Not What We Expected...

But it was good enough for what it is.  I'm talking about not getting to have lunch at our favorite barbecue place (because they're gone - but I have lines out to learn just where they did go) and having to go to Plan B in a town we don't know that well (Lomita.) 

On the way to get barbecue, we'd passed a coffee shop/family restaurant that called itself "Hot'n Tot" which had gotten my interest.  Richie'd never heard of a "hottentot" so he was curious, too. 

I knew that back in Kansas City years ago, blacks were often pictured as African heathens in skirts made of bananas, brandishing a spear and wearing bead necklaces.  That was a typical description of a black heathen.  Apparently all of the white people in Kansas City considered themselves "religious" and by no means heathens.   

The restaurant has ample parking out back and is roomy inside.  Service was good and the food was something we rarely get: the food was exactly as it should be.  My Reuben and Richie's tuna melt were both grilled to perfection and the ingredients were in the proportions they should have been.  Nothing outshone anything else; all was balanced and harmonious.  And next day, my leftover half sandwich spent one minute at medium in the microwave and came miraculously right back to life. 

Yet today, looking online for a history of the place, est. 1946 in Googie style , I ran across scathing critiques of the place.  "Admire the building - but don't eat there!"  One of them wrote, "Don't judge a book by its cover."  One praised the corn beef hash though - crispy with a little crunch, no grease at all.  If they do that dish justice like they did my Reuben, be seein' ya, Tots!