Local Kitchen

This restaurant was highly recommended by Sandi's dentist. After seeing a movie, Sandi, Mertz and I got in the Bigmobile and headed towards old Torrance. Sandi only knew the restaurant had the name Kitchen in it. We were just going to drive in the vicinity of where she thought it could be. As we drove by the Torrance Bakery, we had to make a pit stop to buy their famous chewy chocolate cookies. The lady there told us where the restaurant was located.

We were surprised to see how large it was inside. It had a total of 15 televisions! The restaurant included a bar. We were happy that we got there early before it got too noisy. The menu was extensive so it took us several minutes to decide what to order. Sandi ordered the Shrimp Tacos El Golfo, crisp panko dusted fried shrimp in a corn tortilla with citrus slaw, avocado, tomato, cilantro and salsa served with beans. She loved it. I had one and though I loved the crispy shrimp, I thought the other stuff in it was just too healthy. Mertz ordered the Bad Axe Brussels Sprouts; charred with applewood smoked bacon and glazed with maple-balsamic reduction. That was super delicious. We all loved that it was charred. She also had an order of The Onion Rings; thick sweet onions, buttermilk and seasoned panko bread crumb fried crisp and served with chipotle ranch. That too was good.

I had what Sandi's dentist had, Dave's BBQ Meatloaf Tower; BBQ meatloaf piled above rustic cheddar ciabatta with mashed potatoes, BBQ jus and crispy onions. I was very happy with mine. The meatloaf was so moist and tender and the mashed potatoes were flavorful. I was only able to eat half.

We were all pretty full but we didn't want to pass on dessert. We all agreed to share an order of Italian Lemon Cream Torte; moist vanilla cake and Italian Mascarpone mousse topped with a buttery struesel. The cake was all it said to be except we all didn't detect any lemon flavor. It was light and delicious but we missed the lemon taste.

Our server Oscar was surprised to hear our comments because he thought otherwise when he had the same dessert previously. He was nice enough not to charge us for the dessert.

We will definitely go back to try their many more interesting items like, "So 10 Shrimp Walk Into a Bar in Baltimore"; their top secret version of drunken shrimp in garlic butter ale sauce.

Local Kitchen has been in operation for 7 months. They have Happy Hour from 3-6 p.m everyday when the house wine is $6.00 and $3.00 off all American classics menu. Their address is 1321 Sartori Ave. in Torrance, California.