Hot’s Kitchen

I was in last Monday with a friend for lunch. The pleasant waitress was wonderful. She had a sense of humor. My friend and I kidded about the tiny delicious hamburger she ordered and our mimosa’s half the glass. It’s okay because she got buzz just from that mimosa. Next time we come in, we will order more food to try. I waitress just down the street from them (Paisanos) and I am happy that I finally got to try their food. I’m so sorry that I forgot the name of the server, but next time I will write your name down. Keep up the good service and compliments to the cooks and the entire staff. And you

Their tiny burgers are delicious! But OMG they served me bland frozen fries! I ordered shoestring fries, and they come out with fast food fries?!? I asked the server about the fries and he was clueless. I can’t believe they serve frozen fries, I would expect fresh cut, and also the menu specifically says shoestring, they were not. If I want frozen fries, I go to Ralphs or Vons not Hot’s!!! All other items were delicious, tacos, deviled eggs, and burgers. Just don’t
get their pathetic ‘shoestring’ fries, it was pure garbage.

Against my will, came here for my friend’s bday dinner. And once again, not a great dining experience.
Service:
service was a miss. Our server went missing for 15 minutes before we could order our food.
The place was not busy. Think he had like 4 tables.
From the minute we sat, it took us 1 hour to get the food. Maybe it was the kitchen but, man we were hungry! (Had the timer on for my parking meter, so I had the clock on this.)
The runner brought two orders of tacos before they brought out the correct order.
Food:
Mexicali burger. ³⁄₁₀. Needs the house salsa.
Fat burger. ⁵⁄₁₀.
Chili like fries. ⁷⁄₁₀. Ask for extra ranch.
Korean taco. 2.5÷10. Steak was good but flavor a were funky.
Steak and potatoes taco. 6.8÷10
Slamming Alabama taco. ⁵⁄₁₀
Crispy fish taco. ⁴⁄₁₀. Very average. Get it at rubios.
Shrimp tempura. ⁵⁄₁₀.
Décor:
Still nice. The hand dryer is super weak. (Ok just being super picky now.)
Parking:
Metered on the street. There are two types of metered. The old school ones where it’s coins only. (The restaurant doesn’t have change) and the newer ones where it takes credit cards.
Location:
Great. Very close to the pier but not too close where it’s too congested.

My husband and I have come here about 5 times, mostly for lunch and have never been disappointed. We love this place! We like the uniqueness of their tacos.

I loved the beer flight and the tempura fish taco… But the mojo shrimp taco I ordered was… Meh… More preference than quality though. We also ordered ships and guac which was the bomb. I tried a bite of a few other things, but the tempura shrimp was still my favorite. My friends really liked the Hawaiian taco.
My beer flight was pretty good, and the other two people I was with enjoyed their adult beverages as well (including the white sangria).
They got our order wrong at first on a couple of tacos, but they quickly fixed the issue and were super nice.
The restaurant is hip and modern and a really neat place to meet up with friends. If you’re starving, be sure to order a couple of items and share an extra side with your group. The portions are a bit small, but it really is good and ends up being more filling than you’d think.
They have a really good happy hour, and it’s a pretty chill place to hang out. I would definitely come back! If you’re looking for somewhere to have a drink, this is the place for you!

The burgers here are amazing! If your starving I wouldn’t recommend them because they are on the smaller side. But Wow there tasty! Grilled wings are crispy and delicious. Beer selection is on Que!

I love the food here. Served tapas style and it takes longer to cook because they really do make it fresh and when you order it. Many selections of amazing draft beer and wine, no hard liquor. I’d say try the buffalo chicken and Kenee tacos if you like spicy. Their truffles fries are amazing + chili lime fries… Thinking of it is making me drool.
Service is so-​so, friendly but they are running around trying to wait on way too many tables.

Great vibes and amazing food! Will definitely be coming here often!

What can I say? The burger is so exquisite! The heavenly juicy patty swimming in the pool of unforgettable ketchup, swirling in my mouth, resonating the beach and relaxing ambiance. It’s a delightful experience; very nice place to hang out with friends. I will definitely come again!

Great spot with an awesome array of local beers! Like all the previous posters, the truffle fries are amazing. Definitely want to go back to try the tacos — those looked delicious! Overall, great locale with cool hip beach vibe!

