27-Year-Old Chaya Venice Shifts to a Robata-Oriented Menu

Chaya Venice has some significant changes at its Westside location. The 25-year-old restaurant got a big, bold new look about 18 months ago, and now the culinary team is ready to switch up the menu into something new entirely.

The new Chaya will actually undergo a refresh at every level, emerging now as Chaya Modern Izakaya. As the title suggests, Chaya is now leaning less on its crispy tuna rice, rolls, and raw bar, and more on meat skewers over fire. While the switch takes place on Tuesday, Chaya has been quietly planning the update for a while, closing for lunch in order to accommodate the new iteration during daytime hours. Previously Chaya Venice was only open for dinner.

Now owner Yuta Tsunoda is ready to roll with a mostly-new culinary team led by corporate executive chef Yuko Kajino and chef Joji Inoue, and with all new cocktails and sake by Feisser Stone and general manager Joe Ando (71Above). What’s more, the former raw bar and kitchen-facing seats will now run as a nightly kaiseki chef’s counter, offering two prix fixe seatings, all starting next Tuesday.

Chaya Venice
110 Navy St.
Los Angeles, CA

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