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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.
Luna Grill opens up at Bixby Village
Per a press relese, Luna Grill opened its 59th restaurant—and it happens to be in Long Beach directly next to the other, less corporate-y Luna. Located at Bixby Village Plaza at 650 N. Bellflower Blvd., Suite A-3, the new restaurant “brings Luna Grill’s signature Mediterranean menu to one of Southern California’s most vibrant coastal communities, along with plenty of grand opening giveaways.
“Founded in 2004 in San Diego by husband-and-wife team Sean and Maria Pourteymour, Luna Grill has grown into a leading Mediterranean fast-casual brand with locations across California, Arizona and the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The new Long Beach restaurant marks the brand’s 59th location and continues its strategic growth throughout Southern California while carrying special significance for members of the company’s leadership team.”
Long Beach Food Scene member Jillian Nicole Lilystrike praised the space, saying, “I only on rare occasion praise a chain establishment, but someone has to sing the praises of Luna Grill, why not me? In a world of Zankou Chicken, Halal Guys, and Cava, Luna Grill often sits in the shadows, unacknowledged like Batman. Well, no more. When it comes to fast-casual Mediterranean, they’re the best in the business.”
Tanuki Curry House has reopened in its newly minted LBX location
Long Beach’s sole space dedicated to the mighty Japanese curry has officially moved from its Signal Hill home into a proper Long Beach space: The Hangar at Long Beach Exchange. What to expect? An easier, quicker way to access the type of curry found on nearly every street corner in Japan—think CoCo Ichi or Hinoya—and, more locally, in Gardena and Torrance. (Fun fact: Curry is Japan’s most consumed dish, surpassing sushi or ramen in Japan.)
Broken Spirits expands happy hour (including late night happy hour)
Broken Spirits in DTLB has significantly expanded its happy hours—yes, plural. From noon to 5PM daily, you can BOGO on signature cocktails and draft beers, amongst other drink offerings. And lunches are $10. Every night of the week after 9PM, you can also score BOGO on drinks while perusing their small bites menu.
Brodard is now hiring for their upcoming Long Beach location
Brodard will be opening a location in Long Beach at the 2nd & PCH retail complex in the former Tocaya space—and they’re hiring. The famed Vietnamese restaurant is based out of Fountain Valley and has been named one of the best restaurants in the state—making it a welcome addition to the city’s lacking Vietnamese food scene.
Walk-in interviews are taking place every Monday & Wednesday from 10AM to 4PM at 16105 Brookhurst St. in Fountain Valley. No appointment needed; just bring your resume.
Born Wild Sporting Club, inside former Roundin’ 3rd space, looking for line cooks; open for lunch
Roundin’ 3rd has officially been taken over by the Born Wild Sporting Club, industry vet Tomas De Los Reyes’s first dive into ownership. “While we finish the process of fully transferring over, we’re reopening for a limited lunch menu from 11:30AM to 4PM, Wednesday through Friday,” Tomas said. He is also looking for line cooks; if interested, DM him via Instagram.
Ambitious Ales to open second location in Costa Mesa
Ambitious Ales—serving up some of the city’s finest brews for seven years straight—is officially expanding. It will open in its second location in Costa Mesa, taking over the former Bootlegger’s space at 696 Randolph Ave.
Beloved cupcakery Frosted expands to Eastside
Frosted, the Long Beach-based cupcakery in the heart of Belmont Shore, celebrated 20 years in business last year. And in its 21st year, owner Stacia Samartan has more to brag about: Come July 7, she will have a permanent pop-up inside Moonbridge Doughnuts when it closes at 2PM.
“We’ll be taking over their space every Tuesday through Saturday from 2:30PM to 7:30PM starting Tuesday, July 7th,” Stacia wrote on social media. “We’ll be baking and frosting our cupcakes at our 2nd Street location fresh every morning and bringing them over to our Moonbridge pop-up. More details to come! We hope you will join us at our new location, Frosted After Hours at Moonbridge, starting next week.”
