Cocktails were great, food was solid but the restaurant itself was ridiculously loud. A restaurant with concrete floors and walls - the ambient sound is literally unbearable - I could hardly hear the person who was sitting across from me! On top of that they charged us (on a table of 2) a 20% “wellbeing fee” and didn’t quite disclose that anywhere. I mean yes it’s la and yes it’s 2024 but keep your “health fee” down to 3.5% please! IRS a total disservice to your staff to charge two tips. Insanity. Totally ashame bc the food is good and the whole restaurant vibe is fun.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 5
Service: 5
Scott W.
Cou Cou is a cool looking restaurant on Main St in Venice. However the food was just good and nothing more. The fries and fried olives were the best thing. The Dorado was kind of oily and lacked flavor, the meatless beef dip had good bread but not a lot of flavor and the hotdog was good but too much cheese. for the price (they don't list the prices on the menu) there are much better options in that area. We won't return.
S P
Great food & service. However, adding a 20% miscellaneous charge to the bill that is NOT TIP OR GRATUITY and then asking for an additional tip (using the handheld device, so it’s extra awkward) is absolutely absurd.Left a bad taste in our mouth and unfortunately we will not be back or recommend this restaurant to our friends. As others have stated, they should simply charge 20% more for food/bev so the guest doesn’t have to experience this at the end of a meal (simply improper management).
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Carol J.
We loved it. Ordered steak tartare and the zucchini beignets - which I recommend eating together for an amazing flavorful experience. Also had the oysters which were great. Will be back to try more! It's a fun place.
Sarah Kimbro
Loved this cozy dinner spot in Venice!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Lee Rose
Fabulous environment very cool very hip very French foods. Fantastic also.
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Burger, Steak Frites
Isabelle Marsh
Excellent food (loved the burger, fennel, and ice cream), cute low lit French ambiance and great service. However to hurry us out they turned on the lights, took away our dessert before we were finished, and our cocktails before we were done with them. We had a later reservation, but I wouldn’t expect that from a nice restaurant. I work in the service industry and understand that employees need to get home, but it felt rude and made me and my friends not want to return
J M.
I went to eat here with friends. After sitting to eat I took a look at the menu and noticed the note at the bottom. "In an effort to benefit all Coucou employees, a surcharge of 20% will be added to each bill. This is not a tip or gratuity''. Really??? If you think your employees are not well compensated raise your prices to cover the added costs and let the marketplace to tell you whether they think it's worth eating here. I can't imagine how many customers you're loosing as a result of this approach to pricing. In our case you lost a customer. Good luck.
Charles B.
the best hamburgers and fries plus great wine selection. A comfortable laid back ecperience
Jesslyn B.
Food and cocktails are good in general but the location itself is SO SMALL. It felt like one long community table and I was having dinner with everyone in the restaurant- no privacy at all. The tables are so small- we ordered a small appetizer and mussels and fries and when the mussels and fries came out the waiter started consolidating plates on my table with annoyance as if it was my fault the table was so crowded...odd. It was also quite cold the evening i came here and the door was open with icy cold wind flowing through the entire restaurant (which is very small-literally just a hallway) and the hostess said they "could not" close the door. I understand there are rules and this and that but it was small, cold and overpriced and I may only come back here when its warmer to eat outside.
