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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.

Tacos La Carreta, Smoke & Fire take top honors at inaugural Taco Death Match

Long Beach held its inaugural Taco Death Match, with over a thousand in attendance on Nov. 3 to watch 10 chefs and taqueros battle it out for the title. Tacos La Carreta, with its famed “torito” taco, took top choice amongst the critic judges while Smoke & Fire (the group behind Broken Spirits), took home the people’s choice.

Ravi’s Punjabi Kitchen to move full-time into Bargain Liquors

After weeks of serving on the sidewalk outside Bargain Liquors—the mini-market next to Rose Park Roasters on 4th Street at Freeman Avenue—Ravi’s Punjabi Kitchen will soon be taking over the space inside the liquor store once permitting is finished. For the Bluff Heights/Alamitos Beach area, the offering is a win with just Flamin’ Curry being the sole representative of Indian cuisine.

Krak Soda officially opens in Long Beach

With a soft opening earlier this month and a grand opening on Nov. 9, the boba explosion in Long Beach continues with Krak Soda. (This follows the opening of Gong Cha, Hechalou, Moge Tea, Hiccups, Meet Up Boba Teahouse and Café, even the now-underwhelming Tito’s on 4th strangely expanded into boba).

Northern Cafe offers newly minted dim sum menu

In what could be its smartest move yet—there is no question that Northern Cafe’s Long Beach location remains one of the brand’s most differentiating spaces—the Belmont Shore Chinese restaurant now offers dim sum daily from 11:30AM to 4PM. It is the only dim sum being offered in the city outside of Cal Heights gem that is EA Seafood.

Olive & Rose to start offering cocktails this weekend

Olive & Rose—Chef Philip and Lauren Pretty’s second concept behind the Michelin-starred Heritage—will serve up its first cocktails this weekend. Former Baby Gee cocktail slinger Noah Friedman—hailing from the space which has redefined cocktail making in the city—will be leading the space’s cocktail program.

Deal seekers rejoice: Ellie’s expands ‘Oyster Hour’

Oyster Hour at Ellie’s has been extended to from noon to 6PM on Tuesdays through Fridays and 3PM to 5PM on Saturdays and Sundays. Yes, weekends included. That means $1.50 oysters, amazing burgers, and other delights.

Hartland’s to be soon serving alcohol

After annoucning their plans to serve alcohol back in July, Hartland’s—the ocean-view casual concept inside the 1900 Ocean building from Liv’s owner Rob White—will likely finally begin offering beer and wine in the coming weeks. This means one of the best views of the city from any restaurant can be enjoyed with a wonderful beer or glass of wine. Praise the beach gods.

Signage has gone up on long-awaited Sans & Wolves

Signage for the space has gone up, adverting everything from pandesal to coffee from the Phillippines in perfectly retro, hand-painted signs that Kym and Arvin simply posted on social media: “Analog art > digital… One of our goals for our bakeshop is to keep things classic and timeless. In a world full of fast trends and computer shortcuts, we know human skill is most valuable.”

Lola’s continues partnerships with local coffee roasters

Lola’s has long held a tradition of offering holiday coffee beans in a partnership with local roasters. The first was Recreational Coffee before they were overtaken by its new owners. This year is no different: Partnering with L.A.-based, Tanzanian-bean obsessed There Will Be Coffee, bags of beans shall be rolling out soon.

Mother’s Kitchen opens in Cal Heights

Mother’s Kitchen, a Mexican-American concept from Habid Abdelkrim, has opened on Orange Avenue in Cal Heights, has officially opened.

Nopypitz reopens in different Long Beach location

The middling chain that is Noypitz—which didn’t last a year in Downtown Long Beach due to opening shortly before the pandemic—has reopened at Carson Town Center.

ICYMI: Ammatolí’s latest expansion is an extension of Chef Dima Habibeh’s gift to the food scene

Ammatolí, Chef Dima Habibeh’s James Beard-recognized Levantine restaurant, has expanded its footprint again. Shortly after expanding east into the former BurgerIM space, it has now taken over the former açaí bowl space toward its western edge. 

The room—lovingly called “hayati” (حياتي), or “my life” in Arabic—is the lifelong culmination of Chef Dima’s dream not just to bring Levantine food to SoCal but to have a constant swarm of people asking for, learning about, and yearning for the food of her heritage.

For the full feature, click here.

ICYMI: This tasting event at Panxa will offer tacos and unlimited tastings of agave spirits (on the cheap)

We already know Panxa is home to the city’s largest collection of agave spirits. But the New Mexico-inspired concept—birthed by Chef Arthur Gonzalez and now headed by his wife, Vanessa Auclair, following his tragic death—is also home to some of the city’s best events. Their annual hatch chile roasting celebration has become a Long Beach tradition, while they have also invited customers into the space for sports games, election debates, and more.

“A Taste of Mexico” is one of those events. And it comes with unlimited spirits tastings, tacos, music, and good vibes on Tuesday, Dec. 3 from 6PM ot 9PM. (Or, for VIP ticket holders, an extra half-hour comes at 5:30PM to more comfortably peruse the producers of agave spirits present.)

For the full feature, click here.