Charcoal Venice

I’ve been here several times for dinner and the service, quality of food, and ambience is always wonderful. I’m a tour guide and frequently recommend this spot to tourists who are looking for an excellent dinner in Venice. Still leaving five stars, but a note for the wine director: PLEASE stop chilling every single red wine by the glass. This was a huge disappointment for me, and I honestly expected a better wine program to match the (excellent) food. Some reds are great chilled (don’t get me wrong) but it’s pretty difficult to appreciate the flavors and depths of certain wines when served chilled. For $16+ a glass, I expected better.

Definitely coming back again. The ambiance is great, staff friendly. This is a meat lovers paradise where you can see the dry aged ribeyes, bison and duck all drying out. The flavors are amazing and burst in your mouth.

Overall: 3.8/5 (dine in) Half Dozen Oysters ($20): I didn't eat any since it looked very wet & slimy. My husband said he had better so you can skip the oysters here. Smoked Lamb Ribs (4 for $19.25): Lamb is really hard to cook. Unfortunately, Charcoal didn't execute as well as we hoped. The flavors were okay and didn't hid the lamb gamey taste well. Another dish to skip. Grilled Bacon ($8): We got the thick bacon hoping it will be juicier than the thin bacon. We got two burnt pieces of bacon that were overcooked and hard. Such a waste of money. DineLA Lunch ($35): The real reason why we came here. - Charcoal Crab Benedict: I was craving egg Benedict and this place had a black hollandaise sauce so I had to try it. You don't really taste the charcoal so it's mostly for looks. The crab was really fresh so eat it right away and don't let it get cold. - Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuit: Wow, this is way better than KFC's biscuits! The biscuit is warm, fresh, crispy on the outside, & soft on the i