The very short lived—and to be honest, quite underrated—space that was the Portside Fish Company inside North Long Beach’s Uptown Commons will be replaced by another Orange County staple trying to break into the Long Beach and L.A. food world: La Super Birria, a Santa Ana-based birrieria that got its start out of a dulceria.
Dulcería El Caracol in Downtown Santa Ana has long been pitstop for sweet teeth across Orange County, but its birrieria hidden is what slowly garnered the space’s grasp on the local food scene. And this marks the space’s third expansion—they opened a second location in Stanton after opening in Santa Ana—as well as their first step past the Orange Curtain.
Taking over this particular space in the Uptown Commons comes with a huge bonus: A full-bar liquor license—and while it will not be immediately available to the new tenants, they will serve wine and beer until the license opens up, allowing them to serve everything from margaritas to palomas with their birria de res.
“La Super Birria is flat-out legit,” said Vice Mayor and 9th District Councilmember Rex Richardson, one of the developments leading champions and advocates. “Plus, the owners understand the vibe of North Long Beach.
Owners Rosie and Edgar Navarrete—the latter from Michoacán and the head chef for the mini-chain—told the Signal Hill Tribune earlier this month that they are “excited to be a part of [the North Long Beach] community. We know of the diversity and this is exactly our demographic.”
By “exactly our demographic,” the pair were serving up birria ramen in Shin noodle cups nearly five years ago, understanding the ways in which Mexican food can not only transform—traditionally, birria is made with goat but the trend of using beef, largely from Jalisco, has moved over into L.A. with such a force that it is actually harder to find a version of birria that isn’t beef-centered—but also be fused with surrounding cultures. In this case, appealing to Orange County’s rich and deep history with Asian food and communities.
Of course, there is always just a good ol’ traditional plate of birria that one can order with their housemade tortillas—and it is what I personally recommend if diving into birria for the first time.
And in all frankness, I am a happy panda with the move: I can grab some pork belly jicama tacos tapsilog from Oi! Asian Fusion and then move onto to a quesobirria and bowl of consommé. How can anyone be angry at that?
Uptown Commons is located at 6600 Atlantic Ave. and La Super Birria is expected to open some time this month.
