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Venice to Drink The Kool-Aid at Cafe Gratitude, Opening on Rose Ave.

A new line in the Venice sand?
A new line in the Venice sand? Photo: Shayan (USA) via Flickr

Venice’s Rose Avenue is finally fulfilling its long-anticipated potential as the next Abbot-Kinney, as chic shops and quaffing spots geared towards the Gjelina-glued, yoga mat-stapled crowd continue to surf the successful wake of young, urban, professional Venice Beach Wines and its beer-based sequel. The latest line being etched in the sand between the growing gentrification movement of high-priced home owners and Google staffers and the once crime-ridden, “ghetto by the sea” arts bohemia that spawned such forces as The Doors, Jay Adams, Janes Addiction, Harry Perry, Suicidal Tendencies, and The Shoreline Crips, is the huge construction of a sun-shielding line of retail stores at Rose and Ruth. Now guess who’s coming to dinner here.

Eater reports that Venice, increasingly losing grip on its notorious resistance to chains, will soon be the owner of the city’s second Cafe Gratitude, the recently beleaguered, ahem, “cult”-favorite serving vegan fare to the star-set, that will naturally be a major hit with the “new” Venice.

Gratitude is sinking fast in its native Northern California, where multiple lawsuits alleging that the chain, popular locally with dudes like Jake Gyllenhaal and various other glowing health-cases, has engaged in poor labor practices, along with allegations of shady policies and a heavy connection with the controversial Landmark Education program, are among the problems pushing that entire region’s every last Gratitude calling it quits.

Clearly, the company must figure our side of the state has a bigger stomach for mystical mumbo-jumbo and cult-controlled comrades, as a new store is heading to the unsightly shopping complex, with plans to occupy space at 512 Rose Ave., as well as the hearts and minds of stroller pushers and lunchers looking to take the day off of Whole Foods. Expect great success here for these granola and greens-slingers, while we’ll be crying into our rellenos at Fiesta Brava.

Cafe Gratitude, 512 Rose Ave Venice.

Cafe Gratitude Snags Space on Rose in Venice [Eater]

Related: Former Café Gratitude Server Comes to the Restaurant’s Defense [GS]
In Ongoing PR War, Café Gratitude Devotees Encouraged to Flood Local Media Inboxes With Testimonials [GS]

Venice to Drink The Kool-Aid at Cafe Gratitude, Opening on Rose Ave.