Why I Took Over a 30-Year-Old Venice Pizza Institution
April 24, 2026 · Jay De Natale
I didn't grow up thinking about the restaurant business. I grew up in it.
My family was in the Bronx, meat wholesalers, serving the neighborhood. Then we moved to New Haven, which if you know, you know. Pizza there isn't a restaurant category. It's just what you eat. Frank Pepe's, Sally's, Modern, those weren't destinations, they were Tuesday. That's how I've always thought about pizza. Not a special occasion. Just the thing that's always there.
I eventually opened Elda in San Francisco, neighborhood-focused, intentional, award-winning. Then COVID hit and it was over. You grieve it, you move on. I landed in Venice, ran a coffee truck for almost two years, got to know the neighborhood block by block. This is where I live. Where I'm raising my family. My neighborhood, now and forever.
Abbot's Pizza has been on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice, CA 90291 since 1995. Thirty years on one of the most iconic blocks in Los Angeles doesn't happen by accident. The original owner built something real, a neighborhood institution that showed up for Venice Beach before Abbot Kinney was what it is today. I have nothing but respect for that. By the time I came along it was ready for someone to put their whole self into it and give it new life.
On December 1, 2025, I took the keys.
I didn't come to flip it. I came because I believe in neighborhood pizza, the kind that's just always there.
We rebuilt from the dough up. Every ingredient chosen on purpose. No shortcuts. The classics stayed, the Salad Pizza, BBQ Chicken, Everything Bagel Crust. Venice has known these for thirty years and they earned their place.
We're calling the next chapter lilguy. East Coast soul, California ingredients, Venice at the center. The best pizza on Abbot Kinney, for locals, for families, for the chefs who come in after their shift because they know the food is real.
10% off for industry workers every day. 50% off slices from 9pm to 10pm every night. Delivery across Venice Beach, Santa Monica, and Culver City.