Amazing food and service… such a breath of fresh air with the different choices for lunch. Small portions but they fill u up. New hot spot to go to after nails

Have you ever eaten in a place that offered ‘the best wings in the world’?
Of course you have. If a place serves wings, they are ‘the world’s greatest’.
Hot’s Kitchen — refreshingly — does not declare this. And yet, it has a claim.
They’re not just the ‘one bite and done’ tidbit… These guys have meat on em. You actually have to chew!
As for the flavors — wow. The chili and lime are phenomenally tasty, so flavorsome, which some delicate flowers might call almost too salty, but not me.
The buffalo, just as mouthwatering, and SPICY.
My wife had the tacos, which while expensive at $ 5 each, I’m reliably informed were delicious. Plus they have a strong selection of great beers.
The service was a little slow, but it was a quiet hour. Plus although we ordered our kids food first, it came last, much to their chagrin… But seriously, those chili lime wings stop me from even considering docking a star

went here for St. Patricks day and I loved how it wasn’t crazy packed with drunk idiots.
Good selection of beer
and a wide selection of tacos! The only thing about the tacos, is that they are kinda pricey. for $ 5 you get 1 taco pretty much, but they are good. The waitress described them as being «street style tacos» but with 2 – 3 ounces of fixings on each taco.
What was ordered (between 4 people)
Chili N lime shoestring fries (7/​10*)
Deviled eggs w/​no bacon (6/​10*)
Mole Chicken taco (7/​10*)
Cajun Shrimp (8/​10*) even tho the shrimp was kind of chewy… the creole butter made up for it
Buffalo Wings (8/​10*) My buddy ordered the hot buffalo wings with no ghost pepper oil, but we got the oil by accident. Had to return the wings because they were to hot. but still delicious.
Crispy Phish taco (na/​10) This taco i actually didnt try… but it looked delicious and big.
The men had beers, while the women had wine. Large selection of beer so that was an instant plus. I will definitely return to try others on the menu.

I would give it a 2 – 4 stars for the following:
All based on Unilocal reviews, I had to get an order of Truffle fries! It was sooooo good! It was larger order than I thought. Because it’s a tapas style of menu. Fries, pippin’ hot, perm sprinkled, truffle goodness with mushroom aioli! A must get!: 4
Cajan shrimp: a few pieces of bread which soaked up all the sauce (not in a good way), there were a few shrimp pieces that was bland and a ton of chorizo. It was a too salty, The chorizo was overwhelming and SO there was much sauce on the plate, with all of these items combined turned into a salty soggy mess. I would’ve loved to unordered this and been content eating the fries: 2
Ahi taco: my BF had a few tacos but I only tried this one. It has a major kick to it. He was in need to water because the beer wasn’t helping at all. I thought he was just being a little baby so I tried a piece and it actually did have a kick but it was good: 4
Customer service: meeeehhh, she sat us at a table right by the kitchen with the swinging door. There were sooo many open tables in the other two rooms but she decided to pick this weird spot for us. We, of course, asked for another table so the second table was fine. The waitress seemed uninterested or annoyed? I couldn’t care for her and obvi she couldn’t care for us either: 2

Loved it! Came here to just get wings and ended up pigging out!
OMG– what is in their mushroom aioli that comes with the Belgium Truffle Fries! It’s amazing and I can’t get enough. This is a MUST have!!!
Tacos were delicious and so many kinds.
Dessert– Ice Cream Taco! Enough said.

A great spot for fusion taco and beer sampling!
My taco sampling (in tasting order):
Korean — Korean style BBQ, samba group sauce, kimchee
Spicy Tuna — enoki mushroom, seaweed salad, sesame seed
Mole Chicken — pulled chicken thigh, rice, cilantro
Fried Chicken — mashed potato, cornbread nuggets, gravy
All were delicious, but that last one was definitely best. I doubt you really could go wrong with any of the options, with how good the quality and combination of the ingredients of those tacos were. The flavor the produced made my tastebuds very happy!
Looking forward to going back!

I love that they have a great beer and wine selection and the food is generally great (I’ve run into a couple snags but that’s over years of eating here).
The ambience is typically quite noisy/​loud so it’s not the place to grab a quick or quiet meal. It’s also not a great first date place for that same reason.
I’ve also noticed the staff seems a bit abrupt and not always so friendly. I understand being busy, but I’ve experienced this on ‘off’ nights as well and this was no different. I’m not saying they’re super unfriendly, but stoic and mediocre in service.
The food quality and the drink quality/​selection are the reason I boosted the stars to 3 and not 2, I hope they keep that up!

