Given we just ended the 10-day celebration that was Long Beach Food Scene Week 2026, I wanted to share dishes that I found particularly worthy of highlight. From the outrageously concocted to the marvelously executed, LBFSW 2026 has been the biggest one yet, with over 100 participants spanning restaurants, bars, cafes, pop-ups, and caterers.
Is this ultimately a fair list? Certainly not. The sheer breadth of talent and creativity offered across all 100-plus participants was wild. There was no middling offer I had while exploring. It was an incredible celebration for sure. So here are some extraordinary highlights…
Missed out on Brian Addison’s Favorite Things of past? We got you covered—just click here.
Taco de chicharrón de pulpo y pork belly ranchero from Ruta 15
1436 E. 7th St.
Chef César Sánchez has brought a new, deeper, wonderfully complex style of mariscos to Long Beach. And I stand by it when I say that Ruta 15 has the city’s best mariscos.
What Chef César did with his LBFSW 2026 special only compounds that for me. It is unlike any other taco I’ve experienced. Pulpo—both braised and chicharrón style. Pork belly drenched in ranchera salsa steeped in chile de árbol and guajillo—a recipe from his abuela. Lentils instead of beans, tossed in a vinaigrette. A passion fruit aioli that is more salty and acidic than sweet. Two-colored tortilla. Just magical.
Even more? It’s done so well they will be keeping it on the menu throughout August. So this isn’t your last time to try this gorgeous display of the power of Mexican cuisine.
Polpette di spesce spada from Massimo’s
5620 E. 2nd St.
The glorious, independent return of Massimo Aronne—the former GM of Michael’s on Naples before it shuttered to become Bacari—has only come with perks. It has resulted in one of the most cozy, sought-after seats at a restaurant in Naples. It has brought the wonderful spirit of his wife, Laura, to the front-facing aspect of the operation. And it has brought Massimo’s food.
For LBFSW 2026, he created a three-course dinner with some genuinely great dishes—a porchetta pizza, gnocchi, a duck leg confit…—but none quite stood out like his swordfish meatballs. I hadn’t had a proper agrodolce since my grandfather made it, a classic Italian sauce that melds savory, sweet, and sour notes with nuttiness. Massimo’s immediately took me back to that kitchen of my grandfather. And the meatballs themselves—hefty but not rock-like—were the perfect little salt bombs to his damn near perfect agrodolce.
Mussel toast from Olive & Rose
255 Atlantic Ave.
Olive & Rose is Chef Philip Pretty and Lauren Michaelis’s most soulful endeavor—and their spring and summer menus this year, under the watchful tenure of Chef de Cuisine David Villatoro, make that fact continue to ring true. This isn’t to say it lacks the quality of his Michelin-starred space, Heritage; no. Rather, the methodical approach that defines Heritage’s style is eschewed in favor of food that fits the vibe of Olive & Rose.
And for LBSFW, they continue that soulfulness with an homage to California. Using the never-fail bread from Hey Brother Baker, stacks of house-pickled mussels, escabeche-style—bright, briny, buttery—are dotted with garlic aioli before being forrested with an array of dill, coriander, parsley, mint, and magic. It’s savory, acidic, herbal, and buttery. In other words: a dream.
Lechon Bowl from Selva
4137 E. Anaheim St.
Those who read my work know my love of Chef Carlos Jurado of Selva. Across the past two years, he has upped his game in a way that few do in their culinary career: Casting aside a focus on accolades and shifting that energy toward the spaces where it counts—FOH operations and guest relations with the hiring of Monica Canelos, kitchen efficiency with Kitchen Manager Mark Roman…—Selva is unquestionably one of the city’s best, most consistent, and collaborative restaurants.
Reflecting his love of color and flavor bombs, his lechon bowl for LBFSW 2026 was nothing short of a bowl of comfort. Those who have had his food would immediately recognize it as his: the space’s famed Momma’s rice, layered with braised pork that oozes with sazón, pickled onions, chicharrón, and pops of sweetness thanks to a sprinkling of Biquinho peppers… This is Chef Carlos’s comfort food. A bowl he would serve you at his home—whether it’s raining or absolutely, miserably muggy out. And you would happily devour it.
Ice cream bar from Marlena
5854 E. Naples Plaza
Chef Michael Flores of Marlena has long allowed his kitchen staff to flourish—in this case, sous chef Julianna Hernandez, who had a heavy hand in this wonder of a dessert.
There were certainly some highlights across his tasting menu for Long Beach Food Scene Week 2026, including a Josper-ed, seven-ounce Iberico hunk of pork that had proved popular enough to potentially make it to the permanent menu. But nothing was as astounding or simply awe-inspiring as this magical creation. An almond butter crunch base is lined with caramel before being topped with goat cheese ice cream and slivers of peaches dusted with salt.
Simply gorgeous.
Seen hed from The Second Owl
5272 E. 2nd St.
I don’t think people understand how wildly cool it is that Chef Regan Chantrirak opted to do a tasting menu at a Thai restaurant—but he did. And it was simply marvelous. A deconstructed play on the Western Thai classic that is stuffed chicken wings, where Chef Regan slathers them with a tamarind-garlic glaze. A grilled duck leg sitting atop a pool of fiery curry, coconut milk, and a perfectly concocted potato croquette.
