Belly of the Beast — Restaurant in Spring

This place is great! You've got to make a reservation a few weeks out but it's worth it. We tried many of the dishes and all were great. The menu changes over time so these exact same things may not be available later; make sure if something on the menu sounds similar that it's actually got all the ingredients you're interested in.

The hefeweizen was basically perfect, it's from the chef's brewing company.

Ceviche tostadas were amazing, probably the best ceviche I've ever had and I've had it many times from Hugo's, Caracol, etc. I didn't realize it was possible for me to like octopus until we went here. Every time I've had octopus before it's been a bit rubbery so I never seek it out, but this was instead like an al dente noodle. If I remember correctly they had an octopus entree, so if you like good octopus but have trouble finding it, try it here.

MINI LOBSTER ROLLS WERE AMAZING. They had kaluga caviar. This was one of my favorite dishes.

Grilled shrimp and pork belly tom yum lettuce wraps were very good as well. I've never had a pork belly dish that didn't feel heavy but this was somehow refreshing.

Birria tacos don't get better than the ones here. Honestly surprised that the price was only maybe three or four dollars more than we pay at other places for three birria tacos. The hot sauce on the side was actually quite spicy and had a great flavor.

Hokkaido seared scallops were great, very soft with good sauces! I don't think I've ever had better scallops.

Summer squash with poblano cream was great. My husband wasn't especially keen on ordering it but I love poblano, and he said he was glad we got it because it was way better than he expected.

Brussels sprouts with caesar dressing and bacon and parmesan were great!

Crispy potatoes with truffle oil, chives, and salmon roe were another favorite!

The fig tart with white chocolate ganache and pistachio mousse was very good and creative! The figs were actually ripe! We have fig trees so I'm always disappointed by relatively unripe figs at restaurants.

Tres leches with passionfruit meringue was great!

Amazingly, NOTHING felt heavy, not even the birria tacos.

The prices were also quite reasonable considering the quality. Like most upscale places the dishes are not enormous, but they're not comically small or anything.

We had a very good server, and the waitstaff in general was quite attentive without being intrusive. The food came out pretty quickly as well! They were communicative about any small delays, but we got our food much faster than most restaurants without feeling rushed or anything; they were very good about timing the delivery of dishes such that we had a minute or two after finishing one before the next one arrived, the exception being all the vegetables arrived with the scallops because that made sense.

We didn't experience any of the issues mentioned by some other reviews, e.g. the dishes that were supposed to be hot were hot, servers weren't awkward, there was a good hostess, ambiance was actually quite nice and it was easy to forget we were in a strip mall space. Perhaps there were some growing pains in the past? But if so, it seems they've adjusted quickly.

We will...

So our neighbor recommended this location, and we've been meaning to get in there, and we finally were able to yesterday. We thought we'd check it out together. It turns out to be only about 3 mi from our house, and how lucky we are that this is the truth! I think we've just become regulars LOL. I'd highly recommend it to anybody who's a foodie, I love the Spanish/ Mexican twist, that seems to come with each dishes inspiration. It's a pretty small place, I think. Maybe 20 tables tops, absolutely have to use reservations if you have more than a party of two, and possibly it is only, "reservations only", I'm not 100% sure because my husband set it up. We only had a party of three, however, we saw plenty of parties of four and even six. We arrived on time at 6pm & it had only just been open for about an hour but by the time it was nearly 6:30 the place was full. We absolutely loved each dish, across the board, I also understand that they have rotating menus, so we will be back for all of that. They only serve wine and beer. No liquor there. No liquor there. For those who are looking for cocktails or mocktails, that is not a thing. However, they do have a good selection of domestic and international beers and wines. So you could have the happiest of hours. I had their peach mole duck and it came with a breast as well as a drumstick and six corn tortillas which was decadent! My husband and father-in-law both tried the wagyu carne asada and I did try theirs. It was delicious and I loved their bean puree that would replace your refried beans for the tacos. We also enjoyed their brussel sprouts, which I thought were phenomenal and ordered their street corn pasta dumpling, I can't remember what it was called, I would have never thought of pairing these things, but it was perfect! It must have been sweet corn, and it did burst in your mouth which I thought was wonderful in and almost ravioli pasta. We will certainly be coming back, shout out to Heather, our server who did a fabulous job. I will say the one confusing thing is when you walk in there is a small seating area, and you are supposed to wait there for the Host to see you, however, I walked right up to the bar area because I basically just walked past it immediately.... Remember that this is a relatively small intimate place, I don't know if it does large parties. I guess you would have to call the reservations to make that happen either way. But it's highly recommended and the quality of the chef s artisanal design...

Please read this in your BEST Carrie Bradshaw (Sex in the City) voice-over impression.

The moment we walked into BOTB for our dinner reservation we were immediately met with warm welcomes and genuine hospitality. The restaurant itself is intimate and cozy. About 20 tables all around… I didn’t count them. But, I will say it felt like you were walking into a space that felt comfortable and familiar.

Heather served us and she was super personable, pleasant, and knowledgeable about the restaurant and Chef Thomas (Tomas?). Elizabeth (Mrs. Chef) walked around and greeted every single customer/table and made us all feel like we were sitting at a table in her home.

You can feel that they have put so much effort and attention into creating an amazing space for us to enjoy. Our water glasses stayed full; they brought a portable light to the table so we could see our food (and so we could take pictures of them, as they were beautifully plated); and, they ensured that everything was perfect in a non-stuffy way.

We started off by ordering two glasses of white wine. Peregrine and Alberto.

To start our food journey, we ordered four items. Empanadas de papas y queso; Tuna tostadas; Uvas y burrata; and Street Corn agnolotti. And, let me just say, that every dish was absolutely delicious. 10/10, would highly recommend a thousand times over. But, make haste because the menu changes and the chef will create new masterpieces soon. We practically licked each plate clean. And, Heather discreetly placed a clean spoon on our table “just in case” we wanted to get the residual sauce from the bowl.

Next, we ordered the Cochinita Pibil tacos and Shishito peppers. The tacos were unapologetically authentic and the ingredients straight-forward. Simple, but delicious. Reminded me of the tacos I had in Mexico. EVERYTHING WAS ABSOLUTELY DIVINE. Nothing bad to say about anything that we tried. Every plate was made with such attention to detail. Works of art. And. The flavors of ALL the food were RIQUÍSIMA.

And, of course, we ended with dessert. We ordered the Tres Leches and Panna Cotta. Now, these desserts were also delicious. But they were HUGE. Not complaining at all, but we were stuffed to the point of unbuttoning our pants and we wish we lived in a walkable city to walk off some of the discomfort. Nonetheless, the experience was worth it. And, I definitely will come back for more!

Thank you for such an amazing dinner. Hats off to...