Best-of list · City Guide
The best bars in Venice Beach Los Angeles — from craft beer spots on the boardwalk to hidden cocktail lounges one block inland. Our editors' complete.
The short answer
8 ranked rooms follow. How we picked is at the end of this guide.
The best bars in Venice Beach Los Angeles are not what you find when you follow the crowds down the boardwalk. They are one block inland, in the alleys off Abbot Kinney, and on the quiet side streets that feel like a different city than the tourist stretch by the water. We have been coming here long enough to know the difference between a bar that exists to serve sunburned visitors and one that has a regulars problem — meaning the regulars never want to leave.
Venice has two bar scenes running in parallel. There is the Abbot Kinney corridor — walkable, well-designed, and priced accordingly — and then there is everything else, which is often more interesting and a third of the price. Both are worth knowing about.
How we picked
Venice Beach rewards the people who ignore the obvious options and ask where locals actually drink. Hinano Cafe and the Townhouse represent the honest end of the spectrum — unpretentious, cheap, and reliable in the way that good dive bars always are. The Brig and High Rooftop are where you go when you want Venice to feel like it costs something. For after-work drinking specifically, our Los Angeles after-work bar guide covers the full city, including everything worth knowing on the Westside.
Marcus covers the West Coast and Latin America for barsforKings. He has been drinking in Los Angeles since 2009 and has strong opinions about which neighbourhood has peaked and which one is about to.
Last reviewed 2025-10-24 · The editors recheck hours and closures against current local coverage.