In the world of the mighty burger, Long Beach definitively has some options—look for my updated guide in the coming days—but the latest warrior to enter the battle is none other than ISM Brewing. It has been honing and growing its burger menu since last year. And the result? A growing patronage—especially families—looking for something familiar, comforting, and affordable.
Launched last year, ISM Brewing’s burger menu has been rightfully drawing crowds.
There’s an irony here to be found in the success of ISM Brewing’s burger menu: In a world once dominated by burgers—the much-missed Congregation, the not-so-missed BurgerIM that Ammatolí eventually expanded into, the much-missed Beer Belly that is now the rightfully liked Midnight Oil…—the saturation of burgers dimmed there for quite a bit.
And that could explain why ISM Brewing’s kitchen manager, Bobby Gill—along with kitchen lead Holly Sharp—and their burger menu have been clicking since launching last year. And it’s not just the idea of a burger but a revolving menu. Indeed, there are beautiful staples like their “Lucy in the Sky,” an ode to the mighty juicy lucy burger that comes with a pirate hat-like crown of browned cheese atop its bun. There’s something for the little ones who like to keep it basic.
But there’s been a wild success with his Burger of the Month, launched in November with a “Ravine Burger” that had avocado, jalapeño, Serrano, romaine, and tomato. But December started bringing in Bobby’s love of flavors with a “Get Funk’d” that saw a mushroom confit meld with bleu cheese, dijon, pickled red onions, and a bit of chicharrón for texture. And since then, he’s been dealing banger after banger: January saw an aptly named “Can’t Quit You”—a smirk-inducing, beer drinker’s nod to Dry January—that featured a house-made barbecue sauce with Swiss, pickled jalapeños bacon, and onion rings. February, lovingly named “Hate Myself for Loving You,” saw the space’s mac’n’cheese commingle with bacon, jalapeños, chipotle mayo, and pickled onions.
ISM Brewing is an example of a business adapting for their patronage.
And this month? The “Dropkick Corned Beef,” of course, where a sous-vided, house-made corned beef is topped with miso-braised cabbage and house beer mustard. It reflects a more extensive direction owner and brewer Ian McCall has been aiming for: adapting his business for patronage, not vice versa.
“The times of people coming in and just buying a pint of beer for the sole enjoyment of beer aren’t much around anymore,” Ian said. “They want the experiential—so that’s why we’re doing things like this. We understand that families need some simple offerings for their kids and, well, a burger and fries fits that. People want comfort and something to do while experiencing that comfort, hence all the events we’re doing… We’re here to stay.”
“Doing events” is putting it lightly: ISM Brewing usually has the majority of its days of the week stacked with events. Drag events. Popup collaboration events, like their most recent collaboration with Hamburgers Nice, which featured one of the space’s best pilsners, Hamborghini, brewed explicitly for it. Dog events. Dance events. Live music.
“It has really been up to us business owners to activate the Downtown—so we’re doing it the best we can,” Ian said. And while deeply admirable, the larger question of sustainability—a small business doing multiple events every week can easily lead to burn out—and the need for other organizations to step up their activation game becomes paramount.
ISM Brewing is located at 210 The Promenade N. in Unit A.
