Belles Beach House

Belles Beach House opened in late 2021 a few steps off the Venice Boardwalk, in the space that had been Larry's — a gastropub named for the Venice artist Larry Bell, whose work still hangs here. It comes from Nick Mathers and the Wish You Were Here Group, and his description of the concept is Hawaiian izakaya meets tiki bar; island hospitality, he has said, has always appealed to him, particularly in the culinary sense. Eater put it second on its list of the fifteen most beautiful restaurants in Los Angeles and explained why: the room is surrounded by teak sliding doors with no enclosed walls on three sides, so the entire place reads as an open-air patio, warmed by overhead heaters, with another sixty or so seats across the sidewalk. The Infatuation's summary is the shortest accurate one — a day or night here feels like a tropical-themed party in Venice, with a DJ spinning house records, palm trees by every table and a giant tiki statue up front. Food runs from an $18 poke bowl to a $18 teriyaki cheeseburger and $14 huli huli chicken skewers.

The zero-proof list is genuinely one of the larger ones on the Westside, and worth correcting on detail. It is nine items, not eight, and the prices run from $7 to $14 rather than clustering at $11. Three are the fruit-and-herb spritzes at $11 that the bar is known for — Watermelon Mint, Apple Ginger, and Thai Basil Cucumber, each built on fresh fruit or herb with lime and sparkling water, and all served in the same tiki glassware as everything else, which is most of the point of drinking here without alcohol. Fresh guava lemonade is $9, pure coconut water $9, an iced mango sencha green tea $7. Two sit at $14: the Red Wing Spritz, which uses watermelon Red Bull with lime and mint, and the Palm Reader. The Palm Reader is worth one note. It is built on Aplós Ease, and that product carries 100mg of lion's mane extract per serving alongside L-theanine and magnesium glycinate. Lion's mane is a functional mushroom, not a psychoactive one — there is nothing hallucinogenic or intoxicating in it — but if you are avoiding functional ingredients as well as alcohol, order one of the other eight. Note also that the venue is entirely al fresco with open-air windows, there is no valet, and outside wine may be brought for a $55 corkage.