Here’s your latest intel on the local food scene:
- The space which formerly hosted KC Bakery on Anaheim at Alamitos has officially become a Pickle Banh Mi Co. space, the first location outside of Orange County for the small chain. With current locations in Fountain Valley and Garden Grove, visitors can expect a fast-casual Vietnamese menu with everything from the obvious (banh mi) to the not so obvious (like canh bun, a water spinach noodle soup, and súp sườn heo, a soup with spare ribs and noodles). Soft opening hours are 9AM to 3PM. To order for pickup, click here.
- Long Beach Thai, the loved-by-surrounding-residents Thai joint on at Anaheim and Obispo, has been closed since April 2, making people wonder if they are permanently shuttered—and they are not: They will be closed until April 28 while the owners and their family take a much-needed vacation.
- Wood & Salt Tavern will be hosting a four-course gin dinner featuring Amass, Barr Hill & Gray Whale gins. on April 19 at 6:30PM. Bar Manager Gabriel Ducharme and Executive Chef Philip Mack will partner across four courses with cocktails for each guest: a lemon and agave drink with chile lime gin oysters; a mint and lime cocktail with seared scallops; a passionfruit-cayenne drink with sesame-crusted halibut; and a maraschino-orange cocktail with a gin and tonic tart. Tickets are $95 and can be purchased here.
- Mai tai lovers can rejoice as the first Mai Tai Festival will hit Rainbow Lagoon in DLTB on June 3 from 2PM to 9PM. The event boasts of “mai tai, brews, and good vibes” with a small lineup of musicians and an as-of-now-unannounced list of food vendors. Tickets are $35 for general admission, $85 for VIP, and $15 for kids. For more information, click here.
- Altar Society Brewing Co., Long Beach’s newest brewpub, will be opening in the coming weeks and I have your first look inside the operation as well as what to expect. With genuinely kind and genial owners—Chris Evans and Jon Sweeney—paired with a brew master that spent 12 years at Stone—Derek Wasak—there is little doubt Altar Society in DTLB will hoppily join the greats of the Long Beach beer scene. For the full introductory feature, click here.
- ICYMI: One of the city’s most innovative, outright beautiful Mexican restaurants is permanently closing its doors come April 29. Fonda Tobalá s one of the most beautiful reflections of Mexican food and culture proper—and the greatness of it is not necessarily in its ability to directly mimic the scents and tastes of Mexico but because its owners, chefs and husband-and-wife team Manuel and Fernanda Bañuelos have been unabashed at harnessing their nostalgia for their home city, Guadalajara, while making sure their home here in Long Beach gets to share that experience with them. For the full feature from last week, click here.
