"If there’s one thing you learn in your 30s, it’s that you no longer have to hang out with people you don’t want to hang out with. Sometimes that includes random people in restaurants. A great private dining situation takes a good birthday and makes it even better, and Old Place is the most unique in town. Located deep in the Santa Monica Mountains, walking into this general store-turned-steakhouse is like doing a 1923 set visit. There are rickety old booths, an all-wood bar lined with regulars, and American comfort food like bone-in ribeye steaks and “noodle and cheese bake.” But you’re heading around back to the private “Mail Room,” which seats up to 12 people at the original sorting table from when this place was the Cornell Post Office. " - Brant Cox
