A Groovy New Restaurant Called Le Hut Dinette Opens in Santa Ana | Eater LA

Opening February 22, 2025 in a remodeled Quonset hut (a corrugated steel structure shaped like half a barrel), this new-school diner from Heritage barbecue owners Daniel and Brenda Castillo features a high-ceiling dining room and a menu by veteran chef Ryan Garlitos, previously at Michelin-starred (and now-closed) Taco María and modern Filipino restaurant Irenia. The friendly West Texas diner–inflected menu includes pork chile verde tacos, chili cheese fries, brisket barbacoa tacos (with the smoked beef sourced from the Castillos’ San Juan Capistrano barbecue restaurant), and chocolate bibingka; the team also hosted a Valentine’s Day–themed tasting with roast duck adobo over creamy garlic rice, chicken French onion soup, smoked salmon terrine with 61 Hundred’s blue corn sourdough bread, and pork steak with ginger-scallion salsa verde, with flavors described as balanced and comforting without being too aggressive. The project joins the Castillos’ growing empire — their celebrated Heritage Barbecue (opened July 2021) earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand and was featured in an Eater video, and they opened Heritage Beer in Oceanside in 2023 — and the space was previously planned as a brisket taco spot (announced February 2024) before morphing into this modern diner concept. Located next to Santa Ana’s recently relocated 61 Hundred Bread, a modern sourdough bakery known for long lines for inventive loaves and thoughtful pastries, the restaurant will begin with daytime service (11 a.m.–3 p.m. on opening day) with dinner service to commence a few weeks later; the relaxing retro-inspired interior includes a hi-fi audio system, counter seats, wide banquettes, and a front outdoor patio seating up to 24 people, and Castillo told Eater he eventually plans to convert the current space into the restaurant’s bar and finish the rest of the Quonset hut as an indoor dining room. - Matthew Kang