FIRST LOOK: Inside the nostalgic world of Mooney's Pizza Tavern in Long Beach

Mooney’s Pizza Tavern—the incredible build-out of the old Huff’s family restaurant where Long Beach meets Los Alamitos, Cypress, and Hawaiian Garden on Wardlow Road—will officially open its doors on Friday, Feb. 27 at 4PM.

Located at 8105 E. Wardlow Rd., owners Hal and Cindy Mooney have tackled what is unquestionably one of the most beautiful renovations of an existing restaurant space in years. Custom tables, bars, and booths line a space that feels acutely, even solemnly, saturated in nostalgia.

Mooney’s Pizza Tavern will warm the hearts of Gen X and Millennial parents

For kids of the 1980s and early ’90s, the pizza parlor wasn’t just a place to eat. It was a full sensory experience. Before everything became corporately streamlined, franchised into oblivion, and engineered for delivery-in-under-30 speed, spots like Shakey’s Pizza and the pre-decline era of Pizza Hut were destinations. Or, for more local flair, joints like La Rizza’s on 7th Street and the still-operating Domenico’s on 2nd Street.

You didn’t grab a box and leave; you slid into a red vinyl booth beneath stained-glass lamps, drank ungodly, copious amounts of soda from massive red plastic cups, waited for a pan pizza that took actual time, and fed quarters into arcade cabinets glowing in the corner. There were pitchers of beer sweating onto plastic trays. Likely checkered tablecloths. Plenty of wood paneling. And that unmistakable yeasty warmth hanging in the air. It felt grown-up and magical all at once.

A place where Little League and soccer teams celebrated. Birthday parties stretched for hours. Parents lingered just long enough to let kids feel independent while they enjoyed a straw-lined bottle of chianti or ice cold beer.

Mooney’s mimics just this, with an elevated touch. Booths are crafted with love and detail. Red plastic cups are in. Arcade games are a check. The “hidden” space for parties that excited every child of the millennium? Yup they have that, too.

Mooney’s is perfect for where it’s at—and the dream of the Mooney family itself.

Hal Mooney deeply grasps that, for a generation raised before smartphones and food delivery apps, sit-down pizzerias functioned like legacy restaurants in the purest sense. Reliable. Communal. And deeply woven into the rhythm of neighborhood life.

“You didn’t just eat at these places,” Hal said. “You grew up there. Cindy grew up in Rossmoor. We went to Los Feliz post-graduation. And when we returned to Long Beach to raise our families, we realized how limited the options around our neighborhood were. So we decided, since we were able, to invest back into it.”

Families during previews obviously knew the Mooneys, sure. But they also yearned for the space. Comments were filled with the desire for more family-centered spaces—or, even more importantly, more spaces period. The area is jam-packed with wide roads and houses, with few restaurants that feel local, are owned by locals, and feed the locals.

“Huff’s was here for 60 years,” Hal said. “If we’re even a fraction of that, we would be proud.”

Mistake not: Hal Mooney is a pizza nerd.

Unlike many who wax romantic about the past, Hal actually understood two key things about his dive into Mooney’s Pizza Tavern. One was that the pizza game—particularly in Long Beach—was not just good but genuinely great. He understood that what was offered—stellar sourdough pies at the nearby Pizza Parlor or delivery from chains—could be grown upon if he played his cards carefully.

And, of course, if he became a student. So he did. Studying under Leah Scurto, the force behind PizzaLeah, he learned about dough. And took class after class after class.

Leah, for those that don’t know, has built a reputation for marrying technical precision with pure pizza joy. A classically trained pastry chef who pivoted her disciplined, fermentation-focused mindset into the world of naturally leavened dough, Leah approaches pizza with the meticulousness of a baker and the warmth of a neighborhood host. Which is precisely what Hal and his team are aiming for.