Candle Cafe & Grill - Venice

Candle Cafe and Grill
325 Ocean Front Walk
Venice, CA 90291
(310) 314-4456
Type: American food / casual
Map



Can't really say much about this place. It's located on the Venice boardwalk. You know: street performers, 5 dollar sunglasses, t-shirts with ironic quotes, bongs, pipes, vaporizers, Muscle Beach, basketball courts where they taped "White Men Can't Jump," and dudes rollerblading in Speedos. That boardwalk.

So Candle Cafe was just a spot for us to get a quick bite to eat, have some beers, and take in the scenery. We sat outside cuz it's the beach and I'm semi claustrophobic. Kind of.



We didn't exactly get front row seats to the boardwalk. We were on the side, but it was cool so you could just hang out in the cut and spy on the people walking by without them noticing you. So we ordered their calamari ($8.95) and a pitcher of Kona Longboard beer ($19.50). The calamari was whatevers to me. Too thick and chewy for my taste. Flavor was somewhere - not on the plate though. Maybe it put on some speedos and went rollerblading real quick.



The Kona Longboard beer was not that great-tasting either. I've tried many a beer and I could say I wouldn't order this again if I had the choice. If I had to rank New Castle, Corona, Hefeweizen, and Kona Longboard, I would put it last out of those 4. It's not super nasty though. I'd pick it over Budweiser and Bud Light, or any other light beer. I used to love Bud Light. Shooot... I used to like Mike's Hard Lemonade and Smirnoff Ice!!!! Shut up.



I didn't try anything of substance in the menu, but from how the calamari was, I'm not really interested in trying. There's a handful of other boardwalk spots like this and I'll give them a chance before I come back here. But I'm assuming most of the other places are like Candle Cafe. You mainly come to hang out and enjoy the classic Venice vibe. That's cool with me. Get buzzed and rent some rollerblades.... don't worry bout what I'm gonna wear!