Santa Monica |

Reviewed by: Kevin

“It is our goal at Hole in the Wall Burger Joint to provide the public with healthy alternatives to corporate fast food.”

When I read that sentence, I laughed so hard I nearly choked on the deep fried mac n’ cheese I was eating. Look, I work at a College. I love a good mission statement. But at least make it kind of accurate.

I know that reads as a criticism, but I don’t mean for it to. Well, I do mean it to, but it didn’t take anything away from my enjoyment of the restaurant. If anything, the ready availability of deep fried mac n’ cheese actually made me enjoy Hole in the Wall even more. Three sizeable lumps of macaroni and cheese, deep fried, and covered in a creamy house made cheese sauce. In fact, this emphasis on making things in-house – the cheese sauce, the ketchup, almost everything – contributes to Hole in the Wall’s mission to provide their patrons with healthy alternatives. According to Hole in the Wall it isn’t deep fryers and cheese sauce that is keeping us down. It’s corporate America.

But was Hole in the Wall’s burger as revolutionary as their ideology? No, but that doesn’t prevent it from still being really good. I ordered a standard burger on a pretzel bun, with lettuce, tomato, cheddar cheese, and bacon. If you’ve read the blog before, you’d know that pretzel buns are trending upward in popularity, and for good reason. The bun was soft and doughy, and brought a healthy dose of, I don’t know, pretzel-ey-ness, to the burger. The patty was juicy, and the toppings fresh. Overall this was a really good burger. To top it all off, and Hole in the Wall gets major points for this, I washed it all down with a Cheerwine.

Hole in the Wall offers a pretty great burger, with incredible deep fried macaroni and cheese and a healthy variety of rare bottled soda. Well, not healthy as in good for you, healthy as in… never mind.