Long Beach Last Call 2025—a 13-event celebration of our city’s bar scene across 10 days—saw hundreds upon hundreds of people pour out to honor one of the most thankless industries, our bar and cocktail culture. And for me organizing it, it is hard not to make this a personal thank you since this was a unique collaboration that involved myself, Creative Class LB, my partner Samuel Cornejo, the Downtown Long Beach Alliance, and the countless folks within the industry.
This was and will always be an ode to an industry that is often not given the light it deserves. So the name “Last Call” has a double meaning: Yes, last call is when bartenders pour their last drink but the bar industry is also the last to be called on in the name of recognition. And I felt like changing that.
And the fact that this year’s event almost didn’t happen makes it all the more special it did.
Long Beach Last Call 2025 almost didn’t happen.
Political woes. A downturning economy. And, of course, there were devastating fires (to which Long Beach showed up, showed out, uplifted, fed stomachs and souls, and continued to do so across January and February). There was a definitive period where I felt like something as seemingly vapid as a 10-day celebration of drinking was entirely inappropriate.
In his ever prescient glory, My Dude told me to give it a week or two—to which I obviously panicked considering the window of planning time was incredibly shrinking. Then, more awful news: Many of my friends in the industry had been demoted or lost their jobs, from working in distribution to brand representation, to service jobs. That awful news meant that Long Beach Last Call 2025 had to happen—and I am so happy it did.
Event highlights: from bar crawls and cocktail classes…
The spread of events across Long Beach Last Call 2025 were filled with the precise people businesses want to have their seats filled with: Nearly every event had patrons who, yes, purchased tickets for something—but also gave more. Fifty attendees showed up for the Proper Irish Coffee class hosted at The Auld Dubliner, yes; they also purchased food, bought additional drinks, and spent more than three hours at the space on a Sunday afternoon.
Same goes for our kick-off party at The Stache and our Hennessy tasting at Chez Bacchus. The former saw a crowd that was “90% not regulars,” bar manager Priscilla In noted, expressing happiness at an entirely new patronage discovering the tiny-but-mighty space. And the latter? A pure slice of Long Beach as a beautifully Black, Cambodian, Latino, and white crowd gathered for a history lesson about a liquor never found missing at a cookout or Cambodian party. Even more? Hennessy rep Matt Ellingson brought out the brand’s famed Paradis bottle as a send-off to ticket buyers.
…to tastings and competitions, Long Beach Last Call 2025 was a tangible expression of this city’s love of the industry.
Over 100 enjoyed unlimited tastings from 14 of Mexico’s finest purveyors of tequila and mezcal at Panxa while a packed rooftop on Michael’s on Naples readied for a wine tasting and leading women gathered for a women’s networking event at Watch Me! Sports Bar…
Port City Tavern was gracious enough to host two events: A Fernet cocktail competition which saw hundreds invade the space and taste the offerings of four contestants. And a “bar-mers” market where a $20 got you an array of tastings, a personalized cocktail, and the ability to support local vendors…
And the largest event of the year, our DTLB bar crawl, saw hundreds bounce between six locations—Altar Society, ISM Brewing, The Ordinarie, The Stave, Broken Spirits, and Midnight Oil—across a six-hour timespan, with Midnight Oil graciously extending their hours for the event.
Ultimately, Long Beach Last Call 2025 was about the industry.
My favorite event of each year for Last Call will always be the industry appreciation event. Barbacks. Bartenders. Owners. Brand reps. Distributors. Thanks to the continual love of Gianna Johns and Daniel Flores, owners of Baby Gee, this tradition highlights what we do and who we do it for. Our cocktail community is an economic cog for the city but rarely gets a formal thank you. Thanks to Chris Lewis at Nosotros and the crew at Botanist Gin, this invite-only party saw hundreds of free cocktails delivered to the ones who make it all happen.
As for next year? Well, expect bigger and better, of course, as Sam and myself made countless new connections with brands, organizations, and workers who want this tradition to continue and grow.
