Witzend

Came here to be a part of Venice Music Crawl, and found myself here randomly, but fell in love with the place instantly!
The atmosphere and decor is dope, calm and relaxing, nice stuff. The place feels like home after 10 mins already. Will totally be my next fav bar.

Things I loved: Parking is easy, pleanty of street parking.  Decor is fun, brick walls and metal chairs.  The acoustics are great, especially when you go to see one of your favorite local bands.  

Things to be aware of: come early, or you might not have a place to sit.  It's a TINY place.   Food service closes rather early.  

What I'd come back for:  Tori, the bartender is by far the best bartender I've had in the LA area.  There's only 1 that I think is better, and she's in the SD area.  She was a whirlwind of mixology and humor and organization.  If I ever get to go back, I'm hope she's tending bar there.

I had a really great time here.My bf and I came on a Thursday night to use our Groupon before it expired, and it was singer/songwriter night. We got there a bit after things had started, so the seats were all taken downstairs - but the waitress let us sit on a couch upstairs in a really small, cozy area where we could see the stage perfectly. I'd recommend coming before things start so you can get a spot downstairs instead - and if I came again I'd make an effort to get there a bit earlier to sit in the mix of everyone. If you're just going to drink and don't mind standing, get there whenever, but I find it tricky to manage a drink and food without a table, so if you plan to have dinner, getting there early is the way to go.

The music was great - an eclectic mix of performers and a really supportive, music-loving crowd. The other 2 people sitting in the upstairs area with us kept talking, but for the most part people in the place seemed to be attentive and respectful to the performers and be into the music, which is really important to me.

I had wine, the bf had some kind of whiskey cocktail, and both were great and not too expensive (at least for what I'd expect). We got the hummus/veggie plate, and when I asked the server if we could get it without bell peppers, she was super accommodating and put some fresh mushrooms on there instead. It was all delicious and fresh.

When we left the owner ran into us on the street, asked how we enjoyed things, and was really friendly. Everyone who worked there was kind, the crowd was more diverse age-wise than you get in a lot of places, and it felt like a really warm atmosphere. I look forward to going again soon!