Hatchet Hall

The 13 Best Brunch Restaurants In Santa Monica, Venice, And The Westside - Los Angeles - The Infatuation

"The best time to enjoy Hatchet Hall’s idyllic garden patio is when the sun’s out. Brunch here is basically a laid-back picnic surrounded by plants spilling out of pots. The menu is indulgent: there’s buttery, golden-crusted cornbread that will outshine all the other dishes on the table, plus Southern-leaning dishes like shrimp and grits and an oyster po’boy. The coffee and tea options are limited, but there are caffeinated cocktails like espresso martinis and irish coffee." - sylvio martins, cathy park, jess basser sanders

The 20 Best Restaurants In Culver City - Los Angeles - The Infatuation

"Hatchet Hall’s patio has enough leafy plants and mismatched furniture to host an Alice in Wonderland garden party. Inside is a different story—it’s more Southern Gothic novel, with low lights and dark wood. Either way, start with the skillet cornbread topped with an ice cream scoop of butter and the fried green tomatoes smothered in pimento cheese and jelly, before moving on to the equally indulgent mains, like gnocchi mixed with crème fraîche, bacon, and crispy potato shards. There’s a bar reserved for walk-ins, and if there’s a wait (there probably will be), head to the Old Man Bar in the back for a drink first." - brant cox, sylvio martins, garrett snyder, cathy park

On the Grid : Hatchet Hall

"Finally, Mar Vista now has a neighborhood bar that is not just known for a great happy hour. Hatchet Hall is open til 2am and features a fantastic food menu, stellar oyster bar and a cocktail menu that'll satisfy both the Sex And The City crowd and your alcoholic grampa. The newly renovated space feels like a cross between grandma's lake house, a hunting lodge, and a victorian country home. Be sure to hang out in the back room for late night stiffies and grub, where the "playlists" are straight vinyl all night long." - Italic Studio

"This lively Culver West spot is always in full swing, starting with the sprawling, pergola-shaded patio that rallies groups when the weather is right. Beyond lies an equally ample dining room with vintage accents like tufted leather banquettes and an L-shaped bar. The lengthy menu highlights a broad range of classics from across the South and, rightly so, biscuits, seasonal vegetables and plenty of pork are given due billing. Deviled eggs, pimento cheese and fried green tomatoes channel all the comfort of an old-fashioned picnic. Entrees, which are often easy to share, cover land and sea, though you could assemble a feast from the vegetable section, starting with collard greens with smoked turkey or blistered snap peas with buttermilk." - Michelin Inspector

Hatchet Hall excels in comfort food and patio charm - Review - Los Angeles - The Infatuation

"If Alice escaped Wonderland and ended up in Culver City, she’d feel at home on the patio at Hatchet Hall. The garden-esque setting involves gravel underfoot, leafy plants spilling out of pots, and more mismatched vintage furniture and ornate plates than a grandparent’s garage sale. And the magical patio is the biggest draw here, where you can gather with a group and pass around rich, buttery, Southern-leaning dishes like they’re snacks at a backyard party. photo credit: Jakob Layman photo credit: Cathy Park photo credit: Jakob Layman Pause Unmute Hatchet Hall has gone through multiple changes in the kitchen over the years (the original chef now runs the spectacular Dunsmoor in Glassell Park), but its Southern-leaning staples have remained as steady as a riverboat. The cornbread is the crown jewel of them all: a cast iron skillet you’ll spot on every table, topped with a golf ball-size scoop of butter. Beyond that, make room for the shrimp and grits in a rich, stewy broth and gnocchi tossed with bacon and crispy potato skins. And because you’ll eventually want something green for your well-being (or maybe just optics), go ahead and order a vegetable, assuming fried green tomatoes smothered in pimento cheese and pepper jelly count. We’re also fans of the main dining room with the look of an 19th-century saloon, and the lantern-lit Old Man Bar at the back of the restaurant—a no-frills whiskey bar that’s perfectly placed for killing time if you have to wait for a table, or for grabbing a nightcap when you’re not ready to go home. But the best seat at Hatchet Hall is always outside, where you can sit under string lights for a long, drawn-out meal, preferably in loose-fitting pants. Food Rundown Cast Iron Cornbread This sizzling cast iron skillet is the centerpiece of every table. And while cornbread might not be groundbreaking, this one is: blistered shishito peppers are baked into it, and a mound of butter in the center sinks into the soft, custardy crater in the center. photo credit: Jakob Layman Fried Green Tomatoes The best of both worlds between a vegetable and a fried appetizer. They’re covered in a thin, golden coating but have a juicy middle that makes it obvious there’s tomato in there. Topped with pimento cheese and hot pepper jelly, they lean hard into the sweet-salty zone. We like them even more at brunch when they’re served eggs-benedict-style with a runny yolk. photo credit: Cathy Park Buttermilk Biscuits These are only available at brunch, but we wish we could order them around the clock. A gust of wind would knock these featherlight biscuits off the plate, but they still manage to pack in the butter. The three spreads—sea salt-sprinkled butter, housemade strawberry jam, and pimento cheese—are excellent separately, but even better when you start layering them like a kid with a paint set. photo credit: Cathy Park Seasonal Salad This salad changes throughout the year and usually comes topped with some kind of fruit depending on the season. And it relies heavily on how good that fruit is. During winter, it’s more generic spring mix with a few chunks of pear and pomegranate seeds strewn in, but during summer when it’s covered in ripe peach slices, it deserves a spot on the table. photo credit: Cathy Park Loaded Baked Potato Gnocchi This tastes like someone exploded a baked potato onto a plate of gnocchi, and we respect the chaos. It’s loaded up with bacon, cheese, and crackly shards of potato skin that remind us of crumbs at the bottom of a chip bag. photo credit: Cathy Park Shrimp & Grits More shrimp than grits, and we aren’t complaining. These guys have their heads on and are plump and briny, while the grits are borderline molten, perfect for catching what’s dripping off the shrimp. photo credit: Cathy Park Apple Brandy Braised Short Rib This is a hefty dish that’ll make you sluggish, and we’re not sure if it’s worth the slowdown. The short rib is on the dry side and pulls apart in strands like string cheese, which requires using the corn polenta and horseradish crème fraîche to lubricate each bite. photo credit: Cathy Park" - Cathy Park