Hof's Hut had been on my list of places I have to hit up someday but I'd only bookmarked the Torrance location. Happily we stumbled upon the Bixby Knolls Hof's Hut yesterday while out on a Saturday road trip just about the time we started asking the 'where are we gonna eat' question.
Their menu tells the history of the restaurant, with accompanying photos. Founder Harold Hofman started a hamburger shack on the beach at 5th Street in Long Beach during the 1940s. A photo shows Harold at the grill standing next to his mother, who helped work the stand. Fast forward to September 1951, now married with a son on the way (current owner Craig Hofman), Harold seeks a more reliable business plan and opens his first Hof's Hut restaurant in Belmont Shores. By the mid-1970s there were nine locations around the South Bay and in Orange County. Today six locations remain: Bixby Knolls, Los Altos, Marina, Torrance, Buena Park and Los Alamitos.
I wholeheartedly recommend the Hofburger, a juicy 1/3 pounder with lettuce, tomato, pickles, onion and thousand island dressing. A side of half and half fries and onion rings is a perfect accompaniment. The only regret was that I didn't have room for the olallieberry cheesecake I was thinking about before the meal.
