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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.
Ackee Bamboo Club slowly but surely moves forward, taking over the former Cafe Piccolo space
The former Cafe Piccolo space will be taken over by Ackee Bamboo Jamaican Cuisine. Photos by Brian Addison.
It kind of feels like the formal end of an era that was announced over two years ago: The façade of Cafe Piccolo—the Italian spot that served the Bluff Heights community for over three decades—has officially come down to make way for what will be the front of Ackee Bamboo Jamaican Cuisine. Originally opening a small storefront in 2001, it was in 2005 when they moved to Leimert Park that Ackee began to become a well-known restaurant and staple to the Black community there.
The past two years, constructing their Long Beach location has been a roller coaster, with contractor issues slowing them down across the past two years. The owners, Marlene Sinclair-Beckford and Delroy Beckford, are working with a new contractor and slowly but surely moving forward.
Knead Donuts opens Signal Hill Location
After an announcement all the way back in July of 2024, Knead has opened its Signal Hill location. (Likely to the cheers of Costco and Home Depot employees alike.) Since opening in 2017, Knead Donut owners and father-and-daughter team Huey and Amy Behuynh have introduced Long Beach to not only its best donuts but the way in which the Cambodian community has influenced donut making region wide—and now, they are expanding their donut-shaped footprint by opening a fourth location in Signal Hill, following one in Cerritos and another near Pacific Coast Highway location at Clark.
The new location–which took over the former Chinese Combo space at 2160 E. Willow St.—is something the Behuyns couldn’t pass up.
OakBerry opens in Belmont Shore
OakBerry, the Brazil-based açaà juggernaut of a chain, officially opened its first Long Beach location. It is located inside the former Engels & Völkers sapce at 4913 E. 2nd St.
Sosogu—a Japanese eatery focusing on Wagyu—has opened in Long Beach Exchange
Redlands-based Sosogu has decided to step out of the Inland Empire and toward the beach. Taking over the former Plancha space, which closed in March of 2023—this version of the space looks like it is stepping away from its more casual style in Redlands and toward a more upscale, full-bar restaurant in Long Beach. It will have ramen, yes, but also focus on sushi and Japanese BBQ, for which it has built up a fairly decent following in the I.E. The space will operate under a different LLC than its Redlands location.Â
Salud Juice opens third location in Bixby Knoll’s Steelcraft complex
Local cold-pressed juicery Salud has officially opened its third location. Set inside the Steelcraft shipping container complex in Bixby Knolls, it joins its sister locations in Belmont Shore and Retro Row.
Paris Baguette coming to DTLB’s Pike Outlets
South Korea-based French bakery Paris Baguette—which has seen a wildly large expansion into the U.S. when it opened its first Stateside shop in 2005—will be taking over the former T-mobile space between Kalavera’s and The Auld Dubliner at The Pike Outlets. According to their announcment, the bakery—which will be one of over 1,000 U.S. stores comes 2030—is expected to open by the end of this year or early 2026.
Dutch’s Brewhouse in Bixby Knolls opens for brunch
Dutch’s Brewhouse will now be serving brunch every Sunday from 11AM to 2PM in Bixby Knolls. Check out the menu above!
ICYMI: Long Beach’s Buvons officially opens French-meets-Californian restaurant space
After a month of experimenting in the kitchen (while also hosting a stellar coffee popup), Buvons Wine Bar, the restaurant expansion from the neighboring Buvons Wine Shop, has opened under the watchful eye of owner and chef Alicia Kemper. With a sleek, French-meets-Californian menu that beautifully highlights the seasonal and vegetal, it is a reflection of a Long Beach small business owner with the resilience to move forward.
For the full feature, click here.
ICYMI: Midnight Oil brings the dim sum and cocktails to Downtown Long Beach
Midnight Oil has quickly turned over the former Rosemallows haunt into an entirely different vibe, concept, and space.
The result? A genuinely good, definitively different space that avoids cuisine redundancy in the Downtown and actually engages with the community on a level that is both welcoming and refreshing.
For the full feature, click here.
ICYMI: Noble Rotisserie wants to expand its Long Beach patronage—and it deserves to succeed
Like many restaurants, Noble Rotisserie has been on a roller coaster and has a heartfelt story attached to it. But unlike most restaurants, Noble has been saturated in social instability from its birth: Opening just a few months before the world shut down for the pandemic, Noble has never really had the chance to see some sense of patterns. And given its amazing quality in food, it should and deserves to have a large, healthy patronage.
Click here to read the full article.
