Chef Josh Haskal’s Breakfast Dreams is back in Long Beach with a regular residency. Following his (far too short) stint at Rose Park Roasters on Pine back in 2023, he will be at Retro Row’s Salud juice bar Thursdays through Saturdays from 8AM to 1PM.
“Angela [Keen, owner of Salud] and I connected over her funny and original social media content,” Chef Josh said. “We met and connected, talking for over an hour about a gazillion different subjects, and she offered for us to pop up at the Salud.”
The story behind Breakfast Dreams
For Chef Josh—the guy who oversaw Commodity’s stellar menu before it became Good Time Coffee and the head honcho behind the Breakfast Dreams popup that appears everywhere from Long Beach to Orange County—has always wanted to perfect the breakfast burrito.
“On the East Coast, breakfast sandwiches and bagels rule the day. But out here, we’re a breakfast burrito culture through and through,” Haskal told me last year. “And if anything, I would hope that my burrito is at least considered a Top 5 burrito.”
And since, he has been dolling out some of the city’s best breakfast. From masterful breakfast burritos that rank with the best in the city to breakfast sandwiches and burgers, the food of Chef Josh is hearty, warming, and definitively Long Beach. And as of late, he has brought in pastrami into the game.
The food of Breakfast Dreams is, well, the stuff of dreams.
Ah, the Breakfast Dreams breakfast burrito. It’s a beautiful layering that eschews the overly complicated for the straightforward. Chorizo from Chori-Man in San Pedro—the same used by Sonoratown. Or you can opt for maple-spice dusted bacon. Sous-vide eggs quickly griddled. Tomatillo salsa. Cheese. House-made hash brown. And some of Haskal’s self-dubbed “Dream Spread” that is like a solid burger spread. (It is easily among the best in the city, if not vying for the top spot in terms of spreads.) Add some of the Haskal’s fermented Calabrian chile “Dream Sauce” and some avocado and you have yourself a flour tortilla-wrapped wonder.
His play on breakfast sandwiches is one where he “returns to the simpler things as I get older. Like, I’ve noticed that the over-complication of food can be great for social media. But sometimes, you just want a bacon-egg-and-cheese.”
Hell, Haskal even offers a breakfast burger that—if you want to skip the egg—marks one of the most underrated burgers in a city rife with solid versions.
Breakfast Dream’s “Thicc Boi” is just that: A Martin’s potato roll buttered and grilled with spread, bacon, egg, and cheese. From there, they become more elaborate: The “Choriwich” coming with chorizo and pickled jalapeño, the “Supreme” going with bacon and chorizo… Each with a sous-vide egg that prevents the excessive yolky run that comes with poached egg sandwiches. The result? A creamy-not-runny yolkiness that is like a soft-boiled egg’s center but better.
The new pastrami sandwich and breakfast burrito from Breakfast Dreams. Photos by Chef Josh Haskal.
Yes, pastrami options are now available.
“Ever since we’ve added pastrami on the menu, it’s been a huge hit,” Chef Josh said.
And for right reason: Chunks peppered pastrami can be layered into a breakfast sandwich, which includes a housemade has brown, sous-vided egg, cheese, pickle, and Dream Spread. Or get it in a breakfast burrito, which is slowly vying for the title of one of the best in the city.
Breakfast Dreams is at Salud, located at 1944 E. 4th St., on Thursdays through Saturdays from 8AM to 1PM.
