Venice (California)

How Pumping Iron Inspired Hidetada Yamagishi, the Rare Japanese Body Builder

Japan is famous for its big athletes, high-ranked sumo wrestlers who weigh a minimum 300 pounds. But Japan didn't know what to make of Hidetada "The Dragon" Yamagishi when, at 19 years old, he quit playing the acceptable national sports — baseball, judo, rugby — and started lifting weigh ... More >>

Venice Is the Best Neighborhood in Los Angeles, But I'm Leaving

Venice has always been too good to be true. From its not-so-humble beginnings, when a tobacco magnate named Abbot Kinney dredged a bunch of unnecessary canals to build Venice of America, to The Doors, man, and Ed Moses and Dennis Hopper, to the sliding and flying Z-Boys, to the warring V13 and Shore ... More >>

A Little Pizza & A Lot of Wine at South End on Abbot Kinney

New Venice eatery South End is finally upon us, and dare we say: it's sort of a strip mall dining dream come true. Located at the southern tip of Abbot Kinney -- hence the name -- South End was formerly a B1 Bakery before revamping under the wing of Mario Vollera (formerly of Barbershop) and chef Fr ... More >>

Q & A With David Walker of Firestone Walker: The New Venice Location Growlers by Bike!

Friday afternoon a press release floated to craft beer media in-boxes all over the Southland confirming the rumor that Firestone Walker Brewing Co. recently purchased a building in Los Angeles. The location, to be exact, is two separate buildings formerly occupied by medical offices and a restaurant ... More >>

The Top 10 Bars in Venice

From the glossy, international beach dream of tobacco titan Abbot Kinney, to an oilfield slum for half a century, Venice's history has been turbulent. Because of its affordability the neighborhood attracted a diverse counterculture population in the '60s, followed by the skateboarding Z-Boys who use ... More >>

Top 5 Venice Beach Snack Shacks

Leading up to this year's Best of L.A. issue (due out Oct. 3), we'll be bringing you periodic lists of some of the best things we've found to eat and drink around town. Ice cream sandwiches and bowls of tsukemen, fish tacos and dan dan mien, cups of boba and glasses of booze. Read on. Nothing compl ... More >>

L.A. Beach-Goers Go Topless This Month

See also: National Go Topless Day in Venice (NSFW). There is a horrible injustice in this here so-called land of the free, and it requires your immediate, undivided attention. Yes, we're talking about top inequality. We live in a world where men, some of them quite unattractive, are able to expose ... More >>

Venice Boardwalk is Open to Cars; City Leader Wants That Changed

See also: Car Plows Into Crowds on Venice Boardwalk; 1 Dead, 11 Injured. The driver who mowed down 12 people on the Venice boardwalk Saturday, killing one, appeared to have driven onto a sidewalk to avoid barriers installed to prevent vehicles from accessing the walkway. That's what L.A. city Coun ... More >>

Golden Road Brewing's New Heal the Bay IPA Coming Out in Cans

Since the arrival of its new Brewmaster Jesse Houck in January, Golden Road Brewing's Custom IPA series has garnered much attention and just praise. Houck and his team of brewers recently re-imagined Wolf Among Weeds, a double IPA, which was so well-received that it was added to the year-round produ ... More >>

Google-izing the Venice Art Walk & Auctions

See also: *5 Artsy Things to Do in L.A. This Week *10 Best L.A. Art Galleries For Partying (Correction: This post originally stated that Google reached out to the Venice Family Clinic about sponsoring the Venice Art Walk & Auctions. While Google did reach out to the VFC to invite its reps to a gath ... More >>

Homeless Rights Act Says Homeless Can Sleep Outdoors Without Arrest

Do homeless people have the right to sleep in their cars overnight, take up space on a sidewalk for extended periods of time, or access public restrooms? In many cases, police have said no. Cops in L.A. have rousted the homeless for sleeping overnight on sidewalks, for example, leading to legal ac ... More >>

