Calabama, an Alabama-influenced hot sauce and sandwich pop-up, is preparing to open its first brick-and-mortar location in West Hollywood later this year.
Owner Cara Haltiwanger started the business during the COVID-19 pandemic, selling hot sauces and breakfast sandwiches using a rope and bucket from her four-story East Hollywood apartment’s fire escape, according to Eater Los Angeles. Now, the businesswoman is ready to open the company’s first storefront. Haltiwanger tells What Now Los Angeles that the Calabama restaurant will be found on the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and McCadden Place and is expected to open in November 2024.
This is a massive accomplishment for Haltiwanger, who has been in the restaurant and bar business her entire life. The restaurant owner started as a dishwasher in a Mexican restaurant in Alabama before moving to Southern California. Eventually, Haltiwanger began to practice cooking during one of her bartending jobs, eventually leading to her starting a pop-up restaurant. Since then, she has continued operating her pop-up restaurants, private catering, and special events. This brick-and-mortar will be the next step on her journey, offering delicious, home-cooked meals with Southern inspiration.
“My style of food is definitely southern comfort foods, and I like to keep the classics, classic,” according to the company’s website. “I specialize in southern breakfast, fried chicken and biscuits, and, of course, hot sauce and condiments. I love to make family-style meals that people can share. The hot sauce has become my baby, and I hope to have it available for everyone, everywhere, to enjoy. Makings of a true hot sauce queen. My slogan is Keep Comin Home, and for me, that means keep going back to the place that makes you the happiest. The kitchen with my family is that place for me, but it’s different for everyone. Find yours, and keep going there.”
