Loss of wetland habitat and their associated services and functions during the past century has been extensive. As a solution, managers have turned to restoration, but even regionally, researchers lack agreement on monitoring criteria and analytical methods for defining restoration success. This study investigated the recovery trajectory of two recently restored wetlands in southern California as compared to a reference site using univariate, multivariate and equivalence analyses. Important abiotic and biotic parameters in the two restored marshes, such as salinity and invertebrate abundance, were equal or higher than the reference marsh using traditional simple hypothesis-based statistics like ANOVAs, indicating potential restoration success after 4 years. However, invertebrate community composition remained significantly using multivariate analysis. Inequivalence tests (an interval-based approach with reversed null hypothesis) indicated fewer parameters achieved restoration success, representing a more conservative approach. Overall, this demonstrates the need for long-term comprehensive monitoring that includes novel approaches to statistical analysis.