Pretty hip and hoppin’ spot for dining and drinks on Hermosa Pier!
First of all, get a reservation if you can! People tend to sit, eat, chat, and drink for days… the place isn’t the largest either, so either get the reservation or be prepared to wait!
They have a deep Craft Beer menu and offer wine too, so they got plenty for you to order from. Most dishes and tacos are small plate style! The TACOS are the highlight of the menu and they have almost 30 different varieties for you to sample.
We sampled several tacos…
Fried Chicken — MASHED potatoes in your tacos… so money!
Philly — Sliced ribeye with some melted cheese… this one was SUPER salty
Your Mom’s Favorite — It’s a tostada with ground beef! Good bite, but how can you go wrong with American style tacos!
Shrimp Tempura — Two pieces of shrimp tempura with a sweet sauce on top, my favorite!
Avocado — Super rich bite with lots of goodies! You might not want to sample a «veggie» taco but this one hits the spot
If the idea of paying $ 5 – 6 for a tiny street taco is bothersome to you… you will not like this place! haha. It is somewhat pricey, but definitely worth trying.
So why the low rating? Service and ambiance. This place gets LOUD. For whatever reason, it echos and gets crazy loud. Our server was also super rude and very impatient. I don’t know if she was having a bad day, but she wasn’t very warm or friendly at all. It’s also super annoying that a light flashes (imagine somebody setting off a fire alarm) when the PHONE rings. I don’t know the story behind that, but I would love to know!
Anyways, the food itself is worth trying! If you don’t mind for hit or miss service, I say stop by! If you get annoyed easily and don’t like loud places… you probably wanna skip Hot’s! Overall, 3.5 round down.

First visit to Hot’s Kitchen and I like the concept of the restaurant. Casual and you can choose to sit at the normal tables, high tables or at the bar. Staff is very friendly and helpful and told us about the beer promotion for the day and what are the signature food to look out for — the Mini-​sized burger and Tacos.
Belgian Truffle Fries ($ 11): Portion is really HUGE. Good for sharing for 3 – 4 people. We ended up taking out as portion is too much for just the 2 of us. The potato is fresh and truffles is good. Cost $ 11.
Devil Eggs (eggs with bacon) ($ 9): The presentation of the eggs look so pretty that it took me a while before I bare to eat it! Quite a tasty dish but I felt that I can easily make something similar at home. Quite pricey, cost $ 9.
Beer’s Hot Deals (Sierra Nevada, Pale Ale) ($ 5): My boyfriend had pale ale and I felt that the beer is not bad but I had even better one that is recommended by the server (similar to IPA).
Fried Chicken Taco (with mashed potato, cornbread nuggets) ($ 5): I don’t like the sauce in the taco, has a weird strong taste.
Mole Chicken Taco (chicken thigh, rice, cilantro) ($ 5): Too SPICY and it wasn’t mentioned in the menu, server should have highlighted to us when we order as not everyone can eat such spicy food. The spiciness over-​rides the taste of all the food that arrives before that. Recommend that you order only if you can take spicy!
Spicy Tuna (spicy tuna sashimi, enoki mushroom, seaweed salad) ($ 6.50): Recommended by the server that it is good but I feel that the tuna has a strong fishy taste and tacos is too hard to bite! Very disappointed with this dish, will not try this again.
Tips:
Try the dishes with a «H» marked next to it. H= Hot’s Favorite

I don’t expect much from gastropubs, but Hot’s Kitchen is definitely a favorite. They have a huge selection of beers and a large variety of food. It’s hard to find something you DON’T like! I came here specifically for the release of their new foie gras menu after it became relegalized in California. Keep in mind that the items on their foie gras menu are pretty small so I would recommend ordering different things and sharing.
+Mushroom truffle fries: Soo good and a HUGE portion. It is definitely enough to share! The mushroom aioli sauce is really good too!
+Foie Burger: Fatty foie gras on top of an angus beef patty with a fat piece of brie cheese in between… omg, great combo!
+Leggo My Foie: This sounded like an interesting dish so i wanted to try it. However, after i tried it, I don’t think foie gras should be made into a sweet dish. It had pieces of foie gras in between small waffle pieces with vanilla maple syrup, bacon, and whipped cream. I wouldn’t say it was horrible, but i think i prefer my foie gras to be part of a savory dish.
+Spicy tuna taco: This was reallllly salty to me. I did enjoy the fat pieces of tuna poke, but I really wish i had more tortilla to mask the saltiness.
+Spicy steak taco: The steak was flavored well and they give a good amount of meat in their tacos.
Other notes:
–Street parking: meter, not the kind that takes credit cards, but the restaurant will give you quarters if you have cash.
–Service: Amazing, our server was very personable and sweet!