Neo-bistro Olive & Rose, which features a French-California menu, recently opened on the ground floor of the renovated City Center motel in downtown Long Beach. During the day, O&R Bagels offers coffee, tea and bagels out of the same space.
(Jennifer Chong / For The Times)
20 exciting spots defining Long Beach’s modern culinary scene
- An electric energy is driving the modern dining scene of Long Beach, with new openings from chefs and restaurateurs born and raised in the city.
- Standouts include a natural wine bar, a Texas-meets-Cambodia barbecue pop-up, a Turkish ice cream parlor and a sake bottle shop.
Tucked between Orange County’s theme parks and Los Angeles’ star spotlight, Long Beach can be overlooked when there’s not a Grand Prix in town. That’s a boon for locals who can enjoy easy access to metropolitan amenities without sacrificing the friendly, know-your-neighbor attitude that Long Beach is known for.
Of course, Long Beach has always been a worthy Southern California destination. Parked in the city’s bustling port is the Queen Mary, a nearly century-old ocean liner that’s since transformed into a tourist attraction with restaurants, shopping and overnight suites. Just across the bay sits the largest aquarium in the state, where you can eat a sustainably sourced fish taco with a view of the seal and sea lion exhibit.
Yet too many visitors stick to the port city’s shoreline attractions, leaving whole neighborhoods unexplored. On the Eastside, for instance, a thriving enclave is home to the largest Cambodian community outside of Cambodia.
Jenn Harris reviews Sophy’s: Cambodia Town Food & Music, a decades-old Long Beach restaurant where the sauces are pungently addictive on the Cheesecake Factory-long menu and beef jerky is the star.
Recently, it’s the local culinary scene that’s attracting outside interest. Take Gusto Bread, an artisanal panadería that opened on Retro Row in 2020 and was named a finalist in the Outstanding Bakery category of the 2024 James Beard Foundation awards. Or Heritage restaurant, which became the city’s first Michelin-starred establishment in 2023, an honor it retained at this year’s awards ceremony.
Something is changing in the food scene here: Quietly, Long Beach has transformed into a densely concentrated dining paradise.
“Long Beach is going through a huge renaissance,” says Phil Pretty, Heritage chef and co-owner alongside his sister Lauren Pretty. The siblings also run Heritage farm, which fuels the restaurant’s zero-waste program, supplies produce for the daily-changing tasting menu and serves as an event space. Last month, the Prettys debuted a dual-concept bagel shop and dinner bistro in downtown Long Beach.
Nobu Matsuhisa brought Peruvian sushi to the U.S. in 1987. Now Eduardo Chang and Diawa Wong have planted a flag for their own style of Nikkei sushi at their Long Beach restaurant.
“There are multiple chefs in town that are doing stuff the right way and doing it really well and are all about their craft,” says Phil. He cites friend and colleague Carlos Jurado’s restaurant Selva, which weaves Colombian and Californian influences, and Ammatoli, chef-owner Dima Habibeh’s six-year-old temple to Levantine cooking, as examples.
“We look at ourselves as a smaller L.A., but it’s really condensed and you have all these different chefs from different walks of life bringing their best, whether it be farm to table, barbecue or tacos and Mexican food,” says longtime local and pitmaster Chad Phuong, whose Battambong BBQ pop-up blends Texas barbecue traditions with Cambodian flavors and techniques. “We have everything, and we want to celebrate it.”
That celebratory spirit is paving the way for new food concepts to find local success in a tumultuous industry, and the condensed city limits only make collaboration among Long Beach food businesses that much easier.
Pickled eggs and charcuterie bowls at Joe Jost’s, the 100-year-old bar in Long Beach.
“We help each other out,” says Jessica Sarwine, who co-owns Oh La Vache cheese with former Cheese Store of Silver Lake monger Erika Ponzo, of their surrounding community on Retro Row. “If we’re all elevating each other, then we’re all doing well. It’s not like there’s only room for one of us.”
