The Soda Fountain

Had a wonderful lunch today at The Soda Fountain in Venice. They are also Vinnies Pizza which is next door. There is a little hallway that adjoins them. You can order off of both menus, which made my party of 7 super happy. It’s a good old classic kind of diner menu with all the old fashion soda fountain drinks. The Vinnies Pizza menu is quite extensive also. All the classic Italian dishes besides every kind of pie. One of my guests ordered a specialty Slice (yes you can get a slice) I swear was the size of a personal pie. Great service and the prices are really reasonable $ 65 for 7 people for lunch. Before tip. They also serve a draft beer and wine. Couldn’t have been happier.

We were in the area and though some reviews weren’t glowing, we decided to give The Soda Fountain a chance, and BOY am I glad we did! The food was delicious, the service impeccable, the prices might have been a bit high, but based on the area and the rent that it demands they were not out of line. The ambiance was amazing, and harkens back to a simpler time. The ice cream floats, and the ice cream sodas were absolutely delicious and to die for. I would highly recommend this place to anybody visiting the area with a desire for nostalgia and good food!

We were walking by and my husband saw their shakes and decided we should go in. However the brunette worker with glasses on at that moment decided to pet a guest’s pet, effectively blocking the entire sidewalk. We stood there patiently until she stood back up. She shot my husband and I a dirty look and without a word, walked back inside.
Looks like their competitors are getting our, and subsequently our family’s business. Service can leave a lasting impression and that employee definitely left us a bad impression!

This place appears to have given up. I understand that it’s «season» and it is very busy but on two trips this week I was left wondering how it’s still in business. Trip one we sat outside and ordered two chocolate shakes. It took 30 minutes, and that is by no means an exaggeration. Trip two a few days later we ventured inside (because the kids really wanted another chocolate shake). The place was dirty and the waitstaff appeared uninterested kept making excuses. The food tasted okay, but I can get a sandwich anywhere and with service this bad I’d rather go to subway where I know I’m going to be waited on by a teenager who just doesn’t care.

Good food. Terrible service. You might want to eat a snack before you go. They were very slow and it still took forever to get waited on. Not impressed.

Ate at the Soda Fountain yesterday for lunch. They were busy but only had a 10 minute wait. Took awhile to get waited on and the waitress wasn’t very friendly. Took for ever to get our food, maybe 40 minutes. We ordered stromboli which were very good. Our bill was wrong and it took her 2 times to fix it. Wasn’t an enjoyable experience. I think they need more staff. Off our list for awhile.

Loved the atmosphere here: a classical, vintage diner with Coca Cola decorations all over the place.
We ordered fries and a pizza. I can’t complain about the food, we really enjoyed it! The fries were crispy and hot, but not too greasy. The pizza was deliciously fresh and not too greasy, we decided to try eggplant on it for the first time and it ended up being something we didn’t know we were missing out on.
I would come back again, the only thing that turns me away from this place is the service. Our waitress seemed to be very annoyed and inconvenienced by our presence. I would empathize, but they were not busy and we were not high maintenance customers.

I love this place! Best sodas I have ever had and that banana split is HUGE. I will always come here when I am in town.

This was the first place I came when I moved to venice and it has since been one of my favorites, they give pretty big pizza slices but I prefer to get a full one. Their milkshakes are pretty good too. Odd comment but I enjoy the ice they use how it’s not just bigger blocks– it melts well and has the whole diner feel

Love the ambiance of this cute place! Great sandwiches, shakes etc. friendly service and never had bad meal!

Excellent. Quality thin non greasy pizza. And root beer floats among other unique diner like choices. Good attention to quality ingredients.

This review would have had zero stars if Unilocal would have let me rate it that way. Awful, awful service. We walked in and right away were confused because there was no sign to let us know if we should «wait to be seated» or «seat yourself.» As we were trying to figure out what we should do, there was one waitress running around serving all tables while training another employee. No one ever even acknowledged our presence. A table opened up and as we were waiting, the people who arrived after us were seated in front of us because they knew the waitress. We finally just walked out after waiting for 15min. Complete shame. Luckily we walked down the street and found Bresler’s Ice Cream Shop which had fantastic service and ice cream. :)

Food was pretty good! Not worth the wait, over an hour we waited for our pizza and meatball subs. Can deal with the delay but the servers attitude was not acceptable. Didn’t realize it was my problem that our order took over an hour. Thanks becky for re attitude during our meal. We will not be back!

We ate on the Italian Restaurant side. Pizza was great. My son had the gluten free pizza and he said it was the best he’d ever had. Ice Cream sundaes were great as well. Good service and atmosphere.

My son choose the pizza. He was the smart one. I mistakenly went for the Capone Club which was as dead as he is. Unless you like extremely tart limeade I’d recommend you avoid that too. I got the feeling this was a pizza or bust kind of place.

In the heat of July, ice cream, root beer floats, and cold soda are sought out. The Soda Fountain is an establishment that gives you a sense of nostalgia. When you walk in, you’re basically finding yourself in an ice cream parlor from the 1920s with bar stools and small booths.
The first time I came here was in 2003. My last visit was this past July. Although it was very tempting to try the different flavored sodas, I am a sundae lover at heart. I tried the strawberry sundae and for a small snack had the chicken salad sandwich. The chicken salad sandwich was uniquely made with pecans and served in a croissant. If you order this, I would remind them to toast the croissant for the crunch factor. I also ordered a side of grapes with this which were ok. Some of the grapes were too soft. I probably should’ve gone for the potato chips or french fries.
I hope my next visit doesn’t take me another 11 years and next time, I will take some other reviewers’ advice and try the pizza with a bubbly root beer float.

Meh… not very good. The service was pretty bad. I ordered a soda and it was flat. Told the waitress and she took it back to the «bartender» and she laughed. Nice. Grabbed a burger and ordered it medium, when I got it, it was as dry as a bone and unbelievably well done. Not many fries. We were going to stick around for ice cream but decided to skip it in favor of Bresler’s a block away. (We stopped there last week and it was off the map!)
I’d skip this place.

Great throwback place for an old school lunch. We stopped in while visiting my parents and had a great meal. The service is friendly and quick and the prices are really reasonable. Great place to stop in while shopping on the main street.

What a GREAT place!
Delicious ice cream & waffle cones. Yummy soda. Fabulous service.
Tons of fun. I left here VERY happy.

Service can make or break it here!
Location is great!
Food is consistent and good!
I’ve been here many times visiting my Mom and I really think it comes down to service! I could go 3 stars… But I’m rounding up on the good out weighs the bad!
Love a Unilocal check in benefit! Come on mgmt!