5 Best Happy Hours on the Beach

It can be easy to forget that L.A. is an oceanside city. Brutal traffic and busy schedules prevent regular visits to the coast. But having a destination in mind makes the Pacific more accessible -- and when that destination also features a happy hour discounting wine, cocktails, beer and the occasio ... More >>

Raven Furlong, Missing Teen, Found In Venice; Family Alleges 'Trafficking' In Case

Raven Furlong, a missing Colorado teen, was found safe in Venice over the weekend, her family reported. The 17-year-old went missing Feb. 5 and was believed to be in Venice, where her car was found last month. Her family suspected foul play. But ...

Raven Furlong, Aspiring Teen Model Gone Missing, Spotted In SoCal, Might Be With Man

An aspiring underage model from Colorado has gone missing after spending time in Venice, but folks in the know say she might have been spotted in Southern California today, not long after her car was found in the beach community yesterday. A source close to the family of Raven Cassidy Furlong told ... More >>

Superba Snack Bar: 99 Essential Restaurants 2013

5 Places to Eat and Drink While Avoiding the Super Bowl Drinking at Disneyland!

Not all of us were swaddled in Lakers jerseys straight from the womb or outfited in 49ers onesies as toddlers. There are plenty amongst the sports fanatics who dread play-by-plays at parties and worry about their job security when everyone is raving about rankings around the proverbial water cooler. ... More >>

The 5 Things You Need To Know About Superba Snack Bar

This week's restaurant review examines Superba Snack Bar in Venice. Here are a few details from the review, plus some extra info on the service and logistics of the Rose Ave. restaurant. Vibe: One of Superba's great strengths is the atmosphere they've managed to create, fitting right into the neigh ... More >>

Oscar Duncan: Venice Murder on Santa Clara Avenue

A 23-year-old was fatally gunned down only a few blocks from trendy Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice last night, according to Twitter reports. The website Yo! Venice! ID'd the victim as Oscar "ChoirBoy" Duncan, who was described as a youth minister who had attended Venice High School and volunteere ... More >>

Venice Bum-Haters Post List of Homeless-Advocate Addresses, Call It 'Guide to Safe Camping Locations'

The debate over how to curb/contain the homeless population in Venice has been tearing the community apart for years. Homeless advocates argue that the street people have owned Venice far longer than the arty millionaires. But some residents aren't down to pay skyrocketing rents while RVs dump huma ... More >>

Artisanal Foods at Venice Meet on Saturday

When you think "arts and crafts fair," items such as knit scarves, handmade soap, greeting cards and doilies may come to mind. The Venice Meet, happening for the first time this Saturday, April 7, in Venice from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., is expanding that idea to include food, too. Not typical festival far ... More >>

Sex-Crazed Cities: Venice, Santa Monica, West Hollywood on Top

If you have ever lived in Venice, then you know the stinky couple upstairs likes to get it on. And those two lovers aren't shy about their patchouli oil or their volume, either. It's like living next to a porn studio. Yeah. Turns out the folks at dating site Chemistry.com noticed the noise too. ... More >>

Valerie Nash Commits Suicide by Chainsaw at Her Palms Townhouse

Multiple units from the LAPD's Pacific Division responded to a call just after midnight that could have been a scene from The Chainsaw Massacre. Though the incident was initially reported as a "possible murder" (according to Venice 311, who tracks the police scanner 24/7), investigators later found ... More >>

Venice Beach Might Get Nation's First 'Great Observation Wheel'

The $1.5 million Ferris wheel at the Santa Monica Pier is going to look like a hamster wheel next to this thing. It's called a "Great Observation Wheel," and it's manufactured by British company Great City Attractions. Models in Asia, Australia and Europe are up to 60 metes in diameter and generall ... More >>

We Open in Venice

Venice Shooting Behind Whole Foods: Young Victim in Hospital, Gunman on the Loose

