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A visit to this big red barn with fabulous little shops and a few family-friendly places to eat has been a tradition since 1948. On weekends, celebrities and their kids line up for Reddi Chick’s (310-393-5238) rotisserie chicken and eat at picnic tables surrounding an outdoor fire pit. City Bakery (310-656-3040) from New York makes the best chocolate chip cookies in town. Speaking of chocolate, Edelweiss Chocolates (888-615-8800) is the western outpost of the Beverly Hills favorite. For shopping, there’s children’s clothing with European styling at Flora & Henry (310-587-1188; www.florahenry.com), great new designer labels plus well-chosen vintage women’s clothing at Post26 (310-451-0950), and the entire rich hippie world of Christiane Celle at Calypso and Calypso Home (310-587-0703; www.calypso-celle.com). There are pony rides on Sundays.

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This wonderful, ocean-close (and extremely open air) shopping center provides residents with the essentials of life, be it sushi at Nobu Malibu (310-317-9140), open for dinner only; Chrome Hearts-designed Ugg boots at Chrome Hearts (310-456-5533), also known for its cross-and-dagger motif silver jewelry; vintage cowboy boots or jeans from the rough and tumble Double RL & Co. (310-317-9592), or Pucci bikinis from Ron Herman (310-317-6705). A sandbox with plenty of climbing equipment keeps the little ones happy.

There’s been a lot of fuss made about the new Free City store (310-456-5651), creation of Nina Garduno, who is also a vice president of the trendy Ron Herman stores. Other than the free, squeeze-your-own-orange juice, which is apparently popular with surfers, I have trouble getting into the groove here. But check it out and see for yourself. There are T-shirts with groovy messages (“Tokyo/Texas”), Dusty Springfield and Mama Cass Elliot CDs, American Indian beaded barrettes and cool vintage Schwinn bikes that are all freshly painted.