St. Louis - Best Of - Best Bar/Nightclub - Venice Café (2002)

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Venice Café

Venice Café
1901 Pestalozzi Street, St. Louis, 314-772-5994

Reader's Choice: Blueberry Hill

A blow-up doll, floating from the ceiling. Multicolored tiles and lights everywhere. And Missouri vanity license plates that read "TRIPE."

You could spend a year inside the Venice and still not notice everything on the cram-packed walls and ceilings decorated with just about anything the mind can imagine. The beer garden is a real garden, with trees providing canopy and large potted plants adding an exotic, junglelike flair. Happy-hour prices are more than reasonable, with longneck Buds going for $1.50. It's worth that much just to see this place.

One thing the Venice apparently doesn't have is a dishwasher. There's no need. Food -- make sure you try the Jamaican jerk chicken -- is served on paper plates, adding a down-home feel to a place where casual is key. The stage is a bit cramped, but the Venice is also a great place for live music. No single genre dominates. Rather, the management books whomever sounds good. Kind of like the décor: If it makes you feel good, do it.

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