Long Beach native Brennan Villarreal, who co-runs the Got Your Back pop-up with his partner, Sasha Schoen, credits his generation for driving this supportive and community-minded ethos. “I’ve watched this community that I grew up with and now they’re investing back in the city, getting married, buying houses in Long Beach, having kids in Long Beach, and all of our tastes have grown up with us.”
“Hopefully the OG staples live forever,” adds Schoen. “I would hate to not have Thai Curry Pizza or El Sauz’s tacos ever again, but it’s fun to see things move and change and push the boundaries.”
I’ve spent months getting to know the spots driving Long Beach’s resurgent dining scene, including the state’s first women-focused sports bar, a bottle shop dedicated to sake and a Filipino-inflected restaurant housed in an art compound. And even though it’s a 40-minute drive from my Mid-City home on the clearest traffic day, I keep finding reasons to return.
The ‘Saved by the Bell’ icon’s food crawl began with Southern-fried frickles and ended with Michelin chocolate cake. No wonder her new cookbook levels up leftovers.
Showing Places
(Sterling Reed)
Alder & Sage
Long Beach Coffee Breakfast/Brunch $$
Alder & Sage owner Kerstin Kansteiner combined and expanded upon her former sibling cafe concepts Portfolio Coffeehouse and Berlin Bistro when she opened her convivial daytime restaurant in Retro Row in 2023. A steady slew of regulars stop by the Streamline-style building for morning coffee, tea and fresh-baked pastries, with a handful of seasonal beverages that rotate through the menu. This fall, that includes a pumpkin spice cold brew and a whiskey caramel latte with atomized whiskey, but the broad selection of house-made syrups also makes it tempting to concoct your own latte.
For something more substantial, breakfast and lunch span Turkish eggs with garlic-beet yogurt and Aleppo oil, braised short rib with a soft egg over creamy polenta and Jidori chicken lettuce wraps. On weekends, a slightly truncated brunch menu features a mojo pork shoulder hash and ricotta French toast. The bar menu includes low-ABV spritzes and soju-spiked cocktails, with a selection of beer and natural wines by the glass and bottle. Once a month for Retro Row’s Fourth Fridays street fair, Alder & Sage opens from 6 to 9 p.m. with coffee, tea, wine, cocktails and BBQ from Shady Grove.
For something more substantial, breakfast and lunch span Turkish eggs with garlic-beet yogurt and Aleppo oil, braised short rib with a soft egg over creamy polenta and Jidori chicken lettuce wraps. On weekends, a slightly truncated brunch menu features a mojo pork shoulder hash and ricotta French toast. The bar menu includes low-ABV spritzes and soju-spiked cocktails, with a selection of beer and natural wines by the glass and bottle. Once a month for Retro Row’s Fourth Fridays street fair, Alder & Sage opens from 6 to 9 p.m. with coffee, tea, wine, cocktails and BBQ from Shady Grove.
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(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Battambong BBQ
Long Beach Cambodian Barbecue $$
Home to the largest Cambodian community outside of Cambodia and a thriving culinary enclave, Long Beach is no stranger to Cambodian cuisine. But Chad Phuong — also known as the Cambodian cowboy — is offering something wholly unique with Battambong BBQ, a pop-up that merges the flavors of his heritage with traditional Texas barbecue techniques and California ingredients. A proud ambassador for Cambodian cuisine, Phuong hosted the city’s first Cambodian food festival last month, a successful all-day affair that involved a host of long-standing and up-and-coming vendors, with plans to make it an annual event.
Catch Battambong BBQ at Bixby Knolls farmers market every Thursday and Smorgasburg L.A. every Sunday, as well as various Long Beach and South Bay breweries throughout the week, serving trays of smoked tri-tip, brisket, ribs, pork belly, lemongrass chicken and twako (Cambodian sausage) with sides of coconut corn, smoked fried rice and pickles. Don’t miss the Long Beach nachos, a heap of smoked cheddar, coconut corn, guacamole, jalapeños, hot peppers and pickles on tortilla chips with your choice of meat. A weekly schedule is posted on Instagram.
