A Short History of the Redondo Boardwalk 

There actually were boards on the Redondo Boardwalk once, but that was prior to storms in the 1940’s that caused part of the old wooden walkway to collapse. Rather than rebuild what had been there, in the 1950’s the city developed a master plan – to build a large luxury hotel on the hillside above the pier. The area where the Redondo Boardwalk now stands was going to be boutiques and shops for the hotel. Work was put on hold when a competing site presented itself and the decision was made to create King Harbor on a man-made peninsula. It was eventually decided to build the hotel there and put condominiums on the space just above the pier and Boardwalk area. The hotel opened nearby as the Portofino Inn in 1962, and is now known as the Portofino Hotel and Yacht Club.

      The waterfront area slated for shopping was leased to a group of lawyers who named it the International Boardwalk and found an eclectic group of tenants to populate it. First to open was Mr. Mugs, which offered the then-novel opportunity to have your own face on a coffee mug, as well as selling other personalized items. The restaurants were multi-national, and oldtimers fondly remember Nick The Greek’s, Don Jose’s, and other local institutions. Naja’s Place was another early arrival, though not Naja’s as we now know it – it was a small restaurant featuring live blues music by a Native American guitarist named Butch Mudbone. Naja’s has expended several times since then, and is now several times its original size. Quality Seafood is another business that took advantage of room to grow – it predated the Boardwalk as a small fish market at the south end of the harbor, and only grew into the institution is today after the Boardwalk opened.

      On the west side of the harbor was the famously eclectic Sea Inn, a vast and bizarrely decorated tavern that featured ping pong tables and hosted the Redondo Beach Western Classic Table Tennis Tournament. The décor is the same, but the space is now the Redondo Fun Factory, a popular arcade. The Boardwalk area has changed with the times and now offers as interesting and varied an assortment of shops and restaurants as ever. You can read more about them on this site, but it’s much more fun to come down and explore for yourself!  

Thanks to Gordon Mac Rae for assistance with this history.