The End of An Era! Canal Club is Closing!

Oh no! Say it ain’t so! The N. Venice Blvd. neighborhood hub, the local locals spot, the famous happy hour, the starting point of many a story, our endeared Canal Club is leaving the building!

Well, if good things must come to an end, and it looks like this one is, we need to send off the Canal Club in grand style. There are two more weekends to come pay your respects and bid farewell. The Canal Club will be open Fridays and Saturdays through August.

Stop by for a final margarita, sushi roll, crispy rice, or brie and grape quesadilla, and give the staff a fist bump and a hug!

Venice Paparazzi shot many events at the Canal Club, starting with Halloween in 2005. So, if you hung at the Canal during the last 14 years or so, there is a chance you are in our photo archive. Check out the galleries below!

Here is a message from Canal Club’s owners Daniel Samakow and James Evan’s

After a great 20 years as a fab neighborhood restaurant in Venice, we will be closing the doors of Canal Club; that is the sister of James’ Beach.

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James’ Beach (across the street) is modern American Comfort Food, so to give the neighborhood another option, we did the exact opposite at Canal Club and focused on experimentation and non-Traditional American food. Asian cuisine (sushi, noodles, towering tuna sashimi, whole fried fish and even Polynesian cuisine) and Latin cuisine (tacos, Cuban sandwiches and carne asada) that came off the wood grill were all on the menu. Canal Club was fire and water. Raw bar and wood grilled.

James’ Beach, 60 North Venice Blvd. Venice, Ca . JamesBeach.com

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This restaurant, with its fun Frank Gehry / Billy Al Bengston interior was comfortable but not about comfort and so we also experimented with chefs. The famous Michael Roberts, as he battled MS, opened the restaurant. His famous brie and grape quesadilla from his West Hollywood landmark restaurant “Trumps” was on the menu and will now travel to James’ Beach. When Michael could no longer work, chef Shari stepped in and we followed with a number of up and coming chefs who have gone on to great things and now enjoy the food of Eduardo Posada. We did untraditional LA style Sushi with our friend Nick Nishi at the helm. Josè Aldana was at the bar making our famous margaritas and flaming tikis bowls. Saloman ran the ship (he’s coming over to James’ Beach). It was a Venice blast.

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We love live music and after we closed Danny’s, we wanted to bring back live music and dancing to Venice and have it at Canal Club. It was a long costly process that ultimately did not go through. On top of that, increasing labor and other costs (having two kitchens, a raw – sushi bar and hot kitchen was just too expensive) and a heart attack made us realize that it was time to find a new owner/chef to add their voice, vision and talent to the community.

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We are excited that Jackson Kalb, who has Jame Enoteca in El Segundo is taking over the location. Food and Wine calls it “one of the best places to eat pasta in all of LA”. Jackson and Melissa (the Me of JaMe) care about food, neighborhood and people and they will be a great addition to a famous space and Venice.

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In closing we remember many great times and friends. We remember starting the Venice Art Crawl there and all the neighborhood events. We opened on Halloween and had the best Halloween parties on the West Side! We remember starting our happy hour when the recession, in a less affluent Venice, made it too expensive for families to eat out. When one young family thanked us, saying the happy hour was the only time they could afford to eat out together, we knew we were doing well.

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Thank you Venice and our landlords Werner, Simone and Ann for believing in us. We will be open to celebrate on Fridays and Saturdays through August and then we hope we’ll see everyone at James’ Beach which enters its 23rd year next month. Support your local restaurants.

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Love, James and Daniel

View Canal Club patron’s comments!

So many great times and parties there. It’s where we had all the Venice Art Crawl meetings and I’ll always cherish Those memories getting to know Danny and Edizen and the Venice Art Crawl. Thank you Danny for all you do for the community and for all the good times at Canel club getting to know all my friends. – Venice Art Crawl President Sunny Bak

Thank you so much James and Daniel! I have countless amazing memories DJing at Canal Club, eating there and tossing back cocktails with real locals. I am so sad that Canal is closing… The only thing that is constant is change. Thanks again for all of the amazing memories… You guys are legends! – Jacques Djjacques Aureille

New Years, Halloween’s, Happy Hours — some of my favorite Venice memories and friendships were fostered in Canal Club. Thank you!! – Alex Rose

Thank you for all the fond memories and delicious food. I used to call the california roll “crack” and also very much appreciated your happy hour pricing. Cheers CC!! – Jacki Feldstein

Lots of great memories there – loved having Canal as our neighbor all the years we did. So many special times with special people. Always will hold a special place in my heart. – Kate Lyon Osher

Thank you for all the love support and friendship. So many memories and celebrations over the years! Weddings and birthdays! You will be missed but never forgotten ! Thank you for always supporting our neighborhood. – Shannon Cooper-Robb

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