Catch Battambong BBQ at Bixby Knolls farmers market every Thursday and Smorgasburg L.A. every Sunday, as well as various Long Beach and South Bay breweries throughout the week, serving trays of smoked tri-tip, brisket, ribs, pork belly, lemongrass chicken and twako (Cambodian sausage) with sides of coconut corn, smoked fried rice and pickles. Don’t miss the Long Beach nachos, a heap of smoked cheddar, coconut corn, guacamole, jalapeños, hot peppers and pickles on tortilla chips with your choice of meat. A weekly schedule is posted on Instagram.
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(Brother’s Keeper BBQ)
Brother's Keeper BBQ
Barbecue $$
Maurice “Mo” Stewart grew up in South Central but moved to Long Beach for college; the city’s thriving food scene and diverse residents convinced him to stay. He fell in love with barbecue through his grandparents’ cooking, but it wasn’t until his fiancé gave him a smoker for Father’s Day in 2016 that he began experimenting and revisting the recipes from his childhood. He launched Brother’s Keeper BBQ as a pop-up the following year, combining Central Texas barbecue techniques with the Kansas City customs he inherited from his Pennsylvania-born grandparents, including sides based on his grandmother’s recipes. This summer, word of Brother’s Keeper spread beyond the SoCal region when Stewart won Bludso’s Smoke Tour, an inaugural barbecue competition hosted by celebrity pitmaster Kevin Bludso of Bludso’s BBQ. After winning the competition, Stewart took on a corporate role that he hopes will provide funding for consistent pop-ups in the future. In the meantime, follow Brother’s Keeper on Instagram for updates on upcoming events.
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(Danielle Dorsey / Los Angeles Times)
Buvons Wine Bar
Long Beach Wine Bars $$
Hidden off a residential street is Buvons Wine Bar, an approachable spot for natural, small-production and low-intervention wines, with shelves of bottles and cheeky wine-related art lining the walls. A small food menu with options such as a charcuterie board, tinned fish, oysters and limited desserts (recently, a gluten-free olive oil cake with blood orange) is available, but the bistro plays frequent host to food pop-ups as well as tastings and a weekly vinyl night. Owner and wine director Alicia Kemper previously owned Mangette, a French-inspired coffee shop next door, but since the cafe closed in October, she has expanded Buvons’ patio seating with wooden benches, strung lights and striped umbrellas.
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(Danielle Dorsey / Los Angeles Times)
Devi's Donuts
Long Beach Desserts $
After first launching as a vegan donut pop-up at local farmers markets, Devi’s Donuts, named after owner Tulasi Ognibene’s daughter, opened a small storefront in 2021 with an expanded selection that spans berry- and cream-filled creations, chocolate donuts made with 100% cacao, classic flavors, cinnamon rolls, croissants and a simple coffee menu. The colorful shop features a mural of a hungry Homer Simpson chasing donuts, and Ognibene, his wife, Eva, or one of their kids is always waiting with a smile behind the counter.
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(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Galata
Long Beach Turkish Ice cream $
Brightening up a corner of 2nd Street with its bubblegum-pink facade, Galata became a destination for Turkish-style ice cream when it opened over the summer. Called dondurma, the ancient style of ice cream uses salep (ground orchid roots) and mastic (plant resin) for a texture that’s chewier and slower to melt than what you’ll find at your local scoop shop. The consistency of dondurma allows the ice cream masters to tease and delight children with a show that involves twisting and flipping the cones out of the customer’s grasp. In the display case next to tubs of kiwi, pistachio and walnut ice cream are shelves of imported Turkish baklava, Turkish delight and syrup-soaked semolina cookies. A selection of Turkish teas sits behind the counter.
