Kulturas Latin Kitchen & Cantina Celebrates Its West LA Grand Opening on Pico

Live harp at 5, boleros at 8, and a Latin kitchen taking over a familiar Pico address.

The Latin kitchen and cantina group that has been building out across Southern California has landed on the Westside. Kulturas Latin Kitchen & Cantina is throwing its grand opening celebration at 11940 W Pico Blvd in West Los Angeles on Friday, August 28, and the room is leaning into the thing Kulturas does best, which is treating dinner as an event rather than a transaction.

The evening is built around live music in two acts. A harpist plays at 5 p.m., and the night shifts into romantic Latin boleros at 8 p.m. The restaurant is putting out free appetizers for the table and running discounted drinks through the night.

A Westside room with history on Pico

The address will be familiar to anyone who has eaten along this stretch of Pico between Bundy and Sawtelle. The space previously operated as Kalaveras, the Day of the Dead themed Latin concept that started in Bellflower in 2016 and expanded to more than two dozen Southern California outposts. Kulturas has carried over the same phone line at the Pico address, and when the group made the identical switch at its Old Town Temecula location this summer, staff told Patch that the restaurant had changed but the ownership had not. The look and the menu are new. The people behind the bar are the same.

West LA is now the fourth Kulturas, joining Pasadena, Ontario and Temecula. The group describes itself as family owned with nearly 40 years of restaurant experience behind it, and frames the concept less as a Mexican restaurant than as a gathering place built on music, art and handcrafted cocktails.

What the kitchen is cooking

The menu runs Mexican at its foundation with Peruvian and American influences layered on top, which is a wider net than most rooms on this block cast.

Start with the aperitivos. Aguachiles verdes bring butterflied shrimp with red onion, cucumber, chile oil and avocado at $21.49, and the ceviche de camaron works the same territory for the same price. Esquite arrives as roasted corn with garlic aioli, cotija and chili powder at $12.45. There is also a Dragon Roll on the appetizer list, a fried California roll with jalapeno crab, cream cheese and teriyaki shrimp at $17.49, which tells you how comfortable this kitchen is crossing lines.

Tacos are a flat $4.95 and the range is the point: asada, pollo, barbacoa, camaron, carnitas, pescado, chicharron with pork belly guiso and pickled onion, a pozole taco with marinated pork and fried hominy, and a tempura battered avocado taco with Thai style slaw and sriracha mayo.

On the platos fuertes, the birria comes as braised beef with lime onions, rice, beans and tortillas at $23.99, and the quesabirria tacos arrive as three crispy cheese tacos with consomme and chili oil at $18.95. Tacos gobernador brings shrimp guiso quesatacos with pickled carrots and aguachiles salsa at $18.99. Pescado jarocho is the catch of the day in a Veracruz style tomato salsa with cilantro lime rice and fried plantain at $23.49. The enchiladas de mole run $18.45 and the carne asada with chimichurri and chile toreado is $26.99.

The cantina half of the name

The bar is where the concept earns its second billing. Specialty cocktails sit at $15.95 and reach for agave spirits beyond the usual: the Nanche Antiguo uses nanche infused mezcal, the Pina Tatemada and the Ancestral Smoked Old Fashioned both build on pox, and the Raicillina, the group's signature, is raicilla with lemon and honey ginger syrup finished with a peated scotch spray.

Margaritas and slushies run $14.95 across the board, including pepinos con chile, tamarindo, chamoyada and a hibiscus Drakula, with a 64 oz pitcher at $40. Classic cocktails come in half yard format at $15, and there is a four sample flight for $20. The tequila and mezcal list runs deep, from Cazadores at $10.42 to Clase Azul anejo at $72.52.

Specials worth planning around

Kulturas runs a full week of programming. Happy hour is Monday through Friday from 3 to 7 p.m., with $10 margaritas and slushies, $5 draft beer and well drinks, and $7.99 appetizers. Margarita Monday brings half liter margaritas at $7.99 and pitchers at $24.99. Taco Tuesday drops street tacos to $1.99.

Weekend brunch runs Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The standouts are the Chicken N' Waffle Sando at $20.95, the Mazapan Waffle with peanut caramel and mazapan crumble at $12.99, chilaquiles at $15.49 and a mimosa flight in orange, guava and strawberry rosemary for $19.95.

If you go

Kulturas Latin Kitchen & Cantina is at 11940 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064, on the Sawtelle and Rancho Park side of the Westside. The phone is (424) 325-3030. Hours are Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to midnight, and Sunday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Parties of six or more carry an automatic 18 percent service charge. Follow the group on Instagram for event announcements.

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