Tomas De Los Reyes, a bar industry vet with a hand in everything from cocktail competitions to bartenders’ guilds to the local party scene, has taken over the former Roundin’ 3rd space in Zaferia. And for him and his crew, it is still very much a place to watch a game.
That matters to Tomas. For 13 years, the neighborhood supported a bar and kitchen built around sports, and he has no interest in asking its regulars to leave that history at the door. Instead, Tomas and fellow Long Beach bar industry veteran Erik Trickett have spent months turning the space into Born Wild Sporting Club: a neighborhood clubhouse with cold beer,
familiar comfort food, plus a few Asian-inspired dishes and classic cocktails. It’s a room for both people who care and those who couldn’t care less about the score.
“Game day seats and plenty of room for those who still call it sportsball,” is how they put it. “All are welcome.”
Born Wild Sporting Club is not your papa’s sports bar…
The change is apparent as soon as you enter. Hunter green now covers a room filled with vintage trophies, boxing gloves and sporting objects from different eras. An outline of the Long Beach Grand Prix course hangs on a wall, as does a poster from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
Tomas gathered discarded equipment from Guvnors Boxing Gym on Anaheim Street, giving
some of the decor a direct connection to the city. He also shortened the old bar to make room for a lounge in a previously unused corner.
The inspiration comes in part from the sporting clubs well-known in New York—think the Racquet and Tennis Club on Park Avenue or the New York Athletic Club on Central Park South. Rooms that are dense with history and objects that invite you to linger. But Born Wild’s version is open to everyone.
“The Sporting Club part is our way of reframing the traditional sports bar into something that
feels more like a community clubhouse, without the exclusivity or gatekeeping,” Tomas said.
That also means broadening what belongs on screens and walls. Tomas wants to celebrate sports with roots in Long Beach and SoCal and, when the Olympics arrive, show more than the handful of events that tend to dominate a bar’s televisions.
“What’s on the TVs is only one part of the experience,” he said. “The decor includes nods to
sports culture, pieces connected to Long Beach’s sporting history, and art throughout the room.”
Born Wild Sporting Club will keep its drinks and food offerings straight-forward.
The opening menus keep things straightforward. Five $14 cocktails—the Manhattan, Old Fashioned, Martini, Aperol Spritz, and Negroni—anchor a drinks list that also includes a $6 frozen drink special during the soft opening, plus beer, wine, and canned drinks. Tomas wants Born Wild to become a destination for a “perfectly stirred Manhattan or Negroni,” and says nonalcoholic options are also planned.
The food—in a menu written by Erik and run by kitchen lead James Wilschke, who comes from Marlena—gives regulars plenty to recognize while making a few turns of its own. Wings come with a choice of seasonings, including tom yum powder. (Not to be dismissed.) “Totchos” with cheese sauce, housemade chili, onions, cilantro, and, of course, Fritos. A Philly-style beef sandwich, a Wagyu-blend patty melt, and a classic cheeseburger cover familiar bar territory. Everything bagel wontons, smoked fish, and a lemongrass-grilled chicken sandwich with pickled carrot and daikon stretch the menu a little further toward that Asian vibe…
For Tomas, retaining the space’s ease is part of honoring what came before.
“We recognized the legacy that was here and wanted to be a part of maintaining that community while ushering in space for fresh ideas and ways to connect,” Tomas said.
He hopes the room continues to draw a range of regulars who have made Roundin’ 3rd their own, including families. As an elementary-school dad, he knows the appeal of having a local place to take his family when nobody wants to cook.
Behind the name of Born Wild Sporting Club…
The name came from an unlikely bit of agreement: Tomas and Erik each wrote “Born Wild” on separate brainstorming lists. To them, it speaks less to a rowdy night out than to staying curious about who a neighborhood bar can bring together.
They intend to let the name’s meaning develop over time. Tomas wants to get the service and menus running smoothly first and build relationships in Zaferia.
Later, he sees room for collaborations with local creatives and community groups, as well as cocktail education, hospitality gatherings, and other small events. His experience with event production and the Long Beach Shaker Project gives him ideas, but he wants the programming to grow from what people actually want to do there.
For now, the invitation is simple: you can come for a game or not. Order a Manhattan, settle into the lounge, or bring the family for dinner. Born Wild bets that a sporting club can belong as much to the neighborhood as to sports fans.
Born Wild Sporting Club is located at 4133 E. Anaheim St.
