Canal Club Wood Grill & Sushi Bar

Went to the Canal Club for an office party for the accountant for who I work. Ordered a few drinks which in retrospect must have been quadruples. Made out with an obese German woman. Ten months later received a certified letter demanding a paternity test. Now I have a son named Gunter. THIS PLACE ROCKS! Pros: HUGE BUZZ Cons: CHILD SUPPORT PAYMENTS more

The Canal Club is great. If you drink their margaritas take a taxi - their flavorful and strong. They have cool happy hours - eery day is di... more

The Canal Club is great. If you drink their margaritas take a taxi - their flavorful and strong. They have cool happy hours - eery day is di... more

Come here on a Wednesday for discounted Sake! Other than that, their happy hour runs from 5-7 every night and you can get good prices on sushi and drinks. I recommend the Kirin Ichiban, it comes in a huge can and for $5 it's the gift that keeps on giving. Pros: Cheap sushi and drinks during happy hour (Sake on Wed.) Cons: Not a super social place more

The Canal Club has a great ambiance. The sushi is always very fresh, and delectable. It draws in a very unique crowd: from the surfers com... more

I took a friend here for her birthday and we were disappointed. It's a VERY cool atmosphere, but that's about it. Service is mediocre and food is terrible. We ordered a bunch of different dishes, so I'm not basing this review on just one. It was boring and not flavorful. Even my drink was bad-- it was a margarita I think. Great scene, but stick to wine or beer and don't order food-- that would be my advice. more

This place is one of my favorites. If you stop in, say hello to Jose at the bar. He'll take good care of you for sure. I love their happy hour w/half priced appetizers. The grape and brie quesadilla is absolutely out of this world! Great food and great drinks and usually a really good mix of people. Nice atmosphere, and of course, the service is outstanding. A little on the pricey side, but in my opinion, well worth it. Pros: Outstanding service, great food, nice ambiance. Cons: A little on the pricey side...but still worth it. more

Mexican, and Sushi. The combo sounds odd, but give it a try. Ask for a table in the front room, or sit at the bar for sushi. If you want peace, then opt forthe back room. DJ plays later on the weekend. It gets crowded. Pros: Close to my house, food, people Cons: valet, gets crowded, make reservations more

I used to dj here. Until I gave a ride home to an intoxicated patron. Met the girl at the venue. Evidentally there was an altercation between the patron and a security guard, so i heard later. The next day, the catering? manager phoned me and gave me problems for offering the patron a safe lift home . Telling me I shouldn't associate with people like that, This woman never layed eyes on the patron, b/c she had left hours before the "incident", which is still a mystery, since she couldn't tell me what happened...how could she? I protested. How could I not? I don't work there now. She "fired" me for getting a patron home safely. there's a first for everyting. Class act they got going and most certainly will never be back. more

Canal Club's Happy Hour put's Bite's to shame. Not only do they have an eclectic mix of sushi and grilled items, but they are priced right and you get more than your money's worth for under $20. I would suggest sitting at the sushi bar and relaxing with fellow patron's and your attentive sushi chef. The only downside is parking on the infamous Pacific street (and anywhere in Venice, for that matter). Overall, highly recommended, based on my experiences and other friend's recommendations. Enjoy! Pros: Good food, good people, good food presentation Cons: Parking more

If I had known that this place was owned by the same guys who own James Beach across the street, I would have never set foot in this place, but it did explain a lot. Visually, this place is pretty cool. Sunken in sushi bar in the middle of the restaurant, cool color scheme, and good music. Unfortunately, that's where the positives end. Our server, who was practically non-exsistent, had no time for us as they were short staffed or something, whatever. We started with a couple of appetizers but their friend calamari was the greasiest I have ever had ever. The potstickers were obviously not home made and were tasteless, and the quesadilla was a bit burned, which ruined the other flavors. Then there was the disasterous sushi. Let me just say that when a sushi place uses imitaion crab meat in their california rolls it should set off red flags immediately. The ahi tuna tasted as if it was a few days past its due date, the sashimi was cut way too thick and was rubbery. There really was no imagination and their sushi was just kind of vanilla. The sushi rice was way too dry and did not have enough of that good sweet vinegary flavor to it. You can't make good sushi without good sushi rice, and if you can't cook rice correctly, you've got problems in your kitchen. There are more than a few excellent sushi places to go to in Venice that are more worthy of your time and money. Apparently, they have a happy hour where everything is like half-off. If they charged these prices all of the time, it is still not worth it. more