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(Joseph Lopez)
Got Your Back
Long Beach Filipino Californian $
Brennan Villarreal and Sasha Schoen met at Rose Park Roasters, and when it closed, they were inspired to create dining experiences that harnessed the former restaurant’s collaborative ethos. Got Your Back began as a series of monthly backyard pop-ups with a $5 entry fee that granted guests access to an array of food, craft, art, retail and other vendors, with live music and other entertainment. The concept has evolved and the pair now host events that range from appearances at Smorgasburg L.A. to supper clubs and casual breakfast pop-ups. On the changing menu, expect California ingredients fused with the Filipino flavors that Villarreal grew up with, such as a breakfast sandwich with a pork longanisa patty, banana ketchup hot sauce and a fried egg on pandesal from local Gemmae Bake Shop. The duo’s next pop-up on Nov. 16 involves a five-course meal with a natural-dye activity from local textile project Current Shapes, all centered around the color red. Get tickets online and follow Got Your Back on Instagram to stay updated on future events.
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(Shelby Moore/Los Angeles Times)
Gusto Bread
Long Beach Bakery $
Owner-baker Arthur Enciso first opened Gusto Bread as a home bakery with his partner, Ana Belén Salatino, in 2017, then made the jump to a permanent location on Retro Row in 2020. Though Enciso was originally drawn to the art of baking European-style breads in a wood-fired oven, over time he came to experiment with ingredients and pastries that reflected his Mexican heritage, including a a semi-sweet sourdough concha and a masa-fueled take on a flaky kouign amann pastry he calls Nixtamal Queen. Today, the artisanal panaderia bustles from open to close, doling out horchata cold brews and matchas with Koda Farms rice, alfajores cookies sandwiched with Argentinian dulce de leche and a host of Latin-inspired beverages, breads and pastries. In the refrigerator case and on the shelves are house-made dog treats, wrapped discs of cacao, Oaxacan coffee and a selection of cheeses. You can even purchase Gusto’s sourdough starter to make your own bread at home.
Read more about Enciso and Gusto Bread.
Read more about Enciso and Gusto Bread.
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(Danielle Dorsey / Los Angeles Times)
Kitchen Lingo Books
Long Beach Bookstore $$
On Retro Row, just a few doors down from Gusto Bread and Oh La Vache, Kitchen Lingo bookstore serves as a hub for the Long Beach culinary community with inventory that goes far beyond cookbooks, including history, essay, memoir, fiction, nonfiction and scientific books on food and eating. Opened in March 2023, owner Matt Miller says his goal for the bookstore has always been to bring people together over the topic of food — and sometimes over actual food in workshops that might include a butter tasting, sauerkraut fermentation or nose-to-tail butchery. Miller is always happy to lend a recommendation or search the stacks for a specific cover, including signed collectibles and rare editions.
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(Stephanie Breijo)
Little Coyote
Long Beach Pizza $$
One of our critic’s favorite pizzerias in L.A. County, Little Coyote has two East Coast-inspired parlors on Retro Row and Los Coyotes Diagonal where you can pick up foldable slices with classic and unconventional toppings, including the controversial Pineapple Express with pineapple, bacon, jalapeño, red onion and pink sauce; a loaded vegan pie with mushroom, artichoke, spinach, garlic and red sauce; and rotating weekend specials including a recent “Coloradizza” with chile Colorado beef, chile tomato sauce, cheddar-jack cheese, jalapeños, lime crema and cilantro. Single slices are available from 12 to 2 p.m. daily, including square Sicilian-style Grandma slices on focaccia. A couple sub sandwiches and salads complete the menu, along with a smart, natural-leaning wine list and selection of beer.
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(Danielle Dorsey / Los Angeles Times)
Marlena
Long Beach Mediterranean $$
It’s fitting that the open-air Cal-Mediterranean restaurant from executive chef Michael Ryan and first-time restaurateur Robert Smith is located in Long Beach’s Naples neighborhood, which is divided into canals that open up to the bay. Here, with a constant sea breeze and a menu filled with wood-fired meats, local produce and pizzas, it’s easy to pretend you’re in Southern Italy’s capital city, especially when you dive into the global wine list. With a jade-tiled bar and slatted partitions that merge indoor and outdoor spaces, Marlena presents as a great option for a date night or weekend brunch.