Lovely vibe and worth checking out. Truffle Brussels and fried olives were highlights. The burger with cheese and the steak frites were good but not exceptional. The sundae was fun and tasty. Cocktail menu is comprised of fun riffs on classics.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Burger, Zucchini Beignets
Janeth De Leon
Check the yelp reviews ? that’s all imma
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
Katrin Tenhaaf
In general, the food in restaurants in LA is quite bad lately and the prices are ridiculous. Coucou is another perfect example (for the record, don't mind paying a lot if the food is good).Good:Nice ambiance, great service.Bad:- The food. To be fair, the Bibb Lettuce and Ceviche were good/ok.The Steak Tartare had nothing to do with Steak Tartare. I know they call themselves 'Cali/French', but that's no excuse to call this 'Steak Tartare'. It was so salty and spicy, that one could not even taste the steak tartare. The 'mass' could have been anything.The 'Haute Dog' (was excited to try it) was just bad. Big soggy bun. Sausage drained in cheesy sauce, the sausage blob could have been anything.- The price. It's fine to pay $25 for a hot dog if its great, but it was far from. Then they add a 20% 'msc surcharge' that 'benefits' all employees but is NOT a tip? That makes the hot dog $30. And because we felt bad for the waitress who was awesome, we also gave her a tip. That makes the hot dog $35. And to be repetitive, it was a bad hot dog.The above is feedback from our entire party of 3.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 5
Katrin T.
In general, the food in restaurants in LA is quite bad lately and the prices are ridiculous. Coucou is another perfect example (for the record, don't mind paying a lot if the food is good). Good: Nice ambiance, great service. Bad: - The food. To be fair, the Bibb Lettuce and Ceviche were ok. The Steak Tartare had nothing to do with Steak Tartare. I know they call themselves 'Cali/French', but that's no excuse to call this 'Steak Tartare'. It was so salty and spicy, that one could not even taste the steak tartare. The 'mass' could have been anything. The 'Haute Dog' (was excited to try it) was just bad. Big soggy bun. Sausage drained in cheesy sauce, the sausage blob could have been anything. - The price. It's fine to pay $25 for a hot dog if its great, but it was far from. Then they add a 20% 'msc surcharge' that 'benefits' all employees but is NOT a tip? That makes the hot dog $30. And because we felt bad for the waitress who was awesome, we also gave her a tip. That makes the hot dog $35. And to be repetitive, it was a bad hot dog. The above is feedback from our entire party of 3.
sarah crutchfield
Having moved from NYC, coucou is one of the few places that feels like a cozy NYC spot. The food is great and I enjoyed sitting at the bar. The bartender Jared was incredibly kind and helpful - he definitely made our experience more enjoyable!
Cocktails were great, food was solid but the restaurant itself was ridiculously loud. A restaurant with concrete floors and walls - the ambient sound is literally unbearable - I could hardly hear the person who was sitting across from me! On top of that they charged us (on a table of 2) a 20% “wellbeing fee” and didn’t quite disclose that anywhere. I mean yes it’s la and yes it’s 2024 but keep your “health fee” down to 3.5% please! IRS a total disservice to your staff to charge two tips. Insanity. Totally ashame bc the food is good and the whole restaurant vibe is fun.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 5
Service: 5
Cou Cou is a cool looking restaurant on Main St in Venice. However the food was just good and nothing more. The fries and fried olives were the best thing. The Dorado was kind of oily and lacked flavor, the meatless beef dip had good bread but not a lot of flavor and the hotdog was good but too much cheese. for the price (they don't list the prices on the menu) there are much better options in that area. We won't return.
Great food & service. However, adding a 20% miscellaneous charge to the bill that is NOT TIP OR GRATUITY and then asking for an additional tip (using the handheld device, so it’s extra awkward) is absolutely absurd.Left a bad taste in our mouth and unfortunately we will not be back or recommend this restaurant to our friends. As others have stated, they should simply charge 20% more for food/bev so the guest doesn’t have to experience this at the end of a meal (simply improper management).
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We loved it. Ordered steak tartare and the zucchini beignets - which I recommend eating together for an amazing flavorful experience. Also had the oysters which were great. Will be back to try more! It's a fun place.
Loved this cozy dinner spot in Venice!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Fabulous environment very cool very hip very French foods. Fantastic also.