Canal club does not have *outstanding* sushi, but it is definitely consistently above average. I recommend sitting at the sushi bar, ordering some sake and enjoying the scene. I've never had anything but sushi there but have heard that I'm not missing much. Pros: scene, sake, location more

This place is fun to go to. It has a mix of things going on. Even the layout of the restaurant is interesting. You have more of a bar type area on one side, and then in the center is the sushi bar, and then on the other side is private booths that are great for cuddling. The menu is interesting, and fun. No room for boredom on this menu. You can go and have a little bit of everything which is great. Pros: Variety in the menu, great people watching more

Always a good meal here. They also have great drinks. The mojitos are big and stong and they have this sparkling sake called ZipPang (I think that's what it's called) that is really fun. I have been to two birthday parties in the little private upstairs room and I would recommend that to anyone! more

Food was pretty good, place pretty cool. The service sucked. We couldnt get a drink to save ou lives. We might as well have been dead back there. They had to give us 6 free shots of Patron to make the occasion half decent. Pros: Good Food, Nice Atmosphere Cons: Poor Service, NO A/C more

I'VE NEVER HAD A BAD MEAL HERE. I'VE BEEN GOING HERE SINCE IT OPEN. AND ITS ALWAYS BEEN EXCELLENT. CROWDS IS GOOD. HAPPY HOUR GETS ME THESES DAYS. I JUST LOVE IT ITS A N EXCELLENT BARGIN. YOU MUST GO TO SUSHI HAPPY HOUR AND ENJOY. Pros: VALUE, PEOPLE, FOOD more

The best thing is the wood-fire grilled salmon with a Thai cocont curry sauce, grilled spicy radicchio, and something they call "forbidden rice" it tasted like a soft wild rice and it's purple. I didn't ask why. It was delicious. There were, like 5 different flavors going on, and you could taste them all at once. The sushi was very fresh and they have 5 or 6 sakis. Joplin the DJ played some killer tunes, but she didn't start until we were having dessert. The backlit marble walls and the gondola were really cool. Mellow crowd at the bar. Great place. Pros: That salmon thing!, Joplin the DJ, Cool Room Cons: DJ only on weekends, only 2 bars :(, not open for lunch more

Our waiter passed our table several times without acknowledgement. When we were served our drinks, long minutes passed until the drinks were emptied and we were staring at the ceiling and at diners who arrived after us who were diving into their meals. Our waiter returned to take our order. We selected a set sushi platter (one of only two sushi choices- no ala carte on V-day) and a halibut in banana leaf entree. He cleared away our empty drink glasses and failed to take a second drink order. The halibut arrived. About halfway through the hot entree, the waiter found my sushi order. He brought the platter to me, then realized that I was lacking a dish, a bottle of soy and some chopsticks. I was also lacking the dab of wasabi and pickled ginger. We were not offered dessert or coffee at the end of the meal. Pros: mid-price, clever drinks, fun atmosphere Cons: amateur service more

It seems like in LA restaurants you have a choice -- hip and energetic means pricey and uptight, relaxed and inexpensive means no ambience and lame crowd. Canal Club is the perfect mix of fun, lively atmosphere with laid-back comfort and good food. I personally love their sushi, plus the garlic string beans alone are worth going for. They seat quickly, it's great for Happy Hour and big group dinners. One of the best! Pros: cool looking, great veggie rolls, fun place to be Cons: servers are slow, martinis tad pricey more

I do like the Canal Club, just don't ever get the sushi. I unfortunately forgot how bad the sushi was the 1st time I went and wound up ordering it again recently. Bad idea. Try their other food, like the baby greens salad, but stay away from the sushi. more