Some things you may need for the beach in the days and weeks ahead:

1) A towel.
2) Sunscreen.
3) A large backyard biergarten full of burgers and draft wine.

Okay, sounds like you’ve got everything.

Now you can just enjoy Ashland Hill, a breezy new wine-and-beer bar with pork belly tacos, short rib burgers and a lot of outdoor space, opening tonight in Santa Monica. (See the slideshow and the menu.)

For years this was Wildflour Pizza. Now it’s been gutted to become a casual little place that’s two-thirds biergarten. So you can end a beach visit by beginning a session involving 16 taps of California beer and draft wine. Just like Semisonic said. Every new beginning comes from—no. Well, anyway.

So on a nice day, we see you ordering up front, then heading back to the huge reclaimed-wood-covered patio in back under some citrus trees. You’ll hoist a glass of draft cabernet or a local witbier over some of those short-rib-and-chuck burgers with bacon marmalade, and maybe some shishito-filled mac and cheese.

But on a not-so-nice day...

Well, let’s not end this on a bad note.