Bixby Knolls has long been a place cherished by Long Beach locals—and it is about time that its growing food scene gets an event all its own.
Walkable, charming, adored, delicious: Bixby Knolls has long held onto the charm of Long Beach with streets and homes that echo some of the finest examples of early 20th century grandeur in the county—much like the stretches of mid-Wilshire in Los Angeles proper—but its food scene, one of the city’s most concentrated, has yet to receive an event solely dedicated to it.
The inaugural Taste of Bixby Knolls is here to just change just that, invading the neighborhood come Oct. 16. Guests can purchase $1 tickets and happily ride around on a big red bus that will take them from venue to venue, area to area, from Steelcraft to the heart of Bixby Knoll’s business corridor along Atlantic.
Courtesy of the Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Association.
And it’s about time the area had a food-centric event: While long-loved staples like Bake n Broil and George’s 50s Diner have defined the neighborhood, its shift over the past decade in terms of food has been nothing short of astounding. From Lola’s and Wood & Salt to Dutch’s Brewhouse and Nonna Mercato, along with the ushering of brewing mastery thanks to Ambitious Ales and Beachwood, Bixby Knolls stands on par with the city’s most culinary focused neighborhoods.
“We were thrilled when approached by the council office to create this type of event,” said Blair Cohn, Executive Director of the Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Association, the organization spearheading the event.
Cohn notes that while the area has had food events before—Bixby Knolls’s much loved Supper Club, which takes diners to a specific restaurant as a highlight, comes to mind, along with the neighborhoods Brewery Knolls celebration of hops and barley—this one is both grander in scale and ambitious in diversity.
“It will kind of be like First Fridays on steroids,” Cohn said. “Music, family-friendly activities, and a car show at George’s as a nod to the car shows of the past. And, of course, tons of food.”
What food will be offered? We’ll be revealing the full list in the coming days but rest assured, from Italian and Mexican to contemporary Californian and good ol’ classic American, Taste of Bixby Knolls will not only reflect the diversity of the neighborhood’s dining scene but offer, perhaps, something new to folks who haven’t ventured there in a bit.
For more information, click here. To recognize members (aka Cronies) of Brian Addison’s food group, the Long Beach Food Scene, use the discount code CRONIESUNITE to receive 10% of a batch of 50 tickets; that’s five free tickets, which amounts to a free beer or tasting.
