It was like waking up Sunday morning as a kid again… only better.
Nighthawk Breakfast Bar is a trendy bar in Venice Beach that, yes, serves breakfast. Although they keep the ‘breakfast’ in their menu, their unique food ingredients and options reinvent the meaning of breakfast, without sacrificing taste, so that it can be enjoyed at any time of the day!
The bar is located on a busy street making parking an unprecedented task. However, upon our arrival, we had two parking options— to pay a flat rate of $12 for Valet Parking or to find street parking, which is free after 6pm.
The bar itself is modern and trendy and with its dim lighting, a calm aura greeted us to a pleasant night of enjoying breakfast foods and drinks.
We learned that the Breakfast Bar was created to bring back our favorite childhood memories, by developing a place where the theme is simply breakfast for dinner. And we love this idea because it caters to people, like us, who love breakfast, but don’t always get to enjoy it in the morning due to the morning rush we all go through on a daily basis.
Once we sat down, we dove right in with some drinks!
At Nighthawk, you can order a Spiced Cereal Milk that will have you reminiscing of your favorite childhood cereal. They infuse the milk for 24 hours with the cereal of your choice. We ordered the Coco Puffs Cereal Milk that came with a shot of vanilla vodka and was garnished with real Coco Puffs. The initial taste was definitely the sweetness of the cereal, but after letting it sit for a while, the vodka taste became more present. But we thought this was a great choice if you are craving something sweeter since it tasted amazing.
Later, we ordered their number one selling cocktail, the Bitter Blues, which is a Bourbon drink that has blueberry jam, Angostura bitters, and lemon juice, garnished with three blueberries on top. This drink is definitely stronger and not sweet like the Spike Cereal Milk; however, we thought it was a great choice for an evening drink with friends.
For the meals, we began with starters. It is important to note that they were not exclusively labeled as sides, since they are priced almost proportionately to an entree, so we would recommend having these with a full entree if you intend on eating a meal.
Our first bite was the Benedict Fries, priced at $12. They are prepared with “pit smoked ham, fries, peppadew peppers, gruyere cheese, smoked paprika hollandaise sauce, sunny side up egg.” These were absolutely DELICIOUS and a great choice if you want something to munch on while enjoying some drinks with friends. They were not too salty and not too sweet or spicy, just the right amount of everything!
Our second choice was the Tapatio Candied Bacon, priced at $9, and prepared with “Applewood smoked bacon, Tapatio, brown sugar.” This too was amazing, but out of the two options we recommend the Benedict Fries because the bacon was not as filling or satisfying as the fries were. However, if you are a spice lover, the bacon had a spicy touch to it, making it a great side or add-on to a meal.
Our main dishes were the following:
1. All The Breakfast Burger – $16
Grass-fed beef, smashed tots, Applewood smoked bacon, scrambled aged cheddar eggs, Tillamook cheddar, bloody mary ketchup, brioche bun.
This was definitely one of our favorites because of its sweetness. It was easy to bite into and not messy at all, with the perfect texture! For the price, we think it is very filling and very much worth the money.
2. Chicken & Biscuits – $17
Buttermilk fried chicken, aged cheddar & chive biscuits, bacon sausage gravy, Aleppo peppers.
This is one of their most requested dish and we can see why! The biscuit was just perfect– soft but not too soft so that it wasn’t falling apart. The chicken was crispy and tender enough to make it easy to cut and enjoy. If we had to choose, this is the perfect mix of wanting breakfast for dinner.
3. Bigbird & Shortstack- $16
Buttermilk fried chicken, sweet potato pancakes, gochujang maple butter, syrup.
The last dish we tried were the pancakes. We thought it was amazing that they were made out of sweet potatoes, yet tasted just like a traditional pancake. Plus, these were three very big pancakes! Adding the chicken, butter, and syrup completed the meal. We would say that this is one of their more traditional dishes, which is great because a ‘safety meal’ is always necessary so that there are options for everyone!
Overall, our experience at Nighthawk Breakfast Bar was amazing, from the service to the food! We love the idea of having breakfast for dinner and the fact that it did not break the bank is an added bonus! We recommend anyone who loves breakfast and some good drinks to try out Nighthawk Breakfast Bar next time you are in the area!