A lot of bang for the buck. Every 1st Friday of the month Venice hosts the best party of the month off of Abbot Kinney. People from all walks of life flock here on this evening of fun. The vibe always feels like a another place from home. Definitely a backyard neighborhood feel. You meet cool people left and right. The best part is that you get to order delectable foods everywhere you turn. This event is known for having rows of the best food trucks all around. Credit cards are welcomed on all food trucks. I recently LOVED the poke bowl truck (Rice Balls of Fire) where I ordered no rice and double poke. NOM, NOM, NOM! Everyone is hanging out in the core of it all located in the parking lot of The Brig. A must try when you are passing by. read more

See all

It was my first time going to first Friday's which is basically a bunch of food trucks along a strip of streets in Venice beach the first Friday of every month. Theirs a good selection of different foods and yummy desserts. Salt & straw the popular ice cream place is also open during this time but has a loooooong line. We got food from Frachs (name of the food truck) which has different fried ice creams ranging from $10-12. We ordered the Mexican Fried ice cream which was a (9/10) and the Thai (6/10). The Thai ice cream had lychee ice cream which barely tasted like lychee :( read more

If you like people and crowds, this is the place to go. We love tasting all the different varieties of food.

After literally 3.5 years of planning and postponing, I FINALLY MADE IT TO FIRST FRIDAY! It was a great experience. I recommend going in a decently sized group for 4+ so that you can split the food to make it cheaper, since eating normal portions is pretty pricey. Also, you'll have the stomach to try more food trucks :) We ordered from Steamy Bun, The Pudding Truck, Kogi, Frach's Fried Ice Cream, and Roni Macaroni. All were amazing and I would totally buy from them again, with the standout being Steamy Bun's Footine Fries. Also, I recommend checking if they have certain promotions, because when we went (March 2018) they were having a promotion where most food trucks would give you 30% off if you paid with Apple Pay, and Roni Macaroni was selling Mac n Cheese for $1 if you paid with Apple Pay! Super worth :) read more

This is a fun event that basically bring all kinds of food trucks to Venice along Abbott Kinney so people can walk around, grab food, people watch, go into the regular bars and restaurants. Reviews of this probably vary because there's so many things that First Friday encompasses but its a cool event overall i think. Parking is super skimp because spots are taken up by the food trucks. read more

This First Friday is so quintessentially Venice, in all of the good ways. One year, it was the height of summer and the evening was balmy and cool. Our group of friends were just coming back from a day at the beach in Santa Monica and we planned to meet up with another group of friends for the event. It was just before the July 4th party weekend. We enjoyed a great walk from our parking spot in Santa Monica all the way to Abbot Kinney. We checked out the food trucks that lined the street and covered the empty parking nooks in between alleyways, as well as all of the open businesses. Venice is Venice during regular days but it's nice on a First Friday because you feel it in the air, and everyone makes it out for a round or two. At some point we all met up in a large parking lot filled with food trucks and lines of people, eating off the curbside, benches, walls, you name it. I had an outrageously delicious buttery lobster roll, seasoned fries, and new age tacos throughout the night. Plus rounds of drinks. The food just kept coming. All in all, a fun evening of wandering, laughing and eating. You can't beat that. Parking sucks so if you want to get a ride there, that's probably better. Or you could get there earlier and park a little further out. The walk any way over will be nice. read more

First Friday - Maine Lobster Truck: Connecticut Roll - Food Trucks Near Me - Venice, California

See all

The premier monthly food truck festival in the trendy hip area of Venice beach lined up in the Abbott Kinney block this event is a great way to catch up and meet with friends to even meeting new locals and individuals of all walks. They have the staples like the grilled cheese truck to the kogi Korean BBQ taco truck and baby's bad Ass burgers. There's a truck and taste for every appetite. They also have numerous dessert and concept trucks for the sweet tooth and sugar lovers! If you can think of it and imagine it and craving it your likely to find it. The parking it horrible the food is overpriced and long lines and crowded but I love and enjoy the monthly tradition in Venice much more than just food good to meet and greet people and fast different foods and fusions. Definitely come with an appetite and some time to spare plenty of great food and people! read more

