Hot's Kitchen - Hermosa Beach, CA

After a cold winter in Los Angeles, the weather finally broke, allowing for a weekend to be spent by the beach.  Heading down to Hermosa Beach with my parents, we decided to go to Hot’s Kitchen.  Being a frequent visitor, I had long heard good things about this controversial restaurant.  The controversy around Hot’s stems from the fact that, despite the foie gras ban they still serve the dish, getting around the ban by not charging for it, instead serving it as a free side with the THE Burger.  Hot’s menu consists primarily of burgers and tacos, with a variety of unique twists on each.  They also serve fries, wings and some other dishes.

Given that the burgers were small and each taco order came with just one, we got an assortment of different items.  However, the opinions of my family differed on many items.  I loved the Crispy Shrimp Taco, which had a nice cooling taste and a bit of a softer feel.  The Philly Taco had a nice cheese sauce and was a simple twist on the Philadelphia cheesesteak.  The Fat Burger was a bit messy as a result of the egg.    The burger was decent, but I preferred the tacos.  Also, I found the lettuce to detract from the overall taste.  Next up I tried the Original Shrimp Taco, which had a little bit of a lime salsa taste.  This one was well enjoyed by my parents, but I preferred the Crispy Shrimp myself.  Starting to get full, I made my final order, a Buffalo Taco and a Ken-ee Taco.  The Buffalo Taco came with a very big piece of uncut chicken slathered in buffalo sauce and with a cream topping it off.  I think that I would have preferred the chicken chopped up, but it was still pretty good and I was impressed with the amount of chicken in the taco.  The Ken-ee was my Dad’s favorite, with some chopped up onions, peppers and jalapenos, a spicy salsa and diced marinated steak.  While I didn’t hate this one, I wasn’t so enthused by it.  It did have a bit of kick, but tasted a little like a sloppy joe to me.

Although I liked some better than others, I walked away pretty impressed by Hot’s Kitchen overall.  The only thing I really did not find too appealing were the Lime Fries.  I look forward to returning so I can try some of the other tacos, including the Cubano, Chorizo, Ancho, BBQ, Korean, and Dirtybird).  They also have a great craft beer selection so if that is your cup of tea, head on down.

Atmosphere: 8

Food: 7

Price: 4

Overall: 7.5