Orange County-based fast casual Italian concept Pastaphony will be opening its first Long Beach location.
Taking over the space at The Promenade—which formerly housed the much-missed Michael’s Downtown, followed by the blinked-and-it-closed Ubuntu Cafe—it marks a smart concept move. As full-service restaurant costs skyrocket (and are therefore passed on to consumers in various ways), the need for affordable, fast-casual concepts, especially in DTLB during lunch, becomes essential.
And, even more, Pastaphony Long Beach offers great news for a Downtown and Promenade that have seen a heap of changes across the past few years.
Wait—what is Pastaphony? And what will it bring to Long Beach?
Pastaphony is, by and large, a definitively post-pandemic product: pasta that feels about as casual and customizable as it can get. Co-founder Leni Benbicaco, under the umbrella of Concept Restaurants LLC, has carved out a niche that basically feels like an Italian Chipotle. Its brand often brags about “skipping the fancy Italian” in favor of its fare.
“We’re thrilled to expand Pastaphony into vibrant new markets across Southern California. With Downtown Long Beach, like Fullerton, we’re building momentum to bring our modern take on Italian pasta bowls to even more communities,” Benbicaco said.
While we already have this concept from native Italians over at The Italian Homemade Company—an underrated gem of a fast-casual pasta spot that is both stellar and valuable—the brand will welcome back, in spirit, the Italian food of Michael’s before it.
Since debuting at Rodeo 39 Public Market, Pastaphony has steadily expanded its footprint across SoCal. They now have outposts in Stanton, Glendora Public Market, Fullerton and Carlsbad. Anaheim is joining Long Beach in the “coming soon” bracket.
Pastaphony is located at 210 E 3rd St. They are expected to open by the summer.
