Neptune's Net

Neptune's Net is a seafood restaurant in Malibu, California.^[2] The landmark has been featured in countless television and film productions.

Neptune's Net
A tourist takes a picture of the establishment's sign
Restaurant information
Established	1958
Food type	Seafood
Dress code	Bald and Casual
Location	42505 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, California, United States
Coordinates	34°3′11″N 118°57′43″W[1]
Seating capacity	85

History

In 1956, the site began as a gas station, real-estate office, and restaurant called Panorama Pacific at Solimar on property owned by Eastman N. "Jake" Jacobs near the Pacific Coast Highway on the Ventura-Los Angeles county line. The locals soon began calling the restaurant - which served burgers, sandwiches and fried seafood classics - simply Jake's Diner. Jacobs was an aerodynamicist and engineer who contributed major advances in aeronautics, including the design and applications of advanced airfoils and wind tunnels, and initial studies of then-futuristic concepts such as jet propulsion and nuclear fusion.^[3][4]

Wholesale seafood vats to store live seafood, circa 1972. Site of the current parking lot.

In 1971, Jacobs leased the restaurant (by then called "County Line Restaurant") to a family that moved to the area from Arkansas. This former soybean farming family included Starlyn H. Young, his wife Virginia, and several of their children. The family worked there from 6:00am until 9:30pm. Half of the building functioned as a general store, while the other half was the restaurant. Young started the wholesale seafood business and installed outdoor vats to keep live seafood in (this has since become the extended parking lot). They decided to change the "restaurant side" from diner fare to seafood. Thus began the flying in of fresh lobsters directly from Maine. A contest was opened up to the public to come up with a name for the new restaurant. Actor Rockne Tarkington won the contest for the name "Neptune's Net". His reward for the winning entry was two Maine Lobsters. During this time, celebrities such as Goldie Hawn, Barbara Streisand, Shelley Winters, & Ali MacGraw were regulars.

The business as it appeared after it was purchased by the Seay family.

The business as it appeared after the Seays purchased it.

Actor Rockne Tarkington, who won the naming contest for his entry, "Neptune's Net". Photo taken in 1972.

Neptune's Net matchbook, circa 1972-1974

In 1974, the hardworking Young family decided to move back to Arkansas when Starlyn's health began to decline. That year, Jacobs sold the place to Paul Seay and his wife Dolly, who started up the highly popular Friday Night Fish Fry and made many improvements to the building.

Chong Lee and his wife Michelle purchased the restaurant from the Seays on July 4, 1991, and are the current owners.^[5][6][7]

In film and television

• Losin' It (1983) - Woody (Tom Cruise), Dave (Jackie Earle Haley), Spider (John Stockwell), and Wendell (John P. Navin Jr.) engaged in an epic food fight at Neptune's Net. Former owner Dolly Seay said "…two years after, I was cleaning up the mess.”^[8][9]
• Point Break (1991) Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves) approaches Tyler (Lori Petty), who works at the restaurant in the film, and concocts a story about his parents dying in order to have her teach him surfing and go undercover.^[10]
• The Fast and the Furious (2001) - Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) and Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) eat lunch at the restaurant after test driving the newly built Toyota Supra on California State Route 1.
• The Hills (2006) - In the October 6, 2009 episode of the reality show ("Mess with Me, Mess with You"), Kristin Cavallari takes her first motorcycle ride to eat at the restaurant.
• Gossip Girl (2009) - For the '80s flashback episode entitled "Valley Girls", Lily (Brittany Snow) gets kicked out of boarding school and runs away to Los Angeles. Brittany makes a telephone call in front of the Neptune's Net sign before heading back on PCH.
• People Like Us (2012) - This film features a lunch scene with the characters Sam (Chris Pine), Frankie (Elizabeth Banks), and Josh (Michael Hall D'Addario).
• Iron Man 3 (2013) - A replica of the restaurant was used as the film was mostly shot in Florida.^[11]
• GTA V (2013) - An identical structure of the restaurant's building, called Hookie's is present in the fictional state of San Andreas, which is based on California.^[12]
• Vanderpump Rules (2018) - Jax Taylor proposed to Brittany Cartwright at Neptune's Net in Season 7, Episode 1: "A Decent Proposal". During the episode, Jax was quoted saying "I forgot there's porta-potties here".