Cops congregate under the iconic Lincoln & Rose mural at Whole Foods. ​A shooting around sundown, in a dark back-alley near 7th and Rose -- just behind Venice's fancy Whole Foods shopping hub -- left one unidentified man with a gunshot wound to the torso. More than a dozen LAPD investigators ... More >>

Westside Gang War? Innocent Teens, Father Shot in Del Rey: Feud Between Venice Gangsters, Culver City Boyz Suspected

Google MapDel Rey (not Mar Vista).​A man, his son, and his son's girlfriend were wounded in a gang-related shooting in Del Rey over the weekend that might be tied to what appears to be an ongoing feud between Venice gangsters and their rivals, the Culver City Boyz. The attack outside Bill's L ... More >>

Venice Residents Still Fuming Over Santa Monica Airport's Self-Serving Flight Pattern

New York Times, circa 2007Still annoying.​Update: L.A. City Councilman Bill Rosendahl says he has some tricks up his sleeve to possibly take down the airport before 2015. Also, he calls it "a health emergency for the lungs of my people." More drama below. Originally posted October 18 at 12:50 ... More >>

Larry Bell Gets a Restaurant, Larry's, Where the Opening was a Pacific Standard Time Reunion

Tibby RothmanThe man himself, artist Larry Bell (l.) and art critic Peter Frank (r.) at the recent artists' party for Larry's, a new restaurant in Venice​ Almost all you need to know about artist Larry Bell is written on a wall at Larry's, the recently-opened restaurant that bears his name, li ... More >>

Chris Burden: Dead Man and a Hot Dog Stand

Let's Get Sacred

Santa Monica Street Sign Directs Large Vehicles to Park in Next-Door Venice Instead

Yo! VeniceDon't even think about it.​Neighborhood forum Yo! Venice has riled up some longstanding anti-Santa Monica sentiments today with a photo of a "No Parking" notice at the corner of Ozone Avenue and Seventh Street (see right). Bret, the forum's administrator, notes that the signage was ... More >>

Clamor Over Venice 311

L.A. Superior Court Blocks Venice From Running Sewer Pipe Under County-Owned Marina Del Rey

pbase.comWhat we imagine the Venice Beach pipe might be looking like, right about now.​The hodge-podge of jurisdictions along the L.A. County coastline is pitting local governments (and their constituents) against each other once again -- this time, over a crappy old sewer pipeline running fro ... More >>

Venice Marijuana Doctors Told to Stop Luring Customers on Boardwalk With Human Hawkers

Jake SlagleWeed and the beach -- the perfect mix.​These peddlers have more moxie than the guys being paid to get you inside a Tijuana strip-club. They hang out on the Venice boardwalk and call out that the doctor's in if you need a medical marijuana prescription from your friendly, nearby cann ... More >>

Steve and Alex Olson, Skateboarding Father-Son Team, Hit the Paint in Venice (Video)

Tibby RothmanAlex Olson on deck.​ If skaters in Venice, California, now have a skatepark to themselves, it's still illegal to hit the decks in Venice, Italy. But on June 6, the iconic skateboarder Steve Olson, a pro-skater since he was a teenager in the 1970s, and his son Alex, whose low-key r ... More >>

Tattoo Parlor Sting in Venice

How the feds inked and nabbed villains as Venizens remained oblivious

Venice 13 Gang Busted for Drugs, Guns by Sting Operation Posing as 'Villainz Ink' Tattoo Parlor

Villainz Ink: Come for a tat, leave with criminal charges!​Ever make a trip to Villainz Ink in Venice? If so, as revealed this morning by the L.A. office of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, you had the honor of standing in a federal booby trap. Thanks to the sting ... More >>

Venice Beach Violence -- Shooting, Stabbing, Fighting -- Prompts LAPD to Send in The Troops Ahead of Summer

