Killer Cafe in Marina del Rey

It’s 2:17am and the club just kicked you out.

You’re walking with your friends back to the car and you’re starving. Sorry, but all those cherries and Amaretto Sours didn’t fill you up as you had hoped and now, you need something to hold you over until you wake up in the next few hours. That’s when your mind starts racing with desperate options of what to eat:

“Gum?” No, you’ve been chewing that all night.

“Fast food?” Sure, sit in the drive through for 40 minutes for microwaved nuggets and no sweet and sour sauce—uh, no.

“What about that Oreo that fell under the passenger seat two weeks ago?” You ate that last weekend.

The possibility of a restaurant being open this late that puts out deliciously filling food is almost unrealistic. You could go to a late night spot like Kitchen24 or The Original Pantry, but chances are all the folks who left the club before you are already there. So where do you go? You make your way over to what’s about to become the next best late-night spot: Killer Cafe in Marina del Rey.

I was invited to Killer Cafe to check out their menu that will now be served during their expanded 24-hours. That’s right: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert will now be dished out at the waterfront location all day every day, every hour on the hour. Serving up plates that include the Killer Shrimp secret family recipe, alongside their comfort food and specialty drinks is the goal of the restaurant but to do it at all hours of the day could be a bit of a challenge. Knowing that, I was eager to try out the dishes and drinks that would be served from a restaurant with a great view of the water. Let’s do this!

Let’s Talk Drinks
I thought Killer Cafe would offer a late night menu, but I was wrong. The menu they have at the start of morning is the same menu they have at the end of night. It’s huge and I love it because it means there’s something for all of my  everyone’s mood. For this night, my friend and I ordered drinks, apps, entrees, and a dessert. For drinks, I got the Vanilla Passion ($10) and my friend got the Honey Whiskey Fix ($10). The Vanilla Passion takes Absolut Vanilla and blends it with passion fruit syrup, fresh lime juice, jalapeno and tops it off with a mint leaf. The fun part about the mixture is they crush the jalapeno at the bottom of the drink allowing the flavor to slowly migrate throughout the cup. This also means the intensity will enhance as you get closer to the bottom. I liked the jalapeno punch in it, but the intensity is best for someone with that amount of tolerance. I’m a whimp, so when I ordered it again I asked the bartender to go easy on the jalapeno. Still a great drink with less spice! The Honey Whiskey Fix takes Knob Creek Bourbon and marries it with honey syrup and fresh lemon juice. It seemed like it would be an easy drink (because honey’s in it), but I was wrong. It’s stiff and solid. Once again, it’s not for the faint. So I ruled myself out and gave the drink back to my friend.

Oh, and then there was the Peach Sangria ($10). It’s made of white wine, cognac, peach puree, and citrus juices. Two words describe this drink: hell-to-the-yes. Whoops, that’s four words. Whatever.

Let’s Talk Food
Drinks may start the night, but appetizers kick off the meal.

First up were the Fried Queso Fresco ($7) and Animal Tots ($7). Both of these dishes were tasty because they combined my two favorite ‘C’s: carbs and cheese! The Fried Queso Fresco is simply fried cheese paired with marinara sauce. Simple, straight to the point, and oh so cheesy. You can dip the cheese squares in the sauce, or eat the squares and then drink the sauce. Whatever you please, you can do it with these small bites. The tater tots took the only good dressing in world—Thousand Islands—and poured it over cheddar cheese and caramelized onions. One bite and next thing you know you’re in fatty bliss.

Hold your horses there, we’re not done with appetizers.

Next up we shared bites of the Fried Avocado ($8) and Pulled Pork Belly Sliders ($11). I wasn’t the biggest fan of the Fried Avocado because of its temperature. My brain associates avocado as cold, so to taste it warm changed the texture of the fruit and made it foreign to me. I let my friend devour this plate. However the Pulled Pork Belly Sliders had a fun and spicy kick in between the two soft buns making it was easy for me to enjoy them.

It was finally time for the entrees!

My friend ordered the Prime Rib French Dip ($14). It was shaved roasted prime rib with a creamy horseradish sauce all on a French roll. And of course, no French dip is complete without au jus. Because I was saving space in my gut for my order, I didn’t dive into this one. Instead, I let my friend tell me how it was and in between his ruthless chomps he let me know it was good.

Now, my excitement loomed when my dish came. I got the Killer Shrimp Pot Pie ($15). It takes the well-loved killer shrimp and combines it with fresh carrots, corn, and potatoes and then envelopes it with a puff pastry top. Oh my gut, this was amazing. The puff was golden brown and thick, and once I broke into it the steam escaped and carried the scent of the killer shrimp seasoning to my nose. The smell was beautiful, but the taste was incomparable. The piping hot pie had such delicious vegetables in the soup, and the shrimp was so spicy and tasty. Every time I took a bite of the potpie I heard Louis Armstrong singing, “The three of us have fallen in love: me, myself, and I…”. And the best man won—my gut.

Now that we finished the appetizers and entrees, it was time for dessert. We got the Fried Twinkie ($5) which covers a Twinkie with chocolate, whipped cream and powdered sugar. It was so sweet, warm, and chocolatey. It tasted like every fair you go to in the summer and has just as many calories. I think this one had to have something close to 9,798 calories and I enjoyed eating each one of them. To be honest, I tapped out somewhere around the 8,000^th calorie. Still proud of myself!

Killer Cafe is a the type of restaurant the LA area needs! They’re open 24-hours and they serve great food and drinks. It sounds unreal, almost like a myth, but it’s true and they’re worth it. After reading this entire review, there’s no need to continue to doubt me, this restaurant really does exist. I guess the only question remaining is: if Killer Café is real does that mean unicorns are too?

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Address: 4213 Admiralty Way, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292
Phone: (310) 578-2250
Hours: Daily 24-hours
Social: Website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.