The Westside's chef-driven beach town. Abbot Kinney holds Felix, Gjelina, Gjusta and Charcoal; the canals hold quieter neighbourhood rooms.
Evan Funke's Venice pasta room rolls every shape by hand in a glass-walled laboratorio. Felix Trattoria is the busiest dinner reservation on Abbot Kinney.
Signature: Cacio e pepe, Mafaldine alla Genovese
Order: Cacio e pepe finished tableside in a wheel of pecorino.
Tip: Reservations open 30 days out and disappear in the first hour; counter seats overlooking the pasta room are walk-in from 17:00.
Travis Lett's Gjelina in Venice has been the Westside's wood-fire vegetable room since 2008. The pizzas and roasted vegetables built the template.
Signature: Wood-fired pizza, Roasted vegetables
Order: Lamb sausage and pumpkin pizza from the wood oven, then the roasted Brussels sprouts.
Tip: Walk-in queue for the patio is fine before 19:00; after that, book or eat at the takeaway counter next door at Gjelina Take Away.
Townhouse on Windward Avenue in Venice, established 1915, runs cocktails upstairs and the Del Monte Speakeasy below, a Prohibition rum cellar.
Tip: Townhouse walk-in upstairs; the Del Monte downstairs is ticketed for live music, comedy and burlesque most nights from 21:00.
Only the Wild Ones on Abbot Kinney in Venice is the Japanese-style hi-fi listening bar that opened 2025 with LA natural wines and small-batch drinks.
Tip: Resy reservations open weekly. Bar seats are walk-in; the Tannoy speaker set runs all-vinyl mid-week, mixed-format weekends.