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Seafood Feast Spot Crackin’ Kitchen Gets Poppin’ in Pasadena This Friday

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The Cajun-Hawaiian seafood spot is meant for getting hands dirty

Crackin’ Kitchen
Crackin’ Kitchen in Pasadena
Crackin’ Kitchen [official photo]
Farley Elliott is the Senior Editor at Eater LA and the author of Los Angeles Street Food: A History From Tamaleros to Taco Trucks. He covers restaurants in every form, from breaking news to the culture, people, and history that surrounds LA's dining landscape.

Hawaiian highlight Crackin’ Kitchen is now on the scene in Pasadena, angling for an official opening on Friday. The Cajun-Island crossover restaurant has lots of seafood on hand, and paper towels at the ready.

Crackin’ Kitchen is in some ways like many of the other crawfish-styled boiled seafood restaurants around Los Angeles, offering customers a plethora of oceanic options meant to be poured onto the table, pulled apart, and devoured. That means options guava soy chicken wings, ahi poke, and lots of salmon to go along with Cajun combos of shrimp, mussels, clams, andouille sausage, and crab available at three different spice levels. Interestingly enough, the restaurant’s menu has been overseen by Takeshi Omae (Japanese Cuisine by Omae, Morimoto XEX).

Crackin’ Kitchen
The booths inside

This stateside location of Crackin’ Kitchen will also feature a variety of beer and wine as well as cocktails that lean towards the outrageously island-y. There are mai tais, a Blue Hawaii with lychee liquor and blue curaçao, and more. As for the 112-seat space, expect hand-painted seafood murals, rustic wooden booth seating, and lots of exposed bulbs.

Crackin’ Kitchen officially opens Friday along Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, keeping hours from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. weekdays for lunch. Dinner starts at 4:30 p.m. and runs to 10 p.m. (or 11 p.m. on weekends), with brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Crackin’ Kitchen
115 E. Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena, CA