There is no question: Long Beach is home to one of the richest coffee scenes in the region and is amid an outright baking renaissance when it comes to breads, pastries, and pies. And while it would be ideal that every single person in the country either has this holiday off or can spend it with family, the blunt reality is that that isn’t true. Some are disconnected from family. Many are working, be it remotely or through the service industry. And even more are searching for places to get caffeinated or sweetened up before the holiday begins.
Here are the Long Beach coffee shops and bakeries open on Thanksgiving Day.
Own a shop or bakery that’s open on Thanksgiving day and don’t see it here? Reach out to Brian Addison and he’ll happily add you to the list: brian@longbeachize.com
Knead Donuts & Tea (5AM to 3PM)
3490 E. 7th St.
The sweetest of places on this list I save for last: Long Beach, this place is not only home to the best classic blueberry donut, it also rolls out some of the most creative donuts in the city. Ran by Cambodian family patriarch Huey BeHuynh and his endless array of charming, kind, and outright lovable family members, Knead took over the old Gladstone Donuts at Seventh and Redondo and brings with them their long tradition of making donuts.
What to expect? I’m talkin’ creations like crème brûlée donuts, Tiger Tails, strawberry-banana delights, Drake’s passionfruit donut—yup—and the best damn blueberry donut this side of Maine.
Black Ring Coffee (7AM to 3PM)
5373 Long Beach Blvd.
Black Ring Coffee’s rise to recognition has been one doused in the Long Beach spirit.
Bottling cold brew by hand and selling it out of their home and MADE by Millworks, the success of their individual bottle sales led to their brick-and-mortar on Long Beach Boulevard in North Long Beach. And that makes it the north side’s first independent coffeeshop, a stark contrast to Downtown and Alamitos Beach’s heavy saturation of well-known coffeeshops.
In 2019, the crew had their cold brew on nitro named the best in the country. Yes, in the country.
Nonna Mercato (8AM to 3PM; cafe only)
3722 Atlantic Ave.
Chef Cameron Slaugh’s cafe-meets-bistro in Bixby Knolls has built up a name for its carby wonders—from pasta to pastries. And in the world of Long Beach’s booming bread and baking scene—from Gusto in Bluff Heights and Colossus in Belmont Shore to cottage masters like Hey Brother Baker and yeasty innovators like Long Beach Beer Lab—there hasn’t been a shortage of stellar carb offerings in the city.
If anything, Long Beach is in a local bread and baking renaissance—and Nonna Mercato in Bixby Knolls hopes to take on that renaissance through a definitively California-meets-classic-European-tradition lens.
Stereoscope (7AM to 5PM)
4925 E. 2nd St.
For those in the Los Angeles coffee scene, Stereoscope is an example of some of its most stellar caffeinated offerings—and its first shop in Long Beach, which opened in Belmont Shore in 2022, only adds to our city’s own stellar coffee scene.
It is the bean to which Nonna Mercato trusts their own namesake coffee to be put on. And, even more, they go beyond the coffee, especially with their matcha. While you will never fail on a brew or espresso, their matcha is a thing of wonder: Using your choice of three different Japan-based Mizuba ceremonial matchas—ceremonial grade matcha means the tea is made using the youngest of leaves, which have more chlorophyll and provide an earthier taste with a brighter green—it is truly a worthy drink for the matcha lovers.
Plus, they carry pastries and breads from Nonna Mercato. And they’re open later than usual (closing at 8PM and not 5PM). Win, win, win.
Gemmae Bakeshop (6:30AM to 5PM)
1356 W. Willow St.
To see the growth of Catherine Tolentino—the daughter of Prescilla Tolentino, who uprooted herself 30 years from the Philippines to open Gemmae Bake Shop in Long Beach—is to witness a daughter not only grasp her mom’s ambition but also inherit her talent. Gemmae has grown beyond a bake shop and into a true community asset.
Expanding to offer hot foods, proudly charging into the 2020s with contemporary takes on Filipino classics (like their stuffed pandesal, which alters with a new flavor monthly), and a continual love of collaborations (like her stellar sisig pizza collab with Chef Jason Winters over at Speak Cheezy, another dish on this list), Catherine is taking on her mom’s spirit in creative ways that even get the hard-to-earn-but-very-much-worth-it Nod of Approval from Prescilla.
