For all its “coolest street in America” buzz, restaurants don’t open all that often on Abbot Kinney. So the entire neighborhood was lined up in advance when Italian spot Felix opened up down the beach end of the street in 2017, and while it’s still consistently packed, Felix is also as good as ever. It’s essentially a temple of pasta, complete with a climate-controlled pasta-making space in the middle of the dining room, and a pesto pasta that shouldn’t be missed.

Gjusta is everything that’s both terrible and wonderful about Venice. Even though there are always multiple people pretending they’re living in a personal style blog, Gjusta is one of our favorite spots in the neighborhood. Locals pop in and pick up pastrami lox and baklava croissants for brunch at home, and not-locals cross the city for the breakfast bialy sandwiches. It’s open all day, and it does incredible things with bread and porchetta (both together and separately) - even the burger is excellent.

We selfishly thought about leaving this one off the list, but we couldn’t do that to you. The Neapolitan-style pizzas at South End are too good to keep to ourselves. And they’re only made better by the fact that you are guaranteed to be poured a glass of wine while you wait. Only Venice locals seem to know about this place - and now you do too.

If Gjusta is New Venice, James’ Beach is Old-ish Venice. Best known for being the fish taco place in I Love You, Man, it’s one of those places that’s both a party and a restaurant. It’s an indoor/outdoor space, and if you’re sitting on the patio on a Friday night, your dinner will probably get taken over by bar-goers. Which is actually fine, because you’ll probably end up drinking with them anyway. The fish tacos are perfectly acceptable - don’t tell Jason Segel, but we prefer the chicken ones.

La Cabaña is one of a handful of remaining Venice classics, and also your only real weeknight late-night eating option in the area. This 50-year-old Mexican spot on Rose is open until 3am every single day, but is just as good for a casual dinner with work people you actually like or dinner with your quesadilla and tequila-loving grandmother. The back patio is the place to be any time of day, and the El Verde burrito is a monstrosity you want to tackle. Oh, and margarita pitchers are $30. Stay safe.

On Lincoln right near that Whole Foods you swore you’d never visit again is a tiny Mexican seafood stand that’s been there forever. Mariscos Guillen is a great spot for a stand-up lunch away from the hoards on Abbot Kinney. The seafood cocktails are popular, but we’re partial to the fish or shrimp tacos. And if you’ve ended up here with someone who doesn’t eat anything that swims, the carnitas are a solid bet too.

There are a bunch of beautiful patios in Venice, and Makani is home to the newest one. This modern Korean restaurant on Rose has a big indoor bar and dining area, but the place you’ll want to be is the jungle-like front patio. And it’s not just a place to catch up over drinks and hear the latest about Sierra’s direct-to-consumer cat food start-up - the menu is full of interesting dishes too. The steamed clams come in a spicy sauce, crispy buttermilk-fried ribs come on top of spiced mac and cheese, and the steak ssam has a turmeric horseradish sauce that might be the best thing here. Save room for the not-at-all-Korean, but still extremely good olive oil cake.

A lot of places to eat in Venice seem geared towards tourists rather than people who actually live in the area. But not Chez Tex. It’s a little family-owned wine bar and restaurant at the quiet end of Main Street, and is the kind of spot you can easily imagine becoming a regular at. They’ll help you find something good to drink, bring you simple bistro-y food to eat, and remember you when you come back.

Wurstküche is the answer to any and all of your big group eating needs in Venice. It’s a super-casual, order-at-the-counter set up (i.e. there will no fights over who had two beers, not three), and they serve excellent fancy sausages along with the best fries in the entire city. Once you’ve ordered in the tiny room up front, head to the huge back room, take over a table, and try and get through as much of the giant beer selection as you can.

You can smell the waffle cones from halfway down Abbot Kinney, and they’re leading you (and everyone else) to Salt & Straw. The line stretches out the door, but also moves quickly, even though the staff will let you sample a frankly obnoxious number of flavors. And you’ll want to sample - they have an insane flavor rundown, with everything from almond brittle with salted ganache to goat cheese with black olive brittle.

Kelp noodle cacio e pepe sounds like the kind of thing Sebastian from The Little Mermaid would have made, but the vegan crowd at Plant Food and Wine is all about it. The good news is, the food here is tasty - and not just for vegans. We especially like the tomato and zucchini lasagna and wild mushroom sandwich. But the back patio is worth the trip here alone - it’s the best in the neighborhood, and will make you feel like you’re eating in some kind of magic forest.

