Where to eat on Abbot Kinney

There is a lot of fantastic food on this few-block stretch of Abbot Kinney, and the amount of choice can be dizzying. Should you eat healthy, grab a smash burger, something vegan, something quick, or something on the bib gourmand list? There are also a lot of food celebrities–from Top Chef contestants, Iron Chef alums, and food travel shows. So, where do you begin? Here are my recommendations for where to eat on Abbot Kinney. 

Note: I had plans to eat at several of these restaurants before publishing this post to refresh my memory, but the current COVID surge hit. I hope to go back soon and add more photos to this post. Speaking of COVID, not that we ever stop talking about it, I have a cheat sheet of the current rules and regulations here. 

Where to get a great cup of coffee

For coffee, I recommend a couple of chains. These aren’t your average chains that spend time making coffee no longer taste like coffee–a concoction of sugar and fluff. These are coffee places that cater to people who love coffee. 

Blue Bottle

Originally from Oakland, Blue Bottle has expanded throughout the world. There are several Los Angeles locations, including Abbot Kinney. There is a wide range of no-caffeine to high-caffeine drinks. This is a grab-and-go location with no indoor space to hang out and drink coffee. However, it is perfect for grab-and-window-shop.

Hours, cost, and other information

• Website: https://bluebottlecoffee.com (They no longer have individual websites for their cafes)
• Address: 1130 Abbot Kinney
• Cost: Cappuccino $5.25 and pour over $4.50
• Other: No indoor space for hanging out and drinking coffee

Intelligentsia

This Chicago transplant is a place for coffee purists. Half-and-half and a wide variety of alternative milks are not available here. What you will get is a serious cup of coffee and espresso. You can sit and sip here while enjoying free wifi–a rarity for this street.

If you aren’t a coffee drinker, there is a long list of tea and pastries.

Hours, cost, and other information

• Website: https://www.intelligentsia.com/pages/venice-coffeebar
• Address: 1131 Abbot Kinney
• Cost: Daily brewed coffee $4.75, cappuccino $5.00, and seasonal drink $6.75

Breakfast

If any of you have been following this blog for a while, you know that breakfast isn’t something I eat all that often. I would, however, make an exception for a coffee-only breakfast for these places on Abbot Kinney.

GTA (Gjelina Take Away)

This all-day joint is next to its big sister Gjelina and offers pastries, breakfast sandwiches, and other changing breakfast items. Like Gjelina, ingredients are sourced from local farmers, bringing you one of the freshest breakfasts in town, from local eggs to avocados. From noon on, the menu switches to sandwiches, salads, and pizzas. 

See the post on Gjelina in my dinner section.

Hours, cost, and other information

• Website: https://www.gjelinatakeaway.com/
• Address: 1427 Abbot Kinney
• Cost: Breakfast sandwich $10, crispy egg plate $18, bagel and cream cheese $5, coffee $3.75

Blue Star Donuts

This place specializes in buttermilk and brioche donuts, from classic to local seasonal flavors. I found the buttermilk chocolate old-fashioned crispy on the outside and perfectly soft on the inside. This Blue Star outlet on Abbot Kinney is grab-and-go, but there is a bench outside. 

Hours, cost, and other information

• Website: https://bluestardonuts.com/
• Address: 1142 Abbot Kinney
• Cost: Donut menu changes often and hovers around $4.00 apiece. 

Love Food?

I talk about all of the great things I have eaten in Los Angeles each month in my newsletter.

Weekend brunch

Scopa Italian Roots

There are many Italian restaurants in Los Angeles, and a couple of the best in this area are on this list. Scopa sits at the base of Abbot Kinney, a little farther from this main area I have been talking about this and the last post, but worth the slight detour. 

Scopa is an homage to east coast Italian food with the benefit of being close to fantastic California produce. From bagels to giant arancini in red sauce to whole branzino, this menu hits all you could want. Their brunch is a standout. The fried eggs and challah french toast should not be missed. 

The dining room is dark and cool, and the fully stocked bar is a focus giving it a bit of a nightclub vibe. It can be loud, but booths allow for more intimate conversation.

This restaurant is the concept of Antonia LoFaso. You may find her name familiar. If you are a Top Chef fan, she was on season four and season eight. She also has restaurants and bars all across Los Angeles. 

