Chef Alfredo Amado of Ola Mexican Kitchen is Huntington Beach’s Secret Ingredient
Located next to its sister restaurant, The Brant, on the second floor of Pacific City in Huntington Beach, you’ll find Ola Mexican Kitchen, a fun and exciting restaurant that’s perfect for a beach-day lunch for one, happy hour with friends or dinner with family.
Born from the same partnership that gave us Mahé in Seal Beach, Ola Mexican Kitchen got its start in Huntington Beach and quickly became a local favorite. While Downtown Huntington Beach has no shortage of Mexican restaurants, Ola stands out among the rest. And it’s not just because of the astounding panoramic ocean view—this second-story restaurant draws in a crowd of locals and tourists with truly mouthwatering, enticing dishes.
Ola’s guests can expect familiar favorites on the menu, like tacos, enchiladas and chile rellenos, but they can also look forward to some unexpected twists. This is due to an inventive approach courtesy of Chef Alfredo Amado’s imagination and longstanding experience in the industry.
Growing up on the family farm in Mexico, Chef Amado spent his early life surrounded by crisp produce and herbs from the land, fresh fish from the nearby creek and warm hand-pressed tortillas from his mother’s kitchen. Despite his familiarity with food and quality ingredients, he didn’t form a strong interest in cooking until he moved to the US and got a job at a restaurant on the Queen Mary in Long Beach. The excitement of the kitchen lit a fire inside of him, and he was quick to ask questions, feeding his curiosity.
With one foot firmly planted in his roots and the other eager to explore, Chef Amado attributes culinary mastery to his experience with learning many culinary styles. He’s not afraid to use different techniques that enhance or shake up traditional dishes.
An example of this ingenuity is Ola’s lobster quesadilla. “I wanted to do something with lobster meat, so I cook it first and make it a scampi style—going back again to the things that I learned, the things that work, the things that I know that people love,” Chef Amado explains. “The scampi-style lobster is the base of the quesadilla. You’re getting the garlic flavor, the aftertaste of the onions, the aftertaste of the parsley—and you’re getting the white wine in there too. The first day that Toby tried it, he said, ‘Oh my god, this is heaven. This is so good.’”
While co-owner Toby Reece is a huge fan of Chef Amado’s creations—particularly the ribeye enchiladas—Amado’s favorite item on the menu is the blackened shrimp tacos. “The blackened shrimp taco with the pomegranate seeds, a little bit of guacamole and chile-lime aioli was my first baby,” he beams while sharing the story of the primary dish he made for Ola’s menu. Reece and Ola’s other co-owner, Tony Andrews, loved Chef Amado’s creative spin on his dishes and gave him the space to fully explore and experiment—even with the most expected plates. One of these staples is Chef Amado’s guacamole.
“I started pulling apart ingredients from the traditional guacamole. So I went with the avocado, obviously, but instead of lime, I put orange juice, and instead of tomatoes, I put pomegranate seeds,” he explains. “I call it ‘sexy guacamole’ because it looks so beautiful with the blue corn tortilla.”
“It’s just different, but the menu tells a story, you know? And it’s the story of everything that I have done in the culinary arts,” Chef Amado continues. “My mentor always told me, ‘You want to make this a career? Be more open to different kitchens and different food. Go ahead and learn French cuisine and Italian, and concentrate on the Japanese style—all the sushi and raw food.’ So, I did that and it paid off.”
With his flexible and experimental approach, Chef Amado has built a beautiful menu—one that has been passed on to Ola’s second location in Long Beach. And with weekly specials and regular tacos of the month, he has plenty of opportunities to continue flexing his creativity.
“It’s a passion, it’s not a job. It’s a lot of art,” he says. “When my mom comes from Mexico and visits the restaurant, she always gets tears in her eyes and says, ‘I’m so proud of you.’”
And while Chef Amado is certainly proud of his efforts, it feels more natural than anything else. “I was just born to do this kind of thing,” he says with a smile. “It just makes sense.”
2/16
Food
Ola Mexican Kitchen in Huntington Beach is well-known for delicious plates and creative cocktails, particularly specials like taco of the month and margarita of the month. Don’t miss the mix-and-match taco plates or the lobster quesadilla!
Decor
Featuring fun and fresh decor, Ola’s spectacular view of the ocean is the restaurant’s main talking point. Since the restaurant runs parallel to the beach, most of the seating options in the space include a waterfront view that’s a draw for visitors and locals alike.
Price Point
Meals at Ola in Huntington Beach range from $17 to $40, with plenty of options that are sure to please anyone at the table, and specialty cocktails typically hover around $16.
2/21
Overall Verdict
Ola Mexican Kitchen in Huntington Beach is an ideal place for lunch, happy hour or dinner with friends and family, and it’s the perfect pit stop for anyone spending the day at the beach, on Main Street or at Pacific City.
Ola Mexican Kitchen
@ola_mexican_kitchen
Born and raised near the Pacific Coast, Jordan Nishkian is a California girl through and through. She graduated from Cal State Long Beach with a BA in Creative Writing and a BA in Anthropology, and her favorite place to be is curled up in a comfy chair with a book in her hand and a pen in her hair.
