Make-Over Time on Main Street

After the restaurant trendies have moved on and the regulars have started to get antsy for change, owners often try to spruce up their restaurants’ image. Sometimes the change can be as simple as a new coat of paint; sometimes a new chef is brought in or a major remodeling is done. Sometimes the restaurant completely changes its name and concept.

On the north end of Santa Monica’s Main Street, two restaurants recently underwent make-over jobs, and the results are very different.

Gilliland’s, 8 years old this month and one of the pioneer restaurants in the gentrification of Main Street, was among the first to serve what’s now known as eclectic cuisine. With a new menu, little of this has changed; chef Gerri Gilliland has always made slight adjustments whenever she discovers a new cuisine or masters a new technique. What’s shocking is the look of the place.

Gilliland’s was never a bold-looking restaurant; it always felt more like a neighborhood restaurant that happened to have great food. But the neighborhood changed. To fit in, Gilliland’s now has a modern all-glass front, the dining room has a wide-open look, and bright neon sculptures have been placed on the wall. Fortunately, the staff is still neighborly and the food is consistent: a successful make-over.

Bono Fortuna, just down the street, changed both its name and its style of cooking--sort of. Now known as the Yucatan Grill, the former Italian restaurant is trying to be a Mexican restaurant. But it doesn’t look much different--owner Christy Bono (yes, Sonny’s daughter) had the place painted, rearranged some tables and took out a few potted plants. And the menu still has a lot of non-Mexican dishes: breaded steak Bono, pasta with clams . . . and an unfortunately named dessert, Chocolate Slut, that even the waitresses cringe at saying. The Mexican dishes are all the usual basics--tacos, chiles rellenos, chimichangas, nachos--without a Yucatecan item among them. This is one make-over that needs, well, a make-over.

Gilliland’s, 2424 Main St., Santa Monica, (310) 392-3901; Yucatan Grill, 2518 Main St., (310) 396-2711.