Cork & Batter — Restaurant in Inglewood

I went to Cork & Batter at around 10:45am on a Sunday morning. Google say’s they’re open from 9am, that is a lie. They actually don’t open until 11am. That being said, the parking is valet only and it is $15. A bit pricey but I was excited to try the food.

I live in the new Hollywood Park residences right across the street, yes I could have walked but I was already in my vehicle running errands when I decided to stop by. If I choose to return, I’ll walk from my apartment. (lol)

Anyways, I wait outside for a few minutes with a few other patrons and the doors open at exactly 11. I am greeted by a host who wasn’t too happy there was already a few of us waiting outside. She asked if I had a reservation and I said no, so she offered the bar top. As I was alone, I took it.

The bar top is nice and comfortable, the chairs have high backs and as a 32 year old pregnant woman, I appreciate that. I was planning on reading and working on a few things on my laptop to keep myself company. So it’s of note that there are outlets at the bar top with direct USB chargers as well. That is the point I’ve given C&B.

I had seen their menu online and was really excited to try their Shishito peppers as a part of my meal. Upon arrival the bartender gave me a brunch menu which did not include the peppers, honestly it didn’t have very many options and the prices were not the same as online. Everything had at least a$2-$3 increase. I asked her if they could still make the peppers as it was 11 and normally lunch time, and she said no. They had just started doing their brunch menu from 11-2:30 starting the day before. So no notice online and no wonder the confusion. I made a little joke to ease the tension as she was very blunt about her answer. She didn’t laugh. She seemed generally unhappy to be there and upset that she had customers upon opening. I tried to stay and just taste something else on their menu, but when I asked her for recommendations or which brunch entree she liked best, she rudely answered with, “idk it’s up to you, X entree is different from X entree so it depends what you want.” One of the dishes was the Mexican inspired chilaquiles adding steak and the other the steak and eggs. She also proceeded to ask me if I even knew what chilaquiles were because they were so different from steak & eggs. Of course, I’m aware of their differences though I was curious about THEIR preparation of the dishes. She also didn’t seem to know which cut of steak it was for either entree and was overall upset that I had questions.

I’m already aware that it is ultimately up to me. But as it was my first time, it would’ve been nice to have more information about the dishes before making my selection. Especially since the dishes I was contending were upwards of $20 each. One was $26 and the other $24. I decided I didn’t like the service enough to stay and spend $60 on breakfast for one there after valet and tip.

I’ve been in the restaurant industry for over 16 years and it completely felt as if she judged the amount of tip I would leave and treated me accordingly. The entire experience was simply off. It’s a shame because their food does look good. But not worth it if the service doesn’t suit...

From the start I should’ve known this was going to be a bad experience. As me and my partner walked in we walked up to hostess booth where a younger black woman who never introduced herself was sitting on a chair eating fries and talking on the phone. After about 1 minute of standing there, the woman finally acknowledged us and said “how can I help you” with the nastiest tone ever. I politely but confusingly responded “hi” (since she wasn’t going to) and stated “may we have a table for 2?” She then proceeds to point to a half empty restaurant and says oh I only have seating in the corner near kitchen entrance at high top. We didn’t mind the bad seating tho so we said sure. We have had this place on our must try list for a while and since we live so close said “why not today?” Well as soon as she walks us to the table she says someone from the bar will bring over some coasters for the table because it wobbles. Strike 2- she knew table was broken but rather than get it fixed or have coasters there before customers come she with not even a second look said that. But hey there’s always a silver lining right. Well there was a nice woman brought over water and gave us a few seconds to look at menu(wasn’t until later we figured out she was the only waiter working the floor as she never introduced herself). We then ordered an appetizer (nachos from happy hour menu - it’s was yummy but that was the only thing I would classify as such here) and two drinks( both came strong tasting of cheap liquor and no flavoring). We also ordered two entrees ( skirt steak medium well & lobster pasta) well steak was medium rare when he got to table and lobster pasta was disgusting. The lobster pasta had an awful guava “cream” that had no cream to it; it was essentially a guava puree on top of dry lobster pasta sitting on a bed of some type of green sauce. Although it didn’t look appetizing I tried it and immediately knew I wasn’t going to eat it. So alerted our waitress who said I will get my manager. Who did she go get? The rude lady from the hostess stand. Immediately she wears a smirk and the stankiest attitude I have ever encountered. She tells me their policy is not to exchange things because customers don’t like it and then asks if I tried to mix everything together because that’s how she liked it. I explained I did not and wasn’t planning to. She then responds that she wasn’t finished and she was going to ask me if I wanted to try something else. She then looks at me like I did something to her. I said I will take the shrimp pasta. She takes my menu then storms off to kitchen. Strike 3 the way she was storming away was so weird. I say yep check please. So paying for the drinks, happy hour nachos, and my partner’s under cooked steak with a tip for the server who didn’t make her manager an (expletive) I spent $92 bucks to be disrespected....

If I’m being honest, I was not amongst the highly-anticipating crowd of Simi Vallians when I saw a BBQ joint was going in - mostly bc my stomach had a hard breakup w BBQ sauce in my early 20’s. Sad times. Anyways, a couple of things piqued my interest leading up to their soft opening… like the life music, knowing staff and cocktails that looked craftier than Simi Valley has ever done. So my husband and I brought our 2 young kids one Wednesday night about 2 weeks after their grand opening.

The outside is gorgeous and inviting. The inside is clean, modern w country flair. It looked like only half was open, maybe to ween them into it.

The service was next-level. There were servers everywhere… eager to please, professional, well-spoken and accommodating in every way. Definitely more staff than needed but way to cover all bases straight out the gate 👏🏼

We wanted to try as many things as possible. We got:

Smoked Corn Ribs: 5/5 - Perfectly balanced bite of eloté style corn in easy to eat strips

Cowboy Candy: 4/5 - The flavor was 💯 there, I just need my bacon more cooked, which is standard for me at most restaurants. I crisped the leftovers up the next day and they were heavenly.

Homemade Cornbread: 5/5 - They’re HUGE, you can also order a side (1 block) instead of the 3 large blocks. But honestly, just get the 3 and take leftovers. Bring one to a friend. They’re GOOD.

Philly Brisket Sliders: 5/5 - These actually came out a bit sad at first w nowhere near enough meat to consider it a brisket slider. I spoke to our server who listened, understood, apologized, then assured me she would fix it. Just moments later, she returned w a plate of brisket to add and sliders quickly became 5/5 🔥 THAT’S the best customer service you can hope for at a restaurant!

Watermelon Salad: 4/5 - The watermelon wasn’t its best season (which was a brave order for a February on my part) and it was slightly overdressed. They have the right idea tho.

They were out of the Pork Belly and we had filled up by then, but we sampled all the kids food and…

MCB Sliders: 5/5 - Sliders cooked to perfection?! Unusual but welcomed! They were cooked medium, I do not see them thick enough to do this often. Kids loved ‘em, I ate one for lunch leftover then next day.

Chicken Littles: 5/5 - My son said best chicken nuggets ever. They’re ACTUAL chicken, not spongy crap.

🍹 COCKTAILS… I am so beyond picky here. I had the Prenup and loved it. My husband had 2 he loved, a spicy marg and something else I forgot.

We all enjoyed our night, the food, the exciting buzz of the newest place in town, the pool table, everything! I’ll add that my parents went the following week and said “the best ribs she had ever had” which is a strong statement from her.

We will be back to support this gem eternally. Keep up the awesome...