Los Angeles Times food critic Bill Addison—working with columnist Jenn Harris—has released the publication’s annual 101 Best Restaurants. And three Long Beach restaurants ranked: Ammatolí (#36), Tacos La Carreta (#83), and Sonoratown (#26).
Ammatolí makes the list for the fourth year in a row.
Ammatolí remains the most recognized Long Beach restaurant on Bill’s list. (Though it should be noted that Phnom Penh Noodle Shack sits in the publication’s Hall of Fame, an honor that cannot be taken away once bestowed—and something that Ammatolí is likely to end up receiving at some point.)
And there is a reason for that.
Ammatolí is ultimately Chef Dima’s love letter from Jordan to Long Beach by way of the mighty Levant, where she has taken gastronomical cues from the region—Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon…—and put them on beautiful display since 2018. Expanding her footprint in 2022 and then again opening a third room this year, Ammatolí has evolved into one of our finest, where traditional, beautiful plates of Palestinian musakhan and sayadyieh are next to the space’s ever-growing variety of in-house baked goods thanks to daughter and master baker Masah Habibeh.
“I’m honored and grateful that Ammatolí has been named one of the 101 Best Restaurants by the L.A. Times for the fourth year in a row,” Chef Dima said. “This recognition reflects our team’s dedication, the love we pour into every dish, and the incredible support from our community. Thank you for being part of this journey with us.”
Tacos La Carreta might have opened a brick-and-mortar in Whittier but they’re still pure Long Beach.
I first wrote about taquero José Manuel Morales Bernal Jr. back in 2020 when they first moved to Long Beach—and discovered that much of what José learned he knows from his father, who was born in Mazatlán, the Sinaloa city whose love for carne asada is so pervasive that every single urban sector has the sweet smoke and savor of carne asada on the grill.
As a way to kill time over the weekend, their popular, Compton-based popup was an instant hit—but the pandemic eventually altered that, leading to a food truck outing at 69th Street in North Long Beach. This is where the name Tacos La Carreta became something. Offering classic chorreadas—something largely unseen on the taco scene—and the truck’s rightfully lauded “Torito” taco, it quickly blew up. And yes, it dealt quite the SoCal taco blow when it won Best in Show at LA TACO’s TACO MADNESS in 2023 and has since opened a brick-and-mortar in Whittier.
“My first goal was to make the list—and we did that last year,” Jose said. “My second goal? To serve my tacos at the event—and we did that this year. Thank you and a la orden.”
And Sonoratown might be L.A. but we’ve officially co-opted them.
We are blessed to have a space like Sonoratown.
They are the consummate example of flour tortilla-making. They have somehow created a harina round so masterfully concocted that the weight of the ingredients required to make their much-loved caramelo doesn’t break through its construction while lifting toward one’s mouth for a bit. And yes, when glancing at the hefty stuffing of nearly every aspect of their offerings—whether it is a taco, burrito, or quesadilla—it makes one immediately suspect that the tortilla is going to fall apart in a hot mess. Alas, they never do.
But beyond the solid food, you have the solid people: owners Jennifer Feltham and Teo Díaz-Rodríguez Jr. are naturally, beautifully humble. They own what they do well and, if it is something they don’t provide (like a vegan option), they happily direct patrons toward a place that can give them some love. And when it comes to their much-lauded opening here in Long Beach, Jennifer, Teo, and the team have been not just present but supportive, collaborative (their horchata latte with Recreational Coffee is nothing short of wondrous), and present. There is little more to ask of a business moving into a community.
Should we really care about a critic’s opinion of Long Beach?
Much like when I praised Bon Appétit asking Javier Cabral, the Long Beach resident who heads L.A. TACO, to make a list of the best tacos in the region rather than Googling said list, the same goes for Bill Addison and the entire Los Angeles Times food team. They live here. They work here. And they’re invested in the region in a way few can even dream of doing.
Unlike the mysterious-to-the-point-of-pointlessness rankings that fog other lists—be it Michelin or World’s 50 Best—this list is easily credited: It belongs to Bill Addison (and, this year, a large contribution from Jenn Harris). Humans whose words you can read: Jenn publishes a weekly Monday column highlighting the various things she has loved eating) while Bill publishes particularly special things. Reviews. Yes, reviews. Proper reviews.
I say this because Bill is the nation’s last anonymous food critic—something that might seem archaic but is truly beautiful. Surely, Jonathan Gold eventually unveiled himself—something Bill might end up having to do himself if he keeps covering the region with such gusto—but the art and will-power it takes to keep one’s self anonymous in such an intimate setting is not easy.
As anyone who loves food can attest, connecting with people is the number one reason that makes food such a powerful thing. In all franknes, I could not imagine a world where eating the food of Chef Dima or Chef Cameron Slaugh or Chef Jason Witzl or Chef Melissa Ortiz or Chef Michael Ryan or Chef Eric Samaniego or Chef Johnathan Benvenuti or Chef Michael Procaccini or Chef Eduardo Chang or Chef Luis Navarro or or or… These are just the names I whittled off in my head in the span of 30 seconds. For Bill it is no different; he has expressed this to me. For it is all too human to want to talk to the person who made your food—and Bill chooses not in the name of a valiant attempt at objectivity in subjective-centric world that is food. To witness someone such as Bill take their work with such gravity and concern is admirable in a world where over-sharing and one-star-or-five-stars-and-no-in-between-ness dominate, the entire region should be honored we’re home to what is truly the last anonymous food critic.
And for our food to be featured on it? Just as honorable.
