PlanJam!From your screen to the scene

This weekend Liz and I decided to take advantage of the great weather and we headed out to Venice Beach. We had dinner plans for a double date at 7:00pm so we arrived a few hours early to hang out for a bit.

Parking in Venice is no picnic and you’ll be really lucky to find an available space along the street. You should read the signs carefully because you don’t want to get a ticket, or worse, have your car towed away. We couldn’t find any street parking so we parked at the lot on Rose Ave and Speedway for $4. Interestingly enough, there was a parking lot a few blocks south that was charging $14.

Venice Beach has always been one of my favorite places to visit because there are tons of things to see and do. If you’re looking for some cheap souvenirs or pieces of art for the house, you’ve come to the right place. Another thing you’ll find abundant on the boardwalk are Tarot Card and Palm Readers…about 2-3 per block. Some have their own shops while others are nestled along the boardwalk between the street performers and the animal rights activists.

Eugene (the genius behind PlanJam) is a big fan of psychic readings and I know that he would have been disappointed had I passed up the opportunity. So I picked the one that looked the most professional (he had a crystal ball on the table) and sat down for my tarot reading. His name was RA and he began by explaining how Tarot Card readings work. Basically, you shuffle the deck while thinking about a question you want answered. What essentially happens is that based on your subconscious thoughts, the cards will come out in a specific order that will contain the answer to your question. Without going into too much detail about the reading, let me just say that you won’t find the answer you’re looking for from a Venice Beach psychic. With that said, it was still tons of fun and well worth the $10 spent (about a 30 minute reading). Thanks Euge!

After the reading, we walked over to a cozy little Italian restaurant on Dudley Ave called Piccolo Ristorante. It’s a romantic neighborhood spot that is only steps away from the boardwalk. They open at 5pm and don’t accept reservations, so you’ll have to either come in early or be prepared for about an hour wait (depending on how busy it is of course). If you find yourself on the waiting list then you have a few options. There is a neighborhood bar right around the corner where you can enjoy some drinks and live music. You can also hang out inside the restaurant, but you’ll have to settle for sitting on the steps (with a bottle of wine of course).

Once we got our table (after an hour and a half wait) and ordered, the food came out pretty quickly. The wine list wasn’t particularly amazing, but they did have a good selection of Italian wines. Their signature dish – the Potatoes and Fig Tortellini was excellent, but the rest of the food came out a little too salty (something we all noticed). I’m not one of those people who complain and send the food back, so I did end up eating it all. It wasn’t my first time at the restaurant so this could have just been an isolated incident.

In total, we had a bottle of wine, 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, and dessert, which came out to $150 (with tip). Overall, the food was good – but if I could do it over again, I would not have waited that long.

Total Cost: $164

Total Time: 5 Hours