LAReview
Included In
Sometimes you walk into a restaurant and you’ve got it pegged by the time you’re sitting at your table. White tablecloths? They are Serious About Food. Mason jars? They forgot that it's not Williamsburg in 2009.
This is not the case at Charcoal, a Venice restaurant that (somewhat confusingly) walks the line between special occasion restaurant and neighborhood hang. There’s lots of wood, dim lighting, and cushy booths. It looks like the kind of place Don Draper would have liked, and also kind of like a hotel lobby. But underneath all that, Charcoal is simply just a great spot throwing down some seriously high-quality food.
As you might have guessed by the name, Charcoal is pretty into grilling things. And we’re pretty into eating grilled things, so we get along. Steaks here come out exactly how you ask for them to be cooked, with plenty of the house made chimichurri and barbecue sauces on the side. The vegetables aren’t an afterthought either, and the chicken wings are some of the best we’ve ever had.
photo credit: Holly Liss
Look inside on a Saturday night, and there are people dressed up for birthdays and graduation dinners. Sunday mornings it’s a bright, not-at-all crowded brunch option. Tuesday nights you can roll up in a college sweatshirt and watch a game at the bar while eating ribs (even if they are kind of fancy lamb ribs). Yes, that’s a lot of options for one restaurant. But it works.
Once we got past the slightly-too-formal look of Charcoal, we came to realize that it's actually the kind of place Venice needed - a hangout for locals who are no longer 25 and going to Townhouse every night, with some celebration dinner potential as well. However you’re going to use it, the food here is pretty damn good, and definitely worth trying if you find yourself on the Westside.
Food Rundown
photo credit: Holly Liss
Cabbage Baked in the Embers
Smoky Grilled Chicken Wings
photo credit: Holly Liss
Smoked Lamb Ribs
Grilled Calamari
photo credit: Holly Liss
Ribeye
photo credit: Holly Liss
Duck
photo credit: Holly Liss
Broccolini
photo credit: Holly Liss