72-Year-Old Beachside Restaurant The Venice Terrace Is Closing Today

More big changes are coming to the Southern California coastline, as Eater has learned that today will be the final day of service for the Venice Terrace on Washington Boulevard, right by the Venice Pier. The staple restaurant has stood on the same site since 1946.

The Venice Terrace has long been a local kind of haunt, despite its proximity to the water. The faded yellow and white awning has lasted for generations as beach cruisers, surfers, and tourists wander past, while inside the menu weaves from pizzas to casual American sandwiches to seafood specialties, with inexpensive cocktails thrown in for good measure.

Now the Terrace is waving goodbye from its perch as the final restaurant before the sand, though the building itself won’t be down for long. In its place comes The Pier House, a new property led by a series of well-known Westsiders called the Venice Restaurant Group. They’re the team responsible for rehabbing the Venice Whaler (circa 1944) as well as Slice of Venice Pizza, and now they’re bringing on designer Jeffrey Kurt from Fig & Olive and the Gold Line Bar, and creative director Lauren Koeppe (Elephante, Gwen) to help spin a new story.

While the group has not publicly named a chef for the Pier House property yet, they will be working with barman Feisser Stone, formerly of Felix and Scopa Italian Roots. The restaurant retains its full liquor license, and will move the food menu into more casual California coastal cuisine while likely retaining a couple of staple seafood dishes.

What’s more, the Venice Restaurant Group is planning to add a small mostly takeaway cafe called Cartolina (that’s “postcard” in Italian) that will serve slices of pizza, salads, and sandwiches during the day, and coffee and pastries in the mornings.

The Pier House and Cartolina are both hoping to shape up by sometime this spring, and each will carry long hours from early in the morning (7 a.m. for Cartolina, 8 a.m. for Pier House) until 10 p.m. or later, including a 1 a.m. shutter for the full restaurant. Until then there’s only today left to enjoy Venice Terrace as it was, before the changes start to take effect.

by Farley Elliott Feb 6, 2019, 10:30am PST

LA.Eater.com