CoffeeDrunk (6:30AM to 2PM)
2701 E 4th St. | 4374 Atlantic Ave. | 913 E. Wardlow Rd.
Coffee Drunk, which opened its first location just west of 4th Street and Temple Avenue in late 2020, has since quickly expanded. Owners Breezy and Matthew Church opened a second location in Cal Heights at the northeast corner of Wardlow Road and Myrtle Avenue, just east of the Meat & Vino shop. And then they opened a Bixby Knolls location as well.
While owning their identity as a third-wave coffee spot—the use of the respected 49th Parallel roaster as their house bean makes that clear—the space lacks pretense and doesn’t harp to the stereotypes that such coffeeshops often exude. Their menu acts a sort of middle ground between the third and second-wave coffee people: You can very much enjoy your slow-drip black coffee or indulge in a syrup-based concoction that leans toward the sweet.on, or wagyu beef cheek act as your starring dishes.
Steelhead (7AM to 2PM)
3350 E. Broadway | 3768 Long Beach Blvd. #103 | 1208 E. Wardlow Rd.
Steelhead owners John and Rany Aguirre expanded quickly before the pandemic. Their flagship location in Cal Heights was warmly welcomed in 2014. Then they were the first vendor to open at Bixby Knoll’s SteelCraft complex in 2017. And then they opened their Bluff Park in 2019, taking over a former sandwich shop. (It was a bank before that; the Aguirres use the old vault as storage space.)
Quietly serving up Penny and Cat Cloud beans across their tenure, their Bluff Heights location is certainly one of the coolest: Old-school tiling with mint greens throughout, one can enjoy their cup of coffee while huffing in the wafting scents of Flamin’ Curry and The Attic (and, if they’re so inclined, grabbing a much harder drink at dive bar legend Reno Room).
Sweet Jill’s (5AM to 1PM)
5001 E. 2nd St.
For anyone in the shore, the waft of baked sugar, butter, and cinnamon through the air at 5:30AM feels like a warm hug.
Jill Kinney Pharis is the owner and founder of Sweet Jill’s Bakery, which opened in 1987. Learning to bake farm favorites from her grandmother throughout her childhood, she perfected the old-fashioned cinnamon roll, the staple of the shop.
Confidential Coffee (8AM to 2PM)
1241 E. 4th St.
Confidential Coffee owner Denise Maldonado is no stranger to coffee (as is co-owner Gustavo De La Rosa). Heading to Long Beach by way of Demitasse, coffee master Bobby Roshan’s well-respected coffee staple in L.A., Maldonado’s harkens to her own Mexican roots by offering up everything from cajeta lattes—a homage to Mexican caramel—to mazapan lattes—this latter drink giving a tip-of-the-hat to Mexico’s famed peanut candy, de la Rosa. (I always feel a little flutter of happiness at successfully unwrapping a piece of mazapan without breaking it.)
Opening in 2018, the shop has been an underdog in the scene, facing not just steep competition from the coffee-rich Downtown neighborhood it is in, but the troubles that come with the Downtown. Multiple break-ins have not broken their spirit but rather strengthened it. And as an underrated space on the coffee spectrum, it is also one of the quietest places you can get your caffeine on. But make no mistake: They make an amazing cup of coffee. And they have micheladas now. Win, win.
Good Day Cafe (7AM to noon)
416 Cherry Ave.
After owners announced back in April they would be shuttering their much-loved Wide Eyes Open Palms bistro off 4th on Cherry Avenue, plans were clear that there was already a queer women-led effort to take it over and rebrand as the Good Day Cafe.
Owners Lindsey Mark and her wife Nikki have officially soft-opened the space. It’s a welcomed (re)addition to 4th Street—and brings in a re-branded version of what WEOP did so well: Creating a queer-friendly and -owned space that treated its coffee as importantly as it does its pastries and food offerings.
Aroma di Roma (5:30AM to 3PM)
2332 E. 2nd St. | 444 W. Ocean Blvd. #110
Celebrating 20 years in Belmont Shore, this Italian-as-espresso coffee shop has maintained a following while keeping it straightforward but evolving. Yes, you can get a shot of espresso with your pastry. You can also buy Bindi pannetone and Kinder chocolates during the holiday or have some matcha. Aroma di Roma is an Italian bistro through a wonderfully Long Beach lens.
Longtime owner Tim Terrelli—who also has a Downtown location for the shop dubbed Aroma di Roma Centro—has always been at the heart of the operation, offering up a space that has somehow survived a recession, a pandemic, and the rise of third-wave coffeee. Him and Aroma di Roma don’t just deserve a salute but our business.
