Venice, California is a really fun place to spend a vacation. It’s also a fabulous town to get great food at some fabulous restaurants. Venice restaurants range from the inexpensive to the very expensive, and lots of others in between. You can get pizza, hot dogs, sushi, American cuisine, California cuisine, salads, steaks, seafood, Italian food, Irish food, German food – you name it, Venice, California has it all. I’ve probably eaten at most of the restaurants in Venice at one time or another, but these five are the ones I like the most.
The Rose Cafe – 220 Rose Avenue, Venice, California 90291 – has some of the best food on the Westside of Los Angeles. Their breakfasts are delicious (and enormous!), their lunches are spectacular and their takeaway food is easily the best food you’ll get in Venice. Check out their Strawberry and Banana Pancakes, their Caesar Salad, the Club Sandwich is amazing (served with crispy french fries), or one of their quiches. All their sandwiches are gorgeous (their bread is baked fresh and has the perfect crustiness but softness), their salads are full of fresh, crisp California vegetables, and their bakery serves amazing desserts – brownies, chocolate cake, cheesecake – they’re all hard to resist. The Rose Cafe also has a really wonderful gift shop that sells cute t shirts, Japanese tea pots, gift card sets, magnets, buttons and much more. Their staff is very efficient yet laidback and super friendly. The Rose Cafe is also very beautifully designed. You can either eat outside on the patio or inside in an old industrial space that has been renovated to now seem hip and cool yet, at the same time, warm and inviting. Prices start from $5 for dessert and go all the way up to $18 for Filet Mignon. An average lunch at The Rose Cafe will be around $12 to $15 per person – well worth it as the food really is amazing.
Joe’s Restaurant – 1023 Abbot Kinney Boulevard, Venice, California 90291 – superb, simply superb. Joe’s Restaurant appears on the Top Restaurants in Los Angeles list almost every year. I must have eaten here fifteen times and I’ve never had bad food or a bad experience. The atmosphere at Joe’s Restaurant is chic but not too upscale and they serve California French cuisine that is seriously to die for. Try their Huevos Rancheros with Black Beans, their Ravioli, or their Roasted Lamb Sirloin (which literally melts in your mouth). For dessert, the Cherry Clafouti is unbelievable (cherry ice cream on a chocolate base with chocolate sauce, yum!) or the Apricot Baklava. The beauty of Joe’s Restaurant though is not just that the food is unbelievable, but also that it’s presented like a work of art. Every dish arrives at your table and you want to take a photograph of it, it’s just so lovely. Prices start at around $11 for an entree and go up to $30 for Prime Sirloin. Their prices are actually very inexpensive for Southern California and especially for this standard of food. Don’t miss Joe’s Restaurant, like I said, ….superb.
The Firehouse – 213 Rose Avenue, Venice, California 90291 – The Firehouse is my favorite inexpensive restaurant in Venice. As its name suggests, it used to be a Firehouse, but has been converted to one of the best quick and cheap restaurants in Venice. The Firehouse serves awesome brunch food (pancakes, bagels, sandwiches, huevos rancheros,) as well as lunch food – chinese chicken salad, sushi, burgers, omelettes, and tons more. They’re also very popular with the healthy food set and with the bodybuilders at Gold’s Gym as they have a great menu of items perfect for bodybuilders or those on diets (veggie burgers, omelettes made only with egg whites, wholewheat pancakes etc.) Their prices are good (starting from $4.50 for oatmeal, and going up to around $12 for an average lunch or dinner) and their service is very friendly. All in all, a fun place to eat with great tasting yet inexpensive food (oh and it’s also famous because Keanu Reeves filmed a couple of scenes from “Speed” here).
Canal Club – 2025 Pacific Avenue, Venice, California 90291 – Canal Club is one of the most famous restaurants in Venice, California. It is a beautifully designed restaurant with a chic atmosphere that serves excellent food. They are known for their wonderful sushi bar, that has every kind of sushi you’ve ever heard of, and they make amazing fresh California salads. Also try their great burgers (although pricey at $15 each), or their Ahi Tuna Burger. Deliciously fresh food in a lovely atmosphere. The only downside to Canal Club is the price – an average lunch will be between $25 and $50 per person and that doesn’t include the wine.
Abbot’s Pizza Company – 1407 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice, California 90291 – for something cheaper and more relaxed but that still serves incredible food, you can’t go wrong with Abbot’s Pizza Company. Seriously the best pizza on the Westside, Abbot’s Pizza Company in Venice has pizzas you’ve never heard of – Salad Pizza, Tequila Lime Chicken Pizza, Popeye Chicken Pizza, – all their pizzas are made with bagel dough and cooked to perfection. At around $4 to $5 a slice it sounds expensive, but the slices are huge and they’re also loaded with toppings. The only drawback to Abbot’s Pizza is that they only have a few tables outside so, if there’s nothing available, you’ll have to take yours to go. A small price to pay though for incredible pizza.
These are just a few of the great restaurants in Venice, California. Try any of them and I know you’ll love them, then try some of the hundreds of others too. In five years of eating weekly in Venice, California, I’ve never had a bad meal, and I doubt you will either.
