quietly anchoring the neighborhood since 1948. No chain stores. No parking structure. Just a collection of red-barn buildings around a courtyard where the food is good, the pace is unhurried, and Sunday mornings feel like the city paused.

The Brentwood Country Mart isn't trying to be a destination. It's trying to be a neighborhood. After more than 75 years, it has succeeded completely. This is what a shopping center looks like when it's designed for the people who live near it rather than visitors who drove from somewhere else.

"The Brentwood Country Mart doesn't try to be a destination. It already is one — for people who don't need to be told where to go."

Farmshop: The Anchor

Founded in 2010 by chef Jeff Cerciello, Farmshop is simultaneously a restaurant and a specialty market, and it is one of the better all-day dining experiences on the Westside. The cooking is seasonal California — beautiful produce, clean technique, no showboating. Breakfast is particularly strong: house-baked pastries, avocado toast that predates the trend, perfectly poached eggs, and a coffee program that takes itself seriously without being annoying about it. Lunch and dinner rotate based on what's at the farmers market that week.

The market side carries house-made jams, artisan cheeses, charcuterie, fresh bread, and a curated pantry selection. It's the kind of place where you come in for one thing and leave with a bag.

Reddi Chick

For a completely different price point and zero pretense, Reddi Chick has been roasting chickens at the Mart since the 1970s. It is a counter-service operation. The chicken comes off a rotisserie, goes into a paper bag, and tastes the way rotisserie chicken is supposed to taste: crisp skin, juicy meat, straightforward seasoning. Get the half chicken with a side of their seasoned fries. Eat at one of the courtyard tables. This is one of Brentwood's best lunches at any budget.

The Shops

The retail mix at the Mart skews toward quality over quantity. You'll find a James Perse boutique, a Jenni Kayne, a book shop, a toy store, and a handful of other carefully selected tenants. None of it is aggressively branded. The courtyard between them is comfortable — shaded in the afternoon, warm in the morning — and the patio tables outside Farmshop fill up early on weekends.

Getting There

The Brentwood Country Mart is at 225 26th Street, Brentwood, at the corner of San Vicente. Free parking is available in the adjacent lot. It's a 10-minute walk from the Brentwood post office and easily accessible from San Vicente Boulevard, which runs a dedicated bike lane from Santa Monica.