Tony Vera / YouTubeAnother day, another ambulance on the beach in Venice.​Looks like the LAPD is sending in the troops following at least three weekends of violence on and near the beach in Venice, including a stabbing last weekend and a shooting the weekend before that. Pacific Division lead ... More >>

Marijuana Dispensary in Venice Called 'Kush Doctor' Raided by Authorities on 4/20

TwitVideoNo holiday in Venice.​Updated with three locations hit by authorities -- after the jump. You would think authorities in L.A. would just let stoners have their holiday in this here pot shop capital of the nation. But no. LAPD Officer Norma Eisenman tells the Weekly that cops are serv ... More >>

Ed Ruscha, L.A. Pop Art Legend, Forced Out of Venice Studio for City's 'Parking Good'

Gone, 1992​Sorry, Los Angeles: Ed Ruscha has left the building. The saddest part is, we hardly heard him go. Two years after an initial media storm revealed the City of L.A. might be trying to push the pop-art master out of his Venice studio shack for the sake of a parking lot, he exited quie ... More >>

Edward Joseph Kim, Venice Marijuana Dispensary Owner, Arrested on Suspicion of Selling Weed After Pot Shop is Raided

Blockbuster marijuana at this Venice storefront.​Updated after the jump: Kim was arrested last month on suspicion of transportation-for-sale of marijuana. A dispensary owner was arrested after the LAPD raided a Venice pot shop this week, according to the department. Thirty-year-old Edward Jo ... More >>

Venice Would be Vulnerable to Japan-Style Tsunami, But Warning Sirens Would Not Sound

Minami (not tsunami) in Venice.​If a tsunami ever hit the Southern California coast, Venice would be in for a catastrophic drenching. That much is made clear by a state map that projects inundation (after the jump). So why then, with Newport Beach having installed Japanese-style warning siren ... More >>

Venice Boardwalk: Billy Young, 23, Booked on Suspicion of Murder Following Fight, Stabbing

Anthony CitranoThe Venice boardwalk.​Cops on Friday announced a suspect was quickly arrested following the stabbing death of a man on the Venice boardwalk near Westminster Boulevard. The attack happened following an argument and fight between two guys Thursday at 6:05 p.m., according to the L ... More >>

L.A. Says Yes To RV Parking Limits In Venice, But Will Mayor Villaraigosa Veto The Restrictions?

Will RV dwellers be left out in the cold?​The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday said Venice can have parking zones where RVs and other big vehicles are prohibited from dropping anchor overnight. The question is, will Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa sign the ordinance or give it his mayoral vet ... More >>

Saving L.A. Foot by Foot

Once-Disgusting Venice Grand Canal is a living wetland again

Homeless RV Campers Could Be Banned From Parking Overnight In Venice; But Foot-Dragging Tortures Issue

​The days of otherwise homeless folks camping out in RVs parked on Venice streets could be coming to an end. After intense fighting over the plight of the "mobile homeless" in the liberal, beach-side community, the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday moved forward with a plan that would allo ... More >>

Activist's Harsh Words For City Attorney Delivered Hours Before Pot Shop Was Raided

​A Los Angeles police raid of a Venice medical marijuana dispensary last week, at a time when the city of L.A. has stated it will hold off on pot-shop enforcement, happened on a day when a City Hall activist happened to have been badmouthing the City Attorney on the issue via web radio. Zuma ... More >>

LAPD Raids Venice Medical Marijuana Dispensary

Google Maps​A Venice medical marijuana dispensary was raided by police Thursday, a Los Angeles Police Department official confirmed to the Weekly. Yo! Venice! first reported the police action, stating that the target was the Green Goddess Collective at 70 Winward Avenue, which is near the epic ... More >>

L.A. County Warns That Venice RV Operators Who Dump Sewage Into Gutters Could See Jail Time

​Following three reports of illegal sewage dumping by RV operators in Venice last month the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works on Friday issued a warning stating that such activity could put suspects in jail for up to six months. Public Works director Gail Farber also said those co ... More >>