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(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Oh La Vache
Long Beach Cheese Shop $$
Oh La Vache co-owner Erika Ponzo served as cheese monger for the now-shuttered Cheese Store of Silver Lake and ran the Monte 52 sandwich shop inside of a Highland Park convenience store before she gave up the harrowing commute to Northeast L.A. to open a cheese shop near her home in Long Beach. She partnered with Jessica Sarwine, a longtime friend and former marketing director for Beachwood Brewing, and the pair opened Oh La Vache — the French equivalent of “Holy cow” — on Retro Row in 2020. At any given time you’ll find 90 to 100 cheeses stacked in refrigerated display cases, with half representing core cheeses that are approachable in both flavor and price, and half representing seasonal or limited stock. A daily-changing European-inspired sandwich menu is available for lunch, with fresh-baked bread from Hey Brother Baker and ingredients pulled from the shop’s cases and shelves. Wine, jam, dried fruit, vinegar, oils, sauces, pastas, boards, knives and other kitchen items are available to complete your charcuterie spread.
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(Jennifer Chong/For The Times)
Olive & Rose
Long Beach Farm-to-table $$$
A new, dual-concept restaurant is lighting up the ground floor of the recently renovated Sonder City Center motel in downtown Long Beach, courtesy of sibling duo Philip and Lauren Pretty of Heritage restaurant and farm. In the morning, the sun-drenched space opens as O&R Bagels, with naturally leavened rings from Costa Mesa’s Boil & Bake topped with house-cured or smoked salmon or caviar, and a coffee program from Orange’s Play Coffee. For dinner, the space flips to Olive & Rose, a moody neo-bistro that departs from Heritage’s tasting menu format with a la carte plates that blend French and California influences, including a sculptural endive and date salad, roast chicken and foraged mushrooms soaking in au jus and marinated pork shoulder with grilled lettuce. For dessert, honeycomb-brittle-topped marshmallow ice cream is spun in-house.
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(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Ruta 15
Long Beach Mexican Seafood $$
The ceviche bar from executive chef César Sánchez is named after Mexico’s Carretera Federal 15 highway, with dishes inspired by the different cities and regions it traverses through, including Tijuana-style cheese-griddled tacos and Michoacán-inspired enchiladas, plus cocteles, aguachiles, oysters, seafood empanadas and large-format mains such as a 12-ounce ribeye and garlic-sauteed shrimp. The beverage menu features aguas frescas and raspados, as well as margaritas, micheladas, a handful of draft beer options and wines by the glass or bottle.
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(Jennifer Chong/For The Times)
Sake Secret
Long Beach Bottle Shop $$
After running an after-dark sake pop-up at Long Beach Beer Lab for two years, sake sommelier Greg Beck opened his bottle shop and tasting room dedicated to Japanase rice wine in downtown Long Beach in summer of last year. The narrow space features an L-shaped bar where patrons can pull up a stool and chat with Beck about the various flights and bottles available for tasting, with refrigerators stocked full of options that prioritize balance and value. You can order or bring food into the shop for a full picnic, or stop by for events that range from sake-paired dinners to a quarterly club. Beck is also responsible for launching Long Beach Sake Day, which held its second annual festival in October.
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(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Sonoratown
Long Beach Mexican $
The neighborhood taqueria from Teodoro Diaz-Rodriguez Jr. and Jennifer Feltham that’s listed on the Food team’s inaugural guide to the 101 best tacos in L.A. opened its third and largest location in Long Beach last month, featuring an identical menu based on the traditions of San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, where Diaz-Rodriguez grew up. Cabeza is the newest protein option added to the menu alongside grilled short rib, chicken, chorizo, tripa and poblano chiles; order the tender-braised beef head in a caramelo or Burrito 2.0, both wrapped in pillowy Sonoran-flour tortillas, or atop a Lorenza with a crispy corn tortilla. Pair your food with an agua fresca, a Mexican coke or beer from the rotating list.