I am waiting to see if the hidden bar in the back, Old Lightning, survived the pandemic. It was a favorite of mine. A speakeasy that features drinks relegated to the past, like the pink squirrel and original versions of tiki drinks. They take your phone on entry which some people hated, but I loved.  Hoping the temporarily closed turns to open.

Hours, cost, and other information

• Website: https://www.scopaitalianroots.com/
• Address: 2905 Washington Blvd
• Cost: Coffee cake $6, French toast $17, coffee $4, steak and eggs $29

Lunch

There are a lot of fast-casual restaurants in Abbot Kinney. These lean towards healthy options like Greenleaf and Sweetfin poké. The latter is from another Top Chef alum. Since I haven’t eaten at either, I can’t say what to eat. I do know that Greenleaf has a big patio which would be great if you are heading to Abbot Kinney as a group or as an alternative to all of the grab-and-go-away options. 

https://www.eatdrinkgreenleaf.com/locations/venice

https://www.sweetfin.com/

Don’t forget the pop-ups & food trucks

Dinner

My dinner suggestions require some advanced planning, as reservations are hard to get. These are local favorites, and even though they have been open for a while, there is still a big demand to eat here. 

Felix

I have been an Evan Funke fan since his days at Rustic Canyon. I followed him to Bucato and on to Felix. Felix is his love letter to Italy featuring 100% handmade pasta–no machines, not even a pasta machine. It is just a man and his mattarello churning out some of the best pasta in the city. The dining room is beautiful, and on busy nights, you get a front-row seat to the glass box factory where pasta is turned by hand. 

The pastas featured on the menu are a tour of Italy using both lost and well-known shapes. I would say to eat as many as you can handle, but don’t miss the focaccia and the Fiori di Zucca. 

If any of you had the flash-in-the-pan short-form streaming service Quibi, Funke had a show where he traveled through Italy learning handmade pasta techniques from some of the twenty-two regions of the country. Many of the pasta shapes weren’t being passed down to the next generation and are in danger of being erased from Italy’s culinary history. He brought many of these to Felix. It is great to see someone so passionate about what they do. 

Can’t wait to try his next place, Mother Wolf. (Update, I have. It is fantastic and will be featured on my food map. Subscribe to my newsletter.)

Hours, cost, and other information

• Website: https://www.felixla.com/
• Address: 1023 Abbot Kinney
• Other: Occasionally he will feature a favorite from his Rustic Canyon days—a burger so amazing that it sells out in minutes. I am dreaming about it now.

Gjelina

I talk about California Cuisine a lot on this blog. I feel like during my deep dive into the west side of Los Angeles, I am using that term a lot. California Cuisine this and California cuisine that. I am going to mention it again. Gjelina is a great mix of California Cuisine and Italian food. 

I come here for the vegetables. I know that might be a one-sided view of this restaurant that offers pasta, pizza, and large-format shared dishes, but to be honest, I don’t think anyone does vegetable-focused dishes better. This is not to say that these are all vegetarian, but vegetables are definitely the star. If I could eat an entire meal of vegetables, this is where I would come, with no hesitation.

There are plenty of meat-focused dishes as well; not to worry, folks.

Hours, cost, and other information

• Website: https://gjelina.com/la/
• Address: 1429 Abbot Kinney
• Cost: Selection of charcuterie $20, grilled oyster mushroom in tarragon butter $14, salads $16, raclette pizza $20, pork belly $22. 

Dessert

Dessert is an important part of where to eat in Venice. Many places I listed for dinner have excellent desserts, but what if you are craving dessert?

Salt & Straw

Salt & Straw, how I love thee! If I could eat one dessert for the rest of my life it would be ice cream. What I love about this ice cream shop is that they keep me guessing. They aren’t afraid to experiment with flavors from reaching a very specific audience –like pear & blue cheese–to classics, and those that bring up childhood memories– like the great cookie swap.

There are flavors of the month that are around a theme. Spiked eggnog was a favorite at the holidays and I love love love when they feature made-up flavors from grade school kids. The Halloween theme gets really weird. 

Choose singles, doubles, and split tastes in a cup or a cone. 

If you aren’t in Abbot Kinney, check out the other locations around Los Angeles.

• Website: https://saltandstraw.com/
• Address: 1357 Abbot Kinney
• Cost: Single scoop $5.75, double $7.75, pints $12.50

I hope I have given you some options for where to begin your journey for where to eat and shop on Abbot Kinney.