Venice Cafe

This is one of the coolest and funkiest bars I've ever been to!  I've only been there twice, used to live over in Alton, IL which was about a half hour away.  This place is close to the AB Brewery.  The decor and the vibe are totally unique, never seen anything like it, you feel like you're in a different world here.  I've never eaten there, and haven't listened to live music there, so can't say anything about those aspects, but loved the people I met there, total strangers you could just strike up conversations with.  That's what I like when I want that.  I long to get back to this place one of these days, fond memories of my days near St. Louis.

Venice Café, you are a diamond in the rough.  My favorite place to watch live music is Venice Café.  The stage is small and if you sit downstairs you may get spit on you from the lead singer but that is why I love this place. As an audience, you almost become a member of the band it is that intimate. If you have stage freight, there is limited upstairs seating where you can watch the band from above. Bartenders are fabulous and attentive. The outdoor are is also expansive. It is not pretentious and the other bar patrons are nice and open for friendly conversations. During the band breaks, you cannot get bored as the décor inside the place will keep you occupied.  There is some crazy s**t on those walls, just look around.  Between the Homer Simpson quotes and the 1960s swimware mannequin, you will be entertained. Tip- If Bottom Up Blues Gang is playing there, go see them! They are amazing!!! It is cash only but an ATM is downstairs next to the fish pond, yes... there is a fish pond in the basement.

Please note: This bar is awesome, 99.9% of the time. Please, please note: This bar deserves 5 stars. The one-star rating is for this: To implore Venice never to bring "Typewriter Tim" to the mic ever again.

This is easily one of our favorite spots in the city, and usually the best bands in St. Louis call it home. Again, this bar deserves 5 stars, and we wholeheartedly give it that score on any other day. We went there tonight (Sat, 7.6.13) thinking we were going to get to see Teddy Presberg and the Rhythm Section Road Show. Instead, we were dealt the nausea of being subjected to some tool-bag named Typewriter Tim. He droned on, stream-of-conscious style, for what seemed like two lifetimes, wearing welding goggles and a KU jersey. I don't recall seeing a more pretentious tool ("Tool" in place of "artist" here.) in recent memory. We came for music, not to hear this douche try to one-up the band we came to see and worse, Uncle Bill, all at once. For whatever reason no one pulled the mic from his hands, which is a rare misstep by a bar that gets everything else right.

Moral of the story: Management of Venice, punt the douche. That's $5 I'll sadly never get back. I hope I never see his name on the calendar of events ever, ever again.

Otherwise, do everything else you've been doing. This bar is magic.