Read The Times review of Sonoratown’s original location and a feature about its West Hollywood expansion.
Read The Times review of Sonoratown’s original location and a feature about its West Hollywood expansion.
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(Stephanie Breijo/Los Angeles Times)
Speak Cheezy
Long Beach Italian Restaurant $
Your group doesn’t have to settle on just one pizza style when they head to Urban Pie founder and chef Jason Winters’ pizzeria on 4th Street. The menu at Speak Cheezy features Sicilian, Chicago tavern, neo-New York and California-style pizzas, all made with naturally fermented sourdough and many of them topped with hand-stretched mozzarella. You can’t go wrong with a classic Margherita or pepperoni, but personal favorites include a pink pie with vodka sauce, meatballs, ricotta, truffled chili crisp and basil and a carbonara with mozzarella and fontina cheese, red onion, garlic, pancetta and an egg yolk emulsion with Parmesan crema and black pepper that’s added after the pizza is pulled from the oven. Cheesy garlic bread, a handful of salads and wings make it a full-fledged dinner destination, with cookies and shaved ice for dessert.
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(Cara Harman)
Union
Long Beach Southeast Asian $$
Nestled within the Compound art gallery in Long Beach’s Zaferia district, Union is an evolving restaurant concept helmed by chef Eugene Santiago that plays off the seasons, the gallery’s rotating exhibitions and Santiago’s Filipino heritage. Ongoing through Feb. 2025 is “When the Veil Thins,” a group exhibition curated by artist Tofer Chin and mindfulness educator and writer Mari Orkenyi that explores the unconscious and how artists process collective and personal experiences through art-making. Diners are invited to browse the works before or after their meals (or while they wait), including “Until All Is Dissolved,” a captivating water fixture by Iranian artist Roksana Pirouzmand that anchors the restaurant patio and sculpture garden. The complementary menu from Santiago features highlights such as steamed crab dip, duck confit and Filipino-style galbi for dinner, with brunch offerings that span shrimp toast and coconut fried rice. The cocktail list from Corbin Brown follows a similar format, including Autumn Colors, a fall concoction with pisco, pineapple amaro, roasted persimmon, cinnamon, lemon and egg white.
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(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Watch Me! Sports Bar
Long Beach Bar/Nightclub $$
Jax Diener first vowed to open a women-centered sports bar decades ago when she and friends were made to feel unwelcome at a sports bar on NFL Sunday. In 2022, when Jenny Wynn made history with the opening of Sports Bra in Portland, Diener decided it was time to launch a similar option in Long Beach, a city she’s called home for the last 16 years. Watch Me! Sports Bar debuted in Marketplace Long Beach in late July, in a spacious, two-story space with TVs mounted throughout. The menu from chef Debbie Lancaster features comfort-driven ribs, flat breads, loaded fries, baby back ribs and bone-in or cauliflower wings coated in buffalo or chile lemongrass sauce or a dry rub. The bar favors women-led labels, including the spirits in house cocktails, beer and wines by the glass and bottle, with a robust list of thoughtful non-alcoholic options. Watch Me screens college-level and professional sports, including national and international men’s and women’s teams; check Instagram for this week’s schedule.
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(Nolan Wood)
Wood Coffee
Long Beach Vegan Coffee $
Nolan Wood opened Wood Coffee in late 2021 with the goal of creating a vegan coffee shop centered in unapologetic queer joy. Today it’s making good on that dream with an inspired menu of locally made pastries (including donuts from Devi’s) and coffee and tea drinks, with rotating specials such as Oh My Gourd, a matcha latte with housemade pumpkin sauce. Located in Rose Park, the cafe is a comfortable spot to remote work for the day, or stop by for a drag show or craft fair to make new friends.
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