Part of what makes L.A. such an attractive destination for both living and visiting is its proximity to the beach. If it's closeness to the waves you and your friends are looking for this weekend, nobody gets you closer than the On The Waterfront Cafe. With a large outdoor patio facing the Pacific Ocean, the salty sights and sounds of the surrounding Venice will have you ordering beer after beer (or pretzel after pretzel) just so you never have to leave this beachside oasis.
Waterfront is one of those places that everyone gravitates towards - Santa Monica types on a field trip to Venice, tourists, the ubiquitous Venice hippies, motorcycle guys, families, friends - absolutely everyone comes to the Waterfront Cafe. It's a laid-back beach bar with great German food (get the giant pretzel with mustard and butter - the Germans know their stuff when it comes to bread and beer), real German beer, and a real European beer hall set-up, with the long picnic tables you have to share with everyone else. It's a bar/cafe that doesn't try too hard at anything, and because of that, it lets you relax, kick back, and enjoy some great beer while watching a classic Venice beach sunset. After dark, the place can be a little rough - fights tend to break out, people tend to get chased down the boardwalk, people raise voices - but all in good fun, more or less. So hit up the place around 5pm or so and enjoy a little bit of Europe in the heart of Venice Beach.