8 Erewhon Hot Bar Items That Are Actually Worth the Price

You can actually find some pretty good deals at the Erewhon hot bar. I know—I’m just as surprised as you are. While nothing can be described as “cheap” at Erewhon, the chi-chi L.A. grocery chain responsible for making $20 smoothies mainstream does provide some high quality hot bar food. And if you pick correctly, you can get some real bang for your buck. 

My colleague Gwynedd Stuart and I just sat down to an absolute feast of pretty much everything we could get from the Erewhon hot bar menu (about 15 items) and sorted out the good stuff that’s worth your cash from the bad stuff that will make you regret not spending your money at In-N-Out instead. 

The Erewhon hot bar menu changes frequently, but most menu items tend to make repeat appearances. We’ll update this article as we taste new Erewhon hot bar items worthy of our sacred recommendation. 

Here’s the best Erewhon hot bar food to buy. 

Main Dishes

Beef with Chimichurri ($40 / lb)

This sliced beef is super tender with a really nice char around the outside. This sounds dumb, but the meat is really meaty. A lot of beef is bland. This truly tastes like grassfed beef. And the chimichurri absolutely rocks. It’s a great mix of oil and fresh herbs and spice and salt—a restaurant would be proud to serve such a condiment. You could totally pick this up, arrange it on a platter, whip up a salad, and have a gosh darn dinner party. It’s truly delicious. 

Smashburger Double Slider ($9)

Don’t be fooled by the name. It’s much bigger than what I think of as a slider. And while it’s smaller than a burger you’d get at a fast casual joint, it’s seriously filling. And, let’s be honest, it’s probably the size of burger we should be eating. This doesn’t taste like any burger I’ve ever had. It’s topped with lots of sweet, sauteed onions, funky, melted Gruyere cheese, peppery arugula, and Erewhon’s own burger sauce. It’s funky and really, really flavorful. At $9, this is one of the better deals we found on the Erewhon hot bar menu. 

Buffalo Cauliflower ($21 / pound)  

This vegan, gluten-free Buffalo cauliflower has a bit of a following in the Sporked offices. The batter on the cauliflower is nice and thin. The cauliflower itself still has some bite. And the Buffalo sauce is great: bright and zippy and tangy and just buttery enough without being a greasy mess. My one quibble? The sauce does make the cauliflower a bit soggy. I got a piece of unsauced cauliflower and it was nicely crisp. Serve the sauce on the side so people can enjoy the sauce and the crispy coating! I’ll admit, the price is steep. But how often do you find good vegan, gluten free Buffalo anythings?

Short Rib Korean BBQ ($42 / lb) 

This tender, thinly sliced short rib packs a ton of flavor. It’s so sweet and savory. On its own it might be a little much, but stuffed into a Korean BBQ burrito or piled into a lettuce wrap or mixed up in a rice bowl, it would be right at home. Yes, it’s expensive. But short rib is expensive. And this way you don’t have to deal with cooking it or worry about ruining a fancy piece of meat! Plus, it’s rich. You really don’t need to buy that much. 

Chicken Adobo Taquito ($5.50)

I was a bigger fan of this taquito than my tasting partner, Gwynedd, but I stand by it. Here’s why: Not only is the meat tender and well seasoned, and the tortilla is freshly fried and crispy, and the salsa is a savory and necessary dip for the somewhat dry taquito, but it is fairly sizeable and only costs $5.50. What do I mean only $5.50? Well, a 7-Eleven taquito isn’t nearly as big and costs around $2.69. It doesn’t come with salsa. And you’ll probably need two, anyway. So why not just spend a little more than $5 on a genuinely good, filling taquito? Do I sound like I’m just trying to convince myself? Maybe! But I really liked this taquito!

Side Dishes

Cilantro Lime Rice ($14 / lb)

I really had low expectations for this. Hot bar rice? I figured it would be dry and bland, bright green color aside. But I was so wrong. This rice is possibly one of the best things to get from the Erewhon hot bar. It’s gently coconutty and a touch zesty. The rice is tender and fresh. It’s worth the cost if you can manage it. 

Green Beans & Almonds ($20 / lb)

Here’s an example of a simple dish done well. It’s not exciting. It’s not groundbreaking. It’s not unique to Erewhon. But it’s executed really, really well. The green beans are perfectly crisp tender, and they’re nicely seasoned—not too salty. There’s plenty of slivered almonds for good crunch. So often, green beans show up waterlogged and stringy. If you thought you didn’t like green beans because that’s the only way you’ve ever had them, give these a try.

Slow Cooked Black Beans ($13 / lb)

At just over $7.50, our order of black beans seemed maybe a little too costly. But then we took a bite and realized that it’s actually more like black bean soup than a standard side of black beans. And when we thought of it as soup, that price tag didn’t seem so bad! The beans are well seasoned and firm enough. The flavor is rich and zesty. If you plopped some plain Greek yogurt into this you’d have a real treat of a desk lunch. But hey, Erewhon? Let’s lose the stringy cilantro stems.