Hatchet Hall

The cuisine Hatchet Hall serves isn’t just Southern; it’s American, or more specifically, early American, and the fish, steaks, spoonbreads and skillets of cornbread all come out of a wood-burning hearth. While founding chef Brian Dunsmoor has since opened up his own eponymous restaurant in Glassell Park, Culver City is still home to a great, though pricey, Southern dinner spot. These days, the food is still rock solid, and don’t forget about the vibe: a vast and candle-lit patio, plus a humming, low-lit dining room make for intimate, romantic settings where regulars feel comfortable enough to mingle over smoked country ham, shrimp and grits and fennel-dusted pork chop. Classics like shishito-flecked cornbread dripping with honey and butter and grilled elk loin with bacon vinaigrette offer the kind of culinary decadence that’s often in short supply on the Westside.