First Friday - Pinch of salt truck.....lobster tacos overpriced and average - Food Trucks Near Me - Venice, California

Imagine 3 to 5 small blocks filled with food trucks. Grill cheese, tacos, buns, boba, you name it, it might be here. Food truck food isn't GREAT, but the convenience of bringing a small restaurant to any part of town is a big plus. Some people go here to actually eat the food; others come to bar hop. Either way, it's a great time to spend with your friends. The event is pretty packed and parking can be hectic. For the more popular trunks, the wait time can be pretty lengthy (15+ mins). For the unknown trunks, there usually isn't any wait. If you come here later into the night, maybe after 9:30 pm, food might run out, especially for the popular trunks. Bring cash! Some trunks charge extra for credit card transactions. read more

Oh my god! Either the universe was kind to me or I'm the luckiest person in California! No lines at the any of the food trucks I went to. That include the Grilled Cheese Truck the holy grail of life! I highly recommend First Friday to any tourist and foodie out there. Yes it's packed, yes its hard to find parking but that's the whole First Friday adventure! The vibe the people, the atmosphere was short of amazing. So many beautiful people and cool people. This was my first time and certainly not my last. See you all at first Friday April 4th read more

First Friday - Street performer playing the electric violin! Not a drum circle in Venice Beach for once!!! - Food Trucks Near Me - Venice, California

Many options but very crowded! Made me consider going somewhere else to eat instead of wait in the long lines.

We were on our way to Shima and we ran into First Friday. It's ridiculous to get a parking and its only 6PM. I wanted to cancel my reservation because the food trucks look so exciting. After dinner at Shima we walk around and search for a food truck dessert. We found a truck that sold ice cream sandwiches. It was so crazy busy, I didn't look at the name of the truck. It's a lot fun with high energy I definitely have to go back and try all of the trucks. read more

For some reason, i remember this being a lot more fun the last time i came. i remember a lot of art galleries and drinking in bars and shopping. but now it's like a madhouse of lines (dangerous if you ask me!) on the sidewalk so that you can barely walk, just to stand in line for a lot of food trucks. dont get me wrong, i like food trucks. but if the sole focus is on the trucks these days, why not just move to a more spacious location? like a giant field with lots of parking? cause $20 just to park for food trucks is ridiculous!!!! otherwise, good energy all around, and if you learn to cross the street and walk on the opposite side of the crowds, walking can be more manageable. read more

First Friday - Food Trucks Near Me - Venice, California

Crowds of 16 year olds and diarrhea inducing food

It was so much fun! So glad my friend who lives in Venice invited me. We had drank a little much before making an appearance. It was a blast. There were so many people and many food joints. Can't way to try this again! We had hit up so many food joints and I even ran into a random friend who I normally randomly run into everywhere lol read more

Such as shame this isn't what it use to be. I remember the days where the food trucks were lined up from end to end on both sides. I understand there was a food truck fire, but in all reality that could easily be considered a freak accident and shouldn't be allowed to affect such a community staple. I wish there were more options. read more

Culture, good food and friends. That's what we always find when we stop by Abbot Kinney on a first Friday night. We recently went by on a fairly cold evening in hopes that it wouldn't be as packed and it wasn't. We found parking within the first 10 minutes of getting there with no need to drive around in circles. (however we have had to do that in the past depending on the night). We often walk and up and down the streets scoping out the food trucks until we find the one we want. Then we wait in line (or not depending on the night). The list of trucks is endless and always changing. You have to follow them on either twitter or FB to get the latest info. read more

So many people!! Long lines for the food trucks. It would be nice if they included live music. The amount of people was off-putting. But they did have a huge variety of food trucks which was really nice. I probably won't be back read more

Go early to avoid the crowds. I suggest biking there and locking up the bikes and walk Abbott Kinney to avoid the hassle of parking. It's a cluster, one and done. read more

I always love First Friday. It's so fun to try different food trucks. I also love how the community gets together. The only downfall is, if the weather is really nice (when isn't it?) it can get REALLY crowded. Some trucks lines can take over an hour, but usually they are worth it. I recommend going at least once for the experience. read more

An absolute must for everyone on the westide! Brilliant selection of everything, and I got precisely what I was looking for, so very happy. See ya'll next month. read more