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Burger, Steak Frites
Excellent food (loved the burger, fennel, and ice cream), cute low lit French ambiance and great service. However to hurry us out they turned on the lights, took away our dessert before we were finished, and our cocktails before we were done with them. We had a later reservation, but I wouldn’t expect that from a nice restaurant. I work in the service industry and understand that employees need to get home, but it felt rude and made me and my friends not want to return
I went to eat here with friends. After sitting to eat I took a look at the menu and noticed the note at the bottom. "In an effort to benefit all Coucou employees, a surcharge of 20% will be added to each bill. This is not a tip or gratuity''. Really??? If you think your employees are not well compensated raise your prices to cover the added costs and let the marketplace to tell you whether they think it's worth eating here. I can't imagine how many customers you're loosing as a result of this approach to pricing. In our case you lost a customer. Good luck.
the best hamburgers and fries plus great wine selection. A comfortable laid back ecperience
Food and cocktails are good in general but the location itself is SO SMALL. It felt like one long community table and I was having dinner with everyone in the restaurant- no privacy at all. The tables are so small- we ordered a small appetizer and mussels and fries and when the mussels and fries came out the waiter started consolidating plates on my table with annoyance as if it was my fault the table was so crowded...odd. It was also quite cold the evening i came here and the door was open with icy cold wind flowing through the entire restaurant (which is very small-literally just a hallway) and the hostess said they "could not" close the door. I understand there are rules and this and that but it was small, cold and overpriced and I may only come back here when its warmer to eat outside.
Restaurantji Recommends
Lovely vibe and worth checking out. Truffle Brussels and fried olives were highlights. The burger with cheese and the steak frites were good but not exceptional. The sundae was fun and tasty. Cocktail menu is comprised of fun riffs on classics.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Burger, Zucchini Beignets
Check the yelp reviews ? that’s all imma
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
In general, the food in restaurants in LA is quite bad lately and the prices are ridiculous. Coucou is another perfect example (for the record, don't mind paying a lot if the food is good).Good:Nice ambiance, great service.Bad:- The food. To be fair, the Bibb Lettuce and Ceviche were good/ok.The Steak Tartare had nothing to do with Steak Tartare. I know they call themselves 'Cali/French', but that's no excuse to call this 'Steak Tartare'. It was so salty and spicy, that one could not even taste the steak tartare. The 'mass' could have been anything.The 'Haute Dog' (was excited to try it) was just bad. Big soggy bun. Sausage drained in cheesy sauce, the sausage blob could have been anything.- The price. It's fine to pay $25 for a hot dog if its great, but it was far from. Then they add a 20% 'msc surcharge' that 'benefits' all employees but is NOT a tip? That makes the hot dog $30. And because we felt bad for the waitress who was awesome, we also gave her a tip. That makes the hot dog $35. And to be repetitive, it was a bad hot dog.The above is feedback from our entire party of 3.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 5
In general, the food in restaurants in LA is quite bad lately and the prices are ridiculous. Coucou is another perfect example (for the record, don't mind paying a lot if the food is good). Good: Nice ambiance, great service. Bad: - The food. To be fair, the Bibb Lettuce and Ceviche were ok. The Steak Tartare had nothing to do with Steak Tartare. I know they call themselves 'Cali/French', but that's no excuse to call this 'Steak Tartare'. It was so salty and spicy, that one could not even taste the steak tartare. The 'mass' could have been anything. The 'Haute Dog' (was excited to try it) was just bad. Big soggy bun. Sausage drained in cheesy sauce, the sausage blob could have been anything. - The price. It's fine to pay $25 for a hot dog if its great, but it was far from. Then they add a 20% 'msc surcharge' that 'benefits' all employees but is NOT a tip? That makes the hot dog $30. And because we felt bad for the waitress who was awesome, we also gave her a tip. That makes the hot dog $35. And to be repetitive, it was a bad hot dog. The above is feedback from our entire party of 3.
Having moved from NYC, coucou is one of the few places that feels like a cozy NYC spot. The food is great and I enjoyed sitting at the bar. The bartender Jared was incredibly kind and helpful - he definitely made our experience more enjoyable!
Service: 5