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Long Beach Food Scene Intel is a series from Brian Addison that will recap food news throughout the city, both news that needs just a quick mention, is developing, or repeated news where you might have missed the full features.
Sauler’s Cajun Nation opens at 3rd & Loma
From Facebook Marketplace to popups to catering to a brick-and-mortar: Sauler’s Cajun Nation has officially planted roots at 301 Loma Ave. Owner Steven Sauler—who launched the business in 2018—now serves his social media-famous seafood boils. From one-pound shrimp bags to sprawling trays loaded with the Cajun classics coated in his house-made sauce, Sauler’s Cajun Nation is now open Tuesday through Sunday from 11:30AM to 8PM.
Trademark to host massive beer festival at its Torrance location
Trademark will be hosting a massive beer festival—including some of Long Beach’s finest: Ambitious, Everywhere, ISM, Long Beach Beer Lab, and Ten Mile are all included—come Saturday, April 25, at their Torrance tap space.
“We’ve always wanted to host a festival, and the new Torrance location is a great fit,” Trademark owner Sterling Steffen said. “When thinking of who to invite, it was all about our best friends and neighbors. And of course, we kinda add dogs to everything, so the Best Furrends Fest was born with a focus on Long Beach and South Bay breweries. We’re working with Infinite Love Rescue, who does an amazing job helping pups in need find their forever homes.”
Recreational Coffee scores legacy business status
I have long had much love for Recreational, which redefined what specialty coffee can be in DTLB. Originally founded by Bobby Hernandez, current owners Brooklyn Warden (who also roasts the space’s beans), Daniel Ferradas, and Ted Seiving have continued its legacy toward, well, legacy recognition.
Recreational Coffee is now considered a formal Legacy Business by the City of Long Beach.
The trio’s infectious presence, along with a constant support of its surrounding neighbors—including rad collaborations with Sonoratown and Sura—has made Recreational’s second iteration all the more welcoming. Queer-geared. Community-centric. Kindness-rules-over-all. Long Beach through and through.
Ají Peruvian Cuisine also scoreds Legacy Business recognition
Speaking of legacy recognition, 4th Street’s much-loved Peruvian staple, Ají, has also scored formal recognition by the City of Long Beach. Which is befitting, considering I called them a legacy space earlier this year.
Lima natives and husband-and-wife team Chef Mitto Barriga and Rosita Wang entered the United States workforce with a deep dive into the restaurant industry. After years of bouncing around professionally in the industry, they discovered a hair salon that was eventually converted into a restaurant.
Since, Chef Mitto has primarily kept the menu traditional, his legion of followers ordering hefty amounts of lomitos and chaufa—and rightfully so. Among the first to offer staples like tacu tacu—where rice and beans are combined to create a cake of sorts that is crisped on the outside—and antichucho—delicate bits of beef heart on a skewer—the classics are where it’s at.
Buffalo Wild Wings to shutter April 26
Following a string of closures across California, Buffalo Wild Wings will also be closing its Marina Pacifica location. Last day of service if April 26.
ICYMI: Long Beach’s legendary 4th Horseman goes full bar (pizza shots included)
With not a single drink costing over $12—thanks for reading the room, Horsey—and an ode to the love of the dive that Long Beach holds so dear, The 4th Horseman has debuted their full bar. And they are not here to reinvent anything. Not a shaker or martini glass in sight. Hefty pours. Insanely awesome names ranging from Frankenhooker and Street Trash to one that really can’t be said here…
It’s a beautiful extension of what the 4th has always been about: Solid pizza. Great beer. No kids, but plenty of arcade games. And, no, they are not turning the metal music down. Just now, we get pizza shots as well.
For the full article, click here.
ICYMI: Against all odds, Bar Becky is proving to be a force of its own in Long Beach
No one can convince me that Bar Becky isn’t one of our finest restaurants, let alone middling or disappointing.
And with their spring menu, Chef Johnathan Benvenuti sounds freer than he has in years. Less interested in pleasing the casual walk-in crowd. Less willing to dilute what lands on the plate. And more committed to making food that reflects exactly where he and his incredible kitchen—Chefs Oriana Aguilera and Nathon Vo—are right now.
Click here for the full article.
ICYMI: Favorite things I’m eating right now in Long Beach: April 2026
From Selva’s first array of pastas and Marlena’s Easter prime rib to the best breakfast croissants in the city and an incredibly warming Levantine dish, molokhia, here are my favorite things I was eating across Long Beach in April.