OBRA Handbakery (8AM to 3PM)
6240 E. Pacific Coast Hwy.
OBRA HandBakery is the undisputed king of empanadas in Long Beach. They’ve done so by building up a decade-long patronage and online following, generating genuinely viral moments for the space.
However, the inner entrepreneurial spirit of owners Luz Torres and Chef Cesar Villarreal cannot be tamed. Despite overwhelming success, they want to not rest on their laurels. And for any hard-working Colombian who has made the trek to the States, that means expansion. For both of them, it is not just about searching for a suitable space; it is outright in their blood.
Chapter II Coffee (7AM to 4PM)
5277 E. 2nd St.
Chapter II Coffee has officially open its doors after quickly taking over the former Moon Mountain space after it permanently shuttered earlier this year. Owner Porenia Pen, who owns Board House Coffee in Los Angeles, has already put up an extensive breakfast menu that includes a multitude of breakfast sandwiches and plates, along with smoothies, acai bowls, lunch sandwiches and more.
SALA (8AM to 4PM)
3853 Atlantic Ave.
Led by partners Brandee Raygoza and Derrick Montiel, SALA is an underrated gem of a space if there ever was one: Stellar coffee meets a wine bar meets a minimal kitchen that serves an equally minimal menu for the morning: a breakfast sandwich, breakfast burrito, chilaquiles, and a chilaquiles burrito.
While the breakfast sandwich is something not to be skipped—a perfect model for The Breakfast Sandwich, with bacon and a full-on McDonald’s-style hashbrown accompanying a yolky egg, cheese, and brioche—it is the chilaquiles burrito that is something rather special. Layers of tortilla chips slathered in salsa verde line with bacon and beans to create an ode to the mighty carb-on-carb masterpiece that is the torta de chilaquiles of Mexico City. The result? A savory, hint-of-heat, textures-abound burrito that is as delectable as it is surprising.
Also, expect wine and great coffee for your Thanksgiving morning or afternoon.
Philz Coffee (5:30AM to 2:30PM)
4801 E. 2nd St. | 3850 Atlantic Ave. #A
Philz Coffee has garnered a cult-like following in the Bay Area after it latched itself onto the third-wave coffee movement, a specialty coffee-centric, small business zeitgeist that essentially focuses on honing in on the farmer-to-roaster relationship and eschewing European styles of roasting in lighter flavor and more nuanced approaches to the coffee bean. (Its devoted followers include Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, who invited the father-son team that is Phil and Jacob Jaber of Philz to handle the caffeinated beverages at their marriage in 2012.)
Philz, however, stood out in one particular way from the rest of the third-wave coffee-nauts: it lacked pretense on every level. Sure, it had specialty beans and, to go with it, specialty brewing methods that are now common, but back in the early 2000s, pour-overs and cold brews were not remotely a part of the American coffee vernacular; lattes, caramel macchiatos, and Frappuccinos, however, were.
Holey Grail (7AM to 1PM)
4803 E. 2nd St.
Holey Grail—the Hawai’i-based taro donut concept that was birthed out of a food truck before opening multiple brick-and-mortars on the mainland—opened its first Long Beach location, taking over the former Earl of Sandwich shop that closed earlier this year.
Founded on the island of Kauai in Hawai’i in 2018 by siblings Hana and Nile Dreiling, the pair developed a way to take the starch from taro, pound it and ferment it, and use it as a base for dough for donuts.
Saints & Sinners Bakeshop (9AM to 1PM)
595 Pine Ave.
Saint and Sinners founder Traci De La Torre has been serving the Downtown area for nearly a decade, outlasting the many spaces that have come and gone with her quality baked goods and insanely creative cakes. It has been their tradition to remain open on Thanksgiving—and 2024 is no exception.
Republic of Pie (7AM to 1PM)
5272 E. 2nd St.
Republic of Pie soft opened earlier this summer—and has been a hit ever since. On Thanksgiving Day, they’ll be open for coffee, whatever is in the case, and holiday pie pick-ups. The kitchen will not be in operation.
After Sancho’s Tacos formally shuttered its space in Belmont Shore, it made way for North Hollywood staple Republic of Pie’s first expansion beyond its original location. It’s been named one of the nation’s best pie shops while USA Today called it one of the best restaurants in Los Angeles: Republic of Pie has built a name for itself by churning out a spectacular array of pies—Strawberry Rhubarb, Blueberry Peach, Key Lime, Pecan, Banana Cream, Earl Grey Cream, Espresso Chocolate, Coconut Cream, Cookies and Cream…—while also offering savory treats—chicken pot pies, quiches, sandwiches…
