Ah, underrated Long Beach restaurants—honestly, my favorite list each year I write it.
When I first published my underrated (not necessarily the best—repeat: not necessarily the best) restaurants list on Longbeachize in 2017, it was, at the time, my most popular piece. It was a testament to the flourishing of Long Beach’s culinary scene, which continues today.
Admittedly, this will always be incomplete because there are always more who deserve the same nod. No matter how you dice it, lists like these will always remain incomplete because there are spaces deserving of attention but aren’t listed. But this particular list is one I feel is worth celebrating.
In no particular order, let’s talk about some underrated Long Beach restaurants….
La Casa de Iris
1260 Long Beach Blvd.
For years, La Casa De Iris’s Puerto Rican food built its following through pop-ups, weekend street service, and family recipes that carried the flavor memory of Ponce, Puerto Rico into Southern California.
Now in its brick-and-mortar home on Long Beach Boulevard, the restaurant has become one of the city’s most distinct expressions of Boricua cooking. Deeply personal. Family-rooted. An ancestral-led kitchen where mofongo, pernil, arroz con gandules, pastels, and alcapurrias are presented not as trends, but as living tradition.
The project centers on recipes tied to founder María’s mother, Iris Negron—the namesake behind the restaurant—and that lineage is what gives the food its emotional weight. Rich. Direct. And unapologetically rooted in Puerto Rican identity. At 1260 Long Beach Blvd., the space carries the same warmth that first drew people to the stand—bright hospitality, casual energy, and plates designed for abundance rather than restraint.
For the full feature on La Casa de Iris, click here.
Koh Ruessei
816 E. Anaheim St.
I have long been hesitant to share my love of Koh Ruessei because, well, it is very much a space I like to keep to myself. Much in the vein of Crystal Cambodian Thai—where I’ve also praised their version of this very dish—Koh is a home-like space. You will find family members wrapping num ansom chrouk (នំអន្សមជ្រូក)—sticky rice stuffed with pork belly and mung beans before being firmly wrapped in banana leaves—while you can eat fried instestines, beef anchovy, and quail late into the night.
One of their finest dishes? Somlar machu kreung, a bright, sour soup whose tamarind base makes way for chunks of beef, water spinach, intestine, and tripe. Rich, wonderful with beer, and warming as it gets, it might even be superior to Crystal’s version. Looks like I’ll just have to continually get both to get a final verdict on that.
Panama International Restaurant
211 Pine Ave.
Tucked along Wilshire Boulevard, Caribbean Soul Kitchen LA was a beloved destination not just for its witty take on Panamanian and Caribbean food, but for the entire experience provided by its owners, Rogelio and Mercedes Squires.
Plates of jerk chicken and pargo frito. The scent of coconut rice and sancocho fills the air. A crowd often spilled past the door. This year, the couple bet big once again. They packed up their popular LA spot and headed south to open a new, larger location in Downtown Long Beach. Dubbed Panama International Kitchen, the 3,000-square-foot space at 211 Pine Ave. serves up some of the finest Caribbean food in the city.
Tacos La Rueda
16900 Lakewood Blvd. [in Bellflower]
For many, this place has long been a gem. (LA TACO wrote about this place three years ago.) I know this is technically Bellflower, but it is just across the 91—and offers the region’s best flour tortillas outside of Sonoratown. No joke. Introduced to me by Barely Alive’s Matt Meier, this gem of a taqueria is an ode to the great Mexican state of Sonora.
Operated by Sonora natives and brothers Omar and Alan Cejudo Hernandez, Tacos La Rueda is a deeply personal ode to Ciudad Obregón. Opening in 2023, it has become one of SoCal’s most unapologetically regional taquerías, where paper-thin flour tortillas made with lard cradle charred carne asada and nearly candied tripas, while caramelos and crisp lorenzas broaden the menu beyond the familiar taco canon.
Their Obregón roots shine just as brightly in the details: cabbage and a thin tomato salsa dress the tacos. Traditional air-dried machaca crowns freshly fried chilaquiles. And Sonoran-style weenies are crammed into soft, house-made bread with bacon, beans, cotija, Mexican crema, mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, and salsa verde.
Nova Bakery
865 E. 7th St. Unit C
Owned by Raúl Barboza and operated with the support of his family, Nova Bakery brings the cooking of Venezuela’s mountainous Táchira and Mérida regions to a modest storefront across from Gumbiner Park. Raúl first stood before the property—then little more than a parