Venice Ale House

DoubleJ

California

3.38/5  rDev -0.9%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 2.5 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5 | $$$

I knew that I would be drinking with Guilherme and his friend, but I didn't expect it to happen at Venice Beach. We were in Santa Monica and anticipated we would meet at one of the bars there (we would eventually return, but that's another BeerFly), but a few twists to a story and suddently we were driving down to Venice Beach. What does that mean? Well, I had never visited Venice Beach, and we were meeting at a bar with good taps. Another BeerFly tick, I wondered....

Parking is limited on the street, however we got lucky a found a spot on Rose that was within a stone's throw from the beach. The Venice Ale House is at the end of Rose and right along the boardwalk, and offers good views of the beach. There's some outdoor seating to go along the small interior, which feels more like a place to "hang out dood!" than for gastronomy, which is what the food and beer menus looked to be catering towards.

Thrity different taps to choose. Roughly two-thirds stays the same, the other thirds rotate, giving a little fresh life to the selection. No bottles, sorry. All the beers are American, and are represented by named like Oskar Blues, New Belgium, Alaskan, Lost Coast, Cismontane, Port/ Lost Abbey, Stone, Lagunitas, Speakeasy, North Coast, Eagle Rock, Brouwerij West, and Straind. The beers tasted fine, although the glassware offered is nothing really special; just shaker pints, New Belgium globes, and a Widmer pint. No small pours unless you do a sampler; even Double Daddy IIPA was served by the pint. Lots of $6 and $7 pours, with the ocassional $8, $9, and even a $10 pour.

While well staffed, everybody seemed to go in different directions, and away from us. It took tme to flag down somebody to serve us on each trip. Food is pretty good; I got hungry so I ordered a grilled cheese with bacon. Not bad. Choices are limited with the food, and quite honestly, aren't geared for my tastes. No worries, I'll just drink here shall I return.

07-09-2012 04:21:57 | More by DoubleJ

AdamBear

Pennsylvania

3.83/5  rDev +12.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5 | $$$

Randomly went to this place as my group and i were walking along Venice Beach. It turned out to be a great place to stop for lunch and some GOOD beer.

Atmosphere: typical ritzy cafe along the Venice Beach area. nice outdoor eating area.

Selection: not a huge selection, but it is a very impressive selection. i got Alesmith Speedway Stout on draft which i was very excited about. I expect the list to be constantly rotating with some occasional rarities.

Service: friendly and patient.\

Value: a bit pricey indeed. Food was so expensive that all i could afford was a grilled cheese sandwich and my beer was $10...which upset me when i got the bill...should've asked, but i'm glad i got it.

08-20-2011 20:43:27 | More by AdamBear

bernie

California

3.01/5  rDev -11.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 1.5 | selection: 3.5 | $$

Venice Ale House is a pleasant addition to the Venice boardwalk for quality craft beers. I did not try the food. Visited twice this summer and both times sat in the bar area. Unfortunately I had the same server who for some reason treats you more like an inconvenience than a customer. Life is too short, avoid the bar area all together. Watching the servers outside I could see the service was far better. So, sit outside or about a half mile away is the Library Ale House, it’s a much friendlier place to enjoy a fine brew.

06-19-2011 20:40:48 | More by bernie