But his seen hed, a Thai play on beef tartare, was a fragrant masterpiece. The creaminess of the beef and roasted mushrooms is sliced with fish sauce—including fermented fish sauce. The aroma of cilantro, garlic, shallotsm roasted peppers… All smacked with the heat of Thai chili. A simply marvelous iteration of tartare that borders between a classic Western tartare and raw beef larb.
Chicken with truffle mole from Sky Room
210 E. Ocean Blvd. inside Fairmont Breakers
Chef Maxwell Pfeiffer of Sky Room is one of our city’s most precise executioners of the culinary arts. Whether it is his work outside Sky Room—like his shrimp mousse-stuffed halibut that he did for the Long Beach Grand Prix Fixe competition—or inside of it—his afternoon tea, for example, is a curated gallery of his obsession with details and layers and façades in food—his food is immaculately detailed.
His chicken dish for Long Beach Food Scene Week 2026 is no exception.
Front-facing is the perfectly crafted chicken breast, roasted with the bone on before it being removed, its skin crackling the moment your fork hits it. To the side, deboned and flatted thigh fried in chicken fat. Underneath, a puddle of chicken jus made from the trimmings, bones, and wing of the fowl. To the side, a roasted corn slightly reflective of esquites found on the streets of nearly every Mexican town, with shavings of truffle atop it. And the star: a black truffle mole, cooked down to a paste-like that is piped as dots across the plate. French. Mexican. Californian. Perfectly melded.
Kousa mahshi (كوسا محشي) from Ammatoli
285 E. 3rd St.
Chef Dima Habibeh of Ammatoli is the queen of tasting menus when it comes to LBFSW as she is the only restaurant that has done it since year one of the celebration. This year’s menu saw some wonderful diversions: A hyper-savory tomato gazpacho replacing the beet labneh of years past. The introduction of a beef and okra dish that I hadn’t had served to me in over seven years. An option of vegetarian or beef moussaka…
But the kousa mahshi was particularly special. Almost missing a spot on the menu—training to core the small zucchinis without breaking them proved taxing on the kitchen—this salt-forward dish features rice and ground beef cooked with baharat, a Levantine spice blend featuring allspice, cinnamon, black pepper, cumin, coriander, cloves, and nutmeg. That is then stuffed into zucchini and laid to braise in a tomato sauce.
Tuna melt from Proudly Serving
6332 E. Pacific Coast Hwy.
Little did I know a tuna sandwich would not only be such a massive hit—Proudly Serving was, at one point, going through 40-plus pounds of tuna a day, resulting in the sale of hundreds of sandwiches—but that it would also create #Tunagate in the Long Beach Food Scene group, drawing up a couple of disappointments and deep talks of expectations versus letting management know. (Always let management know when there is something wrong.)
But I stand by it: Proudly Serving has the best tuna melt in the city. Executive Chef Everton Trefilio sous-vides fresh tuna—something his previous workspace, Barsha in Hermosa Beach, used to do with their Tunisian-style fish. This one is California-ed out. Capers. Parsley. Cayenne. Lemon. It’s bright, perfectly salty, and between two thick white bread slices and plenty of American cheese, it is hard to put down.
The Cala-‘Brian’ Sicilian Oyster from Loquat Oysters
inside Everywhere at 2122 E. 4th St.
When texting Liz and Lucky Huon of Loquat Oysters about what they wanted to do for Long Beach Food Scene Week 2026, I threw out my own idea for a grilled oyster: A play on my grandma’s Sicilian dish, pasta c’anciuova e muddica atturrata, or pasta with anchovies and breadcrumbs. A compound butter is made with anchovies, garlic, Calabrian chiles, and—a brilliant addition thanks to Liz—preserved lemon before being added to a grilled oyster and topped with breadcrumbs.
It turns out, they were making various versions of compound butter, loved anchovies, and began messing around. And Lucky brilliantly came up with the cala-“Brian” name, which was hard not to grin at. Served at their two-year anniversary celebration at Everywhere on 4th Street, it has been nothing short of an honor watching this pair grow.
Food Scene Flight from Seaside Creamery
1785 Palo Verde Ave. | 2707 E. 4th St.
Ah, the perfect way to end this list.
Seaside Creamery owner Ismael Bermudez did what is quite possibly the most Long Beach Food Scene-spirited offering across the entire celebration. And that’s because he embraced collaboration on such a deep scale. Partnering with CoffeeDrunk, Foodologie, Frosted Cupcaker, and Gemmae Bake Shop, this ice cream flight had a bit of something for everyone.
- Ube Cookie Sandwich custard with a hunk of Gemmae’s ube cookie. A Brown Butter Pecan Brownie Sundae with Foodologie’s brownie bits atop it. Bumbleberry Shortcake Cupcake with a mini Frosted cupcake sliced in half, one half on the bottom and the other on top. And an Instigator Affogato, where the space’s coffee custard collab with CoffeeDrunk is drizzled with espresso.
Missed out on Brian Addison’s Favorite Things of past? We got you covered—just click here.
