Crooked Gaff Kitchen — Restaurant in Whittier

Came into town, and this restaurant, (Crooked Gaff Kitchen & Oyster Bar) was "near me," according to Google search. My experience as follows:

Arrive here around 7:40PM. Small and tight parking lot. We had to circle around the block a few times, and then finally, we saw a party coming out the restaurant to the parking lot going to their vehicle. We pulled behind to wait for them to depart the parking spot. Once they got in the car, said a prayer, rotate the tires, did their laundry, including a session of flatulence, they finaly put their vehicle in reverse and drove away, then we were able to pull into the said parking spot.

This was a packed house some people waiting outside and inside very loud! All tables and bar were filled to the max! We got our names on the list for two (2).

After about 30 minutes, as promised, the very nice young lady took us to our upscale picnic style table, and thanking us for our patience.

About 10 minutes later, our server Ernesto came over to take our orders, thanking us for our patience. We asked for one (1) Margarita and two (2) waters, please. The Wife asked for half a dozen of the fresh oysters with horseradish on the side. We both ordered the Salmon Entrée. Margarita arrived (no lime) before the water. Sip Sip! A little bitter, tasted rushed/watered down. I will stick to the safely of my glsss of my arrived water.

Oysters arrived without the requested horseradish (reminded them to bring the horseradish) for my wife. My wife ready to dig in, asked me if there were any silverware. I didn't see any on the table, but just like magic, our faithful server arrived on the que. My wife loved the Oysters! She said they were very fresh and delicious. She did ask if there was bread service, and looking around, I didn't see any on other tables.

Aa time went on a very nice candle man came around to the tables to light the candles.

Demolished oysters plate was picked up by our observant server. It is now 8:35 pm.

As I am waiting for the Entrées I'm looking around, and the place is kept clean and organized considering how busy it is here.

At 8:45PM, our very nice candle man brought our Entrées with a HOT Plate warning ⚠️ . The Chef/Owner understood the assignment! The food presentation was spot on! Salmon plate was fresh, and piping HOT 🔥 the rice mix was perfect and unique. I was hoping to get a water refill like everyone else, so my Wife offered me hers.

8:55PM check arrived. I would have gone with the bread pudding, but I wasn't asked. I have some ginger snaps back at the Airbnb Castle up the street.

If I were to grade this new found establishment, I would give it a B+. I observed that everyone worked as a support team for each other, and the customer service was awesome. I would re-look at the Margarita ingredients. We would probably(?) return back here when I am back in this area to try that Skirt Steak and Bread Pudding!

Getting back to my car in the parking lot I noticed the lights could be better on the far side. Too Dark. Another car pulled in for my spot so I "quickly" got out of their way!...

Overall, a pretty decent place that might be flying under the radar for what they're offering.

The place has this backyard bbq theme going with the layout of an old diner. Long bar top wrapping around the center of the restaurant, a few high tables on one side and picnic tables to the other side.

Presentation of the food and service were great. Attentive staff, upscale feel from just the plate ware and no hesitation to accommodate for small requests.

Selection of craft beer were pretty decent as well and covered the gamut for every palate. If you know what you're looking at you can see that there are some pretty good labels that a local cicerone would have been interested in.

Kumiai Oysters ($28): Few of the oysters were at that spawning stage (milky texture) or shucked to oblivion but you can't help but appreciate the presentation of shaved ice and the not-so-average ceramic(?) serving platter compared to the thin aluminum pie plates. Definitely appreciate the effort of visual appeal here.

Black and Blue Burger ($19): Sweet, bitter, and all kinds of funky is the only way to describe this burger. Personally, I would have appreciated the bun to have a little more crunch for texture contrast but it was a solid burger.

Shrimp Po Boy ($19): Huge pieces of extra crispy shrimp (almost prawn size) and a soft french bread with just the right ratio of mayo spread across. Not much on bringing heat from the jalapeno mayo but another solid item on the menu.

Huge portion of fries on the side (don't forget to ask for extra ketchup) and upgrading to truffle fries with flaky Parmesan cheese might have been an overkill with so much going on with the burger.

Mon - Wed happy hour is super enticing as well. We'll be back to try...

This place has a menu with many items which I'm sure are popular with most people. But there are also people like me who have no use for things like crab and oysters and pork belly and brussels sprouts. People like me go out to eat with the rest of you hoping that there is at least a burger on the menu. I can happily report that there is. My review is about the burger and fries that are available here.

I got the CGK Burger with the Truffle Fries. This was a couple days ago now but I'm still thinking about that burger. In all honesty, I believe that this CGK Burger was the best burger I have ever had. I'll be turning 65 this year so I've had more than a few burgers in my life, but I can't think of anything that even compares to this.

I asked for it without pickles and asked for it to be cooked medium well. The burger even looked delicious on the plate when it was served to me. I should have taken a photo to share but once I saw it, I didn't want to delay.

The Truffle Fries were also delicious. They may not have been the best fries I've ever had, but they were excellent and complemented the burger well.

So if you're going here and looking at all the other items on the menu, I'm sure they're good too. But you should give serious thought to just ordering the burger. I know I'll be getting it again the next...