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Long Beach Food Scene Intel is a series from Brian Addison that will recap food news throughout the city. This is news that needs just a quick mention, is developing, or repeated news where you might have missed the full features.
Farmers market coming to Retro Row parking lot
A new farmers market will take over the Retro Row parking at the southeast corner of Cherry Avenue and 4th Street come June 5. The 4th Street Business Association said that details, including vendors, will come in the following weeks.
Rivera’s (rightfully) honored with legacy award from City of Long Beach
After serving the community for over 20 years, the underrated Rivera’s was rightfully recognized as a legacy institution by the City of Long Beach.
“We’re grateful to the city of Long Beach for recognizing our family’s hard work and dedication to the community. Being named one of the city’s legacy businesses is an incredible honor. May God grant our family ongoing strength and health to pursue our passions,” the family shared on social media.
And, if all truths are being spoken, this isn’t necessarily the go-to spot for tacos or burritos. It’s just a go-to spot for solid, northwestern Mexican food. And it is as home to what is arguably the city’s best bowl of pozole. Owned and operated by Chef Virgizio Rivera Castillo and his son, George, Rivera’s first came about in Compton in 1994. Its success—plates of massive wet burritos slathered in their house-made ranchero, delicate but hearty stuffed poblanos, camarones al mojo de ajo—brought the Rivera family a bounty. In 2000, they opened their Seventh Street location in Long Beach. This was followed by a Bellflower shop in 2005 and a fourth location in Santa Fe Springs in 2010. It is a Long Beach staple that deserves more love.
Midnight Oil’s omakase cocktail space nears opening
Dubbed Hao Peng You: Hand Laundry, Midnight Oil is nearing the completion of the third space in their interior. You have Midnight Oil itself, the hidden tiki-ish bar with the “Creature of the Black Lagoon” theme on the west, and toward its east, a decked-out-in-lanterns space that will serve as co-owner and beverage director Peter Ross’s omakase space. What does that mean? Cocktails which are more esoteric, craft-centered, and elevated.
Luna begins happy hour shortly after opening
The genuinely great story behind Luna continues to get, well, greater. Owner and all-around good human Christian Alvarez has created one of the most accessible happy hours in the city. A $9 Cadillac margarita? Bring it.
The Nook in Signal Hill closes; Tacos el Goloso taking over
Nook—the breakfast spot that opened in Signal Hill in February 2024, taking over the former GD Bro Burger spot—has already shuttered a little more than a year later. Moving in? San Pedro-based mini-chain and birria taqueria Tacos el Goloso. With shops all over the South Bay, the brand has been known for its variation of birria de res, from nachos and plates to vampiro tacos and quesabirria.
Men’s Room opens up in former Brit space in the Gayborhood
Men’s Room, the new gay (and definitively gay male-centric) bar, has officially opened, leaving behind the Brit’s legacy of decades serving the Gayborhood on Broadway. It marks the second major change on a street that has largely remained, in terms of bars, untouched. BLACK Bar just recently shuttered—it had taken over the former Paradise piano bar back in 2019—but will have the Beadel family of The Breakfast Bar take it over and, yes, return it to its gay roots.
Lazy Dough on 4th Street to open May 9
Leaving a huge gap in both the 4th Street and citywide vegan options when it closed its doors in August of 2024, Seabirds has now been formally replaced by Lazy Dough. Following a hosted preview of their fusion-centric menu back in March, the space will officially open its doors May 9. While jobs for their bakery side—which heavily focused on pastries in the job description—have been formally deactivated, the food seems to be a wide array of offerings, from spring rolls and egg rolls to breakfast burritos and salad and ceviche.
Barbecue popup staple Big Brian’s Meats will be at Ambitious Ales this Saturday
From one Brian to another: Chef Brian Rodriguez of Big Brian’s Meats will be making his first appearance at Ambitious Ales on Saturday, May 10 from noon to 9PM (or sell-out). It marks the first he has hosted a popup at the Downtown brewery and, if he is offering it, I deeply suggest you get his  smoked cream cheese dip. It’ll be a nice preview for the Long Beach BBQ Fest coming May 23 and May 24.
Los Reyes del Tacos Sabroso now offering pambazos
Long Beach has not seen a proper pambazo since Villas Comida Mexicana on Willow was open. (It tragically faced a fire and never reopened despite fundraising efforts.) The pambazo is essentially a griddled version of a torta ahogada—and the result is spectacular: a charred, smoky sandwich—its bread dipped in a spicy chile sauce—filled with melted cheese, various meats depending on your mood, and potatoes, and then cooled with some cold toppings like lettuce and Mexican crema.
And now, the Mexico City-centered space that is Los Reyes del Tacos Sabroso—whose family, the Montensinos, hail from CDMX, where the pambazo was birthed—serves them for just $7.
ICYMI: The essential Long Beach brunch and breakfast guide
Alright, Long Beach, I have your weekend plans set.
And on a very real note: Writing this beast of a listicle made me so proud of the Long Beach Food Scene. The quality of cuisine in our city has never been better—and considering how much of a breakfast/day drinking city we are, that also extends to our brunch quality, which has never been better.
Eat well, be kind, go brunch.
For the full listicle, click here.
ICYMI: Our Spot continues to offer Long Beach’s most imaginative coffee with Liv’s residency
I am, admittedly, completley obsessed.
Our Spot Coffee—the Long Beach popup headed by husband-and-wife team Chris and Ali McColl—has partnered with Belmont Shore’s underrated Liv’s for a new coffee residency. With a slate of new drinks—peach-matcha porch pounders meet strawberry-espresso creations—and Chef Rob White offering up Liv’s first morning offerings via a slate of breakfast burritos, it brings the city’s most unique breakfast collaboration.
ICYMI: After initial postponement, Wicked Wolf’s tea service returns following demand
After an initial decision to halt the offering, The Wicked Wolf returns this week with its much-loved tea service Fridays through Sundays from 10AM to 4PM.
This opens a very real conversation about multiple things. There’s the fact that small businesses provide jobs—and her employees losingg much-needed hours Led owner Thea Mercouffer to reconsider. Secondly, us as active patrons: We need to actually support these special offerings, which are time-consuming, costly, and tiring for small business owners trying to be innovative.