Rancho Los Cerritos to host inaugural ‘Fiesto del Rancho’
Rancho Los Cerritos will host its first Fiesta del Rancho on Saturday, July 11, from noon to 5PM. The all-ages festival will invite guests to move through different areas of the site activated with reenactments, art, and food.
According to a press release, the festival “brings together past and present through a lineup of local vendors and performers. Guests can enjoy food and beverages from Tony’s Kitchen, Battambong BBQ, Dutch’s Brewhouse, Cali Cuisine, Very Berry Sweets Co., and Rene’s Churros. Live entertainment will include Long Beach-based indie folk rock band Fine Folk, known for rich acoustic instrumentation and poetic lyrics, as well as Bread & Butter performing jazz standards and boleros inspired by the sounds of the 1930s and 1940s.
Tickets are available now. Admission is $10 per person, $5 for children ages 2–12, and free for Rancho Los Cerritos Members and children under 2.
CoffeeDrunk collaborates with Midnight Oil on new drink
CoffeeDrunk—one of the city’s most collaborative coffee spaces—has partnered with Midnight Oil to create a sparkling pomelo Americano, offered at all its locations from July 6 through July 11.
“We brewed something up with our friends at CoffeeDrunk, and honestly, it came out better than we expected,” wrote Midnight Oil cocktail concocter Sherwood Souzankari on social media. “Pomelo Sparkling Americano that’s equal parts bright and buzzy.”
Casa Sanchez will not be reopening on Anaheim
Casa Sanchez—which caught fire in November of 2025—will not be reopening, according to Long Beach Food Scene member Joanne Tisza. She spoke with the owners of Patricia’s—part of the same family that operates Casa Sanchez—and was told the family took the insurance payout and currently has no plans to reopen.
ICYMI: Wrigley Coffee wants to remind Long Beach: We’re here—and we’re good
It is particularly sad that we live in a world where nearly every word is either hypercharged or abused. And perhaps no other word fits the latter than “community,” which Wrigley Coffee—one of our city’s most underrated spaces—is actually about.
And it’s been that way since the beginning.
When Wrigley Coffee first opened inside the former Fox Coffee House on Willow Street in early 2022, its purpose stretched well beyond pulling espresso shots. The café was envisioned as a social enterprise—one where every latte helped support a larger mission of workforce development. One bolstered with trauma-informed employment. And, of course, community building. Four years later, that mission has evolved, but its heart remains the same: creating a neighborhood coffee shop that just happens to change lives along the way.
For the full article, click here.
ICYMI: The Reef wants to reintroduce itself to Long Beach
The Reef—one of Long Beach’s longest-running restaurants, nestled between the Maya Hotel and The Queen Mary—has officially reopened its doors as a restaurant. And it left many locals wondering: Why did it take so long?
“We’ve always wanted to be a restaurant,” owner John Tallichet said. “It’s always been our spirit, but the pandemic changed all that. Across the past six or so years, we’ve been really focused on using our banquet rooms for events and amping up our catering. And we had to wait for the right time to shift gears back into full-time restaurant service.”
That time is now. Before its current structure, The Reef existed before the Queen Mary ever touched our shore, opening in 1958. And with its reopening, the team is hoping to continue that legacy status.
Click here for the full article.
ICYMI: Long Beach’s newest vegan eatery, Vizzi, wants you to give a damn
Walking down Broadway in Long Beach, just east of the Gayborhood where Wild Chive sits at Molino Avenue in Bluff Heights, one sign is hard to miss in their window. “Vizzi: Eat like you give a damn.”
Now operating as an evening residency inside The Wild Chive after its daytime brunch service, owner Akhil Viz wasn’t interested in simply opening another vegan restaurant. He wanted to create something he believes Long Beach doesn’t yet have: a space where the food is merely one expression of a much broader philosophy.
