Rock and roll!  Iconic Venice Boardwalk restaurant, the legendary Sidewalk Cafe is back in business!  18 taps, killer happy hour, giant portions, and a super cool staff are all ready to go. Let the summer party commence!

Here is a message from The Sidewalk Cafe!

Now serving our expanded menu. We are open from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM with the kitchen closing at 9:00 PM. Stop in for a bite this weekend!  View menu below!
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Masks must be worn to enter the restaurant. We will be taking temperatures of all who want to enter the restaurant. We are following all guidelines set by the City of Los Angeles and State of California for social distancing and serving food. Patio seating is limited to 90 minutes per table and $10 min per person. We are doing it this way for the safety of our customers and employees. Please be respectful of others and social distancing. We are all in this together.

We are following all guidelines set by the City of Los Angeles and State of California for social distancing and serving food. Patio seating is limited to 90 minutes per table and $10 min per person. We are doing it this way for the safety of our customers and employees.  Please be respectful of others and social distancing. We are all in this together.

And if you are still not comfortable with dining in yet, take out is still available also.  You have been taking care of yourself for the past 80 days, now let us take take of you!

1401 Ocean Front Walk.  Venice, CA. 90291 .  310.399.5547.  thesidewalkcafe.com.

NOTE:  Featured photo taken Pre Covid-19 by Venice Paparazzi

Did you know that the The Sidewalk Cafe has been serving locals and tourists since ’76?

The Sidewalk Cafe on the Venice Boardwalk rules!  In an ever changing Venice landscape, the Sidewalk is our rock.  You don’t stay in business on boardwalk for 43 years unless you are doing it right!  A big fist bump to the team over there!  View history below.

In 1905, after winning the Venice land on a coin flip with his partners, Abbot Kinney built Venice-of-America to be a personal monument to Venice, Italy. He built a fantasy city with real canals, a wood boardwalk and piers with rides and water slides. It was a huge hit! Celebrities like William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies strolled the Venice Boardwalk. Sarah Bernhardt performed in the Venice Auditorium; Charlie Chaplin clowned in Abbot Kinney’s auto races, and Mary Pickford was rowed in her own gondola. Venice was the place to be!The building that now houses the Sidewalk Café was one of the last of Abbot Kinney’s Venice buildings and was originally designed to be four stories tall, but only the first floor was constructed was built.

The Sidewalk Cafe in 1979. Photo by Gotta Have it

The building sold to the Harrah family (of gambling fame) and was turned into a bingo parlor (later called bridgo because bingo was illegal). During prohibition, Abbot Kinney’s underground utility tunnels were modified to accommodate bootleggers who delivered liquor at night under the pier. In the 1950s and early ‘60s the building housed artists’ studios and served as the crash pad for beatnik writers and poets such as Jack Kerouac. The building stood vacant for many years until 1976 when Mary Goodfader’s bookstore, Small World Books, lost its lease in Marina Del Rey. Bob Goodfader, while bicycling on the bike path, saw the building and called the phone number graffitied on its front. The Goodfaders and their friends, Walter (Skip) and Penny Dixon bought the building as a new location for the bookstore.

Bob and Skip decided to open a small takeout place on the side, not in use by the bookstore. The eatery was such a hit that they expanded it into a patio restaurant. Venice experienced a rebirth with roller skating and skateboarding in the 70s.

The Boardwalk’s unique entertainers, skateboarding’s Z-boys, Muscle Beach’s bodybuilders and Venice’s basketball players attracted worldwide attention. The Sidewalk Café offered great food and a front row seat to the circus. Small World Books is one of the last surviving independent bookstores in Los Angeles and is still run by Mary. See what treasures that their staff can help you discover.

Bob passed away in 2002, but the Sidewalk Café is still being run by the people he trained including his son Jay, his protégé Steve, his general manager Kristen and his head cook Luciano.

Jay Goodfader and family at the 40th Anniversary party in 2016