When joy and community were in short supply during the height of the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, Cara Haltiwanger’s pop-up Calabama served up both from an East Hollywood apartment fire escape. The periodic “ bucket drops ” that delivered Southern-style breakfast sandwiches from a red plastic bucket attracted a cult-like following of stir-crazy Angelenos who needed sustenance and a dash of whimsy amid social isolation. Starting Friday, November 15, 2024, fans of Haltiwanger’s downhome pop-up can come to Calabama’s permanent home in Hollywood for a dependable dose of Southern comfort.
Headlining the new restaurant’s menu are Haltiwanger’s signature breakfast sandwiches layered with bacon, egg, cheese, grilled onions, and avocado and served with a proprietary spicy-sweet dipping sauce, along with other staples from her Alabama childhood, including sweet tea, delicate biscuits, and pimento cheese. “I want to keep this shockingly simple, Southern, and country,” Haltiwanger says. “I didn’t open a restaurant to do an extensive menu.
” Even though Haltiwanger has worked on and off in hospitality as a line cook and bartender since relocating to Los Angeles from Mobile, Alabama in 2004, owning a brick-and-mortar was never her goal. “I think a lot of people romanticize running a restaurant, and to me, running a restaurant takes away the part that I love,” she says. “I’ve been fulfilled with my clients, pop-ups, collaborations with other chefs and businesse.