Monday, December 9, 2024

Sonoratown Long Beach will open its doors Sept. 17

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Chivichangas. Caramelos. Bags of perfectly concocted flour tortillas. The waft of chargrilled carne asada. Sonoratown Long Beach is officially opening its doors on Sept. 17. During its initial run, it will be open only for lunch until owners Teodoro DĂ­az Rodriguez Jr. and Jennifer Feltham get their kitchen to “as close to perfect as we can because we care deeply about the consistency and quality of our product.”

It brings the famed DTLA taqueria to the mouths and stomachs of Long Beach for the first time. And yes, that is a very big deal.

So what, exactly, is this place? And why is Sonoratown Long Beach such a big deal for DTLB?

“The magnificence of Teodoro DĂ­az Rodriguez Jr. and Jennifer Feltham’s Sonoratown taqueria rests first on the flour tortillas cranked out by their master tortilla maker, Julia Guerrero… [It] is the flour tortilla against which to judge all others in Los Angeles.”

These are the words of Los Angeles Times food critic Bill Addison, who placed Sonoratown at number 12 on his 101 Best Restaurants list (which also included three other Long Beach establishments). And the importance of Sonoratown in the larger discussion of SoCal’s taco game is paramount: They helped usher in regional Mexican tacos in a way that emphasized specificity. Their menu? Minimal, tight, focused. In fact, it had had only one significant addition—cabeza—which they added when it opened its Mid-City location. Their quality? Unparalleled.

It is, through and through, an Angeleno legend coming to Long Beach.

The owners of Sonoratown have long loved Long Beach

Opening in the former Under the Sun space across from Ammatolí on 3rd Street in Downtown Long Beach—which closed its doors back in March of 2023—Sonoratown opened its OG DTLA location in 2016 followed by another location in Midtown near LACMA.

And co-owner Jennifer Feltham, who operates the space with her husband, Teo Diaz-Rodriguez Jr., knows that Long Beach had long been on their radar.

“Teo Teo went to CSULB and he’s always loved Long Beach so much—we’re both beyond the moon to finally be opening our doors,” Jennifer said, arranging cantina tables she had shipped from Mexico in the new DTLB space. “And I feel like a part of the Sonoratown story has always been to showcase the food of my husband’s home. Whenever we would go to San Luis [RĂ­o Colorado], he would always talk about how the tacos of his home aren’t represented. So for me, to be able to bring this to Long Beach makes it all the better.”

The story of Sonoratown is one that deserves its own profile. So expect that in the coming days as Jennifer and Teo tighten up the space to prep for opening.

Sonoratown will open on Sept. 17 and is located 244 E. 3rd St.

Brian Addison
Brian Addisonhttp://www.longbeachize.com
Brian Addison has been a writer, editor, and photographer for more than 15 years, covering everything from food and culture to transportation and housing. In 2015, he was named Journalist of the Year by the Los Angeles Press Club and has since garnered 30 nominations and three additional wins. In 2019, he was awarded the Food/Culture Critic of the Year across any platform at the National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards. He has since been nominated in that category every year, joining fellow food writers from the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, Eater, the Orange County Register, and more.

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