We don’t normally recommend going anywhere near the Boardwalk. But then your cousins come to town, it’s the only thing they want to do, and so here you are. Once Joe and Becky have had their fill of henna tattoos, street performers, and taking photos with the Green Doctors, head to El Huarique for a surprisingly authentic lunch. It might be inside an alley masquerading as a food court, but don’t be deterred - you’re here for the excellent Peruvian ceviche. Get the Venice Beach or Leche de Tigre versions to go, walk in the opposite direction of the crowds, and eat a solid lunch on the beach.

A good percentage of Barrique’s charm is the army of handsome Italians that make up the waitstaff. Plus the fact that it’s in a two-story yellow bungalow on an otherwise deserted part of Main Street. There’s substance here too: the classic (although expensive) Italian food is always great.

There are plenty of cool barbecue spots in LA now. Baby Blues BBQ isn’t one of them. Which is just how we like it. We usually go for a combo or platter to share (always with the pulled pork in there somewhere), but don’t forget to add a serve of the excellent smoked wings.

Where the Venice-as-food-destination thing all began. It’s loud, you usually have to wait, and don’t you dare ask for a substitution. But we still put up with all of this, mostly because they are the vegetable experts and they know how to make an excellent pizza. Can’t be bothered with the whole thing? Go next door to GTA for a slice of pizza or the blackened fish sandwich to-go, or to be eaten standing up at a counter overlooking the street.

You’ll go to Scopa for the pasta, but if you’re anything like us, you’ll get distracted by everything else. Scopa’s been open for a while, so the scene has settled down slightly, but not completely. The bar still gets packed and brunch is definitely not casual, but sometimes that’s just what you need. Their back bar, Old Lightning, is worth seeking out too - it’s reservation only and they won’t let you take your phone inside, but the very good cocktails make up for all the fuss.

A lot of our favorite OG Venice spots have closed recently, which makes us even more glad that Hinano is still around. This place is an actual dive - there’s sawdust on the floor, pool tables, and a rumour that Jim Morrison used to hang out here. If you’re not here to drink, you’re here for the burger, which is grilled behind the bar and a much more fun option than In-N-Out down the street.

We’re not sure what we expected the Gjelina/Gjusta people to do for their next restaurant, but it certainly wasn’t opening a Japanese izakaya where everything is made in-house and there’s no red wine on the menu. Mtn is a very Venice neighborhood Japanese spot - you’ll wait in line to put your name down, order a pickle plate and sashimi once you eventually sit down, and before you know it have spent $250 on dinner. Sure, it might be a neighborhood joint you only visit once a year, but it’s a nice place for a laid-back celebration - and a truly fantastic tomato salad.

You deserve a reward for making it all the way along Abbot Kinney in one piece. That reward should be a donut. You’ll like it if you like out-there flavors (like Blueberry Bourbon Basil), but we always go for the simple glazed OG and never regret it.

It’s honestly hard to know why it took so long for an Australian cafe to open in Venice. On any given day half the people in the neighborhood are visiting from Sydney, and if any group of people know the importance of a flat white after a surf, it’s Australians. And Great White is a good example of the genre, with friendly table service, good breakfast food, and extremely good coffee.

People got pretty riled up when longtime Venice resident Rose Cafe was closed and taken over by a big-deal restaurant group. While the original Rose Cafe was great in its own right, it really had been a long time since the food was that good, and after a couple of years the new version has settled in nicely. That massive indoor-outdoor space is at it’s best during the day for pastries and plates of eggs.

We still miss the original Superba Snack Bar on Rose, but will happily console ourselves with fried chicken sandwiches at this spinoff on Lincoln. It’s a massive space that caters just as well to the coffee-shop-as-office crowd as it does to families popping in for an early dinner. Brunch is a winner as well.

Venice is an Asian food desert. Which makes Mao’s a little oasis. The Chinese food is dependable and they’re open until 3am on weekends - convenient if for some reason you’ve found yourself at Townhouse for the evening.

These guys have been on Abbot Kinney since way before the crowds arrived, and thank god for that (even if their sister spot, Abbot’s Habit recently succumbed to rent hikes). They do things you’d think they shouldn’t to pizza, like give it a bagel crust and use salad as a topping, and we are all about it.

Yet another healthy, almost-vegan place that on paper seems completely unnecessary (especially given the fact that there’s a Cafe Gratitude over on Rose). The surprise twist is that we do not hate this place. Some dishes are a little too committed to the dairy-replacement thing, but the breakfast burrito gives meat versions a run for their money.

You are not coming to Hama for amazing sushi. You’re coming for the rolls, and the casual party time vibes. They put strawberries on top of one of their rolls, and they sing a loud birthday song multiple times a night. Never change, Hama.