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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 or repeated news where you might have missed the full features.
Chick-Fil-A closes its Towne Center location for remodel—and not without controversy
After serving the East Long Beach/Hawaiian Gardens/Los Alamitos communities for 18 years, the Chick-fil-A at Long Beach Towne Center has opted to remodel its space. John Howard, a former U.S. Air Force pilot, owns this particular Chick-fil-A franchise and has long been a city leader, including as chair of the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce board.
While I initially permitted a longtime worker to share their closure on my food group, the comments became so vitriolic and divisive that I had to remove the post and some members permanently. It should come as no surprise: The company’s less-than-stellar and complicated relationship with the LGBTQ community has garnered it worldwide scorn and criticism—and those sentiments, both in support of the company and against, were loud and clear in the now-deleted post.
Breakfast Dreams is no longer serving at Rose Park Roasters
They were a gem for not just the Downtown but all of Long Beach as they served what was unquestionably some of the best breakfast grub in the city. It was so good; in fact, I put them on my underrated restaurants list last year. And now, Chef Joshua Haskal’s Breakfast Dreams is gonna be a little bit harder to grab: Their popup at Rose Park—a 10-month long residency—ended last week. They will, however, be at Wolf’s Brew Coffee every Sunday, as well as “various other coffee shops, breweries, and events,” according to Chef Joshua. Even better? They are looking for a brick-and-mortar space that would “ideally be our own little space or a shared space.”
Royal Indian Curry House finds new space in DTLB
Three months after it was announced that longtime East Village Arts District restaurant Utopia would permanently shutter, the former, original owners of Natraj—Amarjit Singh and Babbljit “Bubbly” Kaur—announced they would return to the restaurant scene by taking over the space. Royal Indian Curry House hung up its signage quickly and, just as quickly, was mired by landlord issues that eventually led them to look for a new space.
Well, they have officially applied for a business license at 242 Pine Ave., the former Starbucks space that was next to the former original MADE in Long Beach space.
Sideburns goes organic (and Impossible) with their burger menu
Sideburns is easily one of Long Beach’s underrated gems: Sideburns was initially birthed out of its neighboring The Stache Bar, whose food program came out of its short-lived presence with Chef Melissa Ortiz. And since taking on Ortiz’s very minimal bar menu—a stellar Chicago dog here, some even more stellar cheese curds there, a chili cheese fries option—Sideburns has expanded into an all-out burger joint that has an array of the classic in many forms and, in many ways, taken a step away from Ortiz through the work of Chef Thomas, the skinny’n’loquacious burger master who you will find masterfully cooking some ten burgers at once.
And though they’ve had grass-fed beef since day one, they’re taken it one step further: They’re now organic grass-fed patties. And Impossible patties. And we are here for it.
Dedo Coffee moves forward on construction in Wrigley
Long Beach’s latest coffee shop will definitely be one of its most unique: Playing along the lines of the now-staple monthly listening club that is the Good Luck Vinyl Club, Dedo Coffee will be a shop dedicated to the hi-fi sound culture that was birthed in the 1960s and has found a resurgence now.
“One of the things we look forward to most at Dedo Coffee is our curated listening events,” Sarah wrote on their Kickstarter. “These might feature time dedicated to a new album, an ethnomusicologist or jazz historian guest speaker sharing their research on a specific genre or artist, or simply a celebration of David Byrne and David Bowie on a Thursday evening.
District Wine does brunch
District Wine continues its weekly brunch on Sundays from noon to 3PM, including live music. From shakshouka and pancake boards to quiche and scones, the menu is minimal but as with all things District Wine, quality. Plus, their patio is quite the perfect way to catch sun, people watch, and drink up.
ICYMI: Long Beach pasta is having a beautifully carby renaissance—here are the essentials
The creation and serving of Long Beach pasta in-house by new and old restaurants is having a handmade renaissance.
Seasonal menus are overriding sterile, never-gonna-change menus. Shapes are going beyond spaghetti and penne and into the sopressini and paccheri. Style and sauces are moving beyond your nonna’s marinara and into the downright SoCal grasp of worldly palates.
Here are the Long Beach restaurants doing it by hand and at the highest level of execution.
ICYMI: Telefèric Long Beach will open ‘within a month,’ offering its much respected Spanish food
Really big food news to kick of the week: Telefèric will open ‘within a month,’ according to Executive Chef Oscar Cabezas. Having been a staple in Spain for over three decades, it has slowly expanded its presence in the States—especially here in SoCal.
Click here for the full feature.
ICYMI: Crumbl Cookies is opening a Long Beach location—but has the hype died?
Crumbl Cookies, the massive Utah-based cookie chain that has opened over 1,000 locations since 2017, is finally coming to Long Beach. The new location will be next to Trader Joe’s in the Marketplace complex at the southeast corner of Pacific Coast Highway and 2nd Street.
But has the hype surrounding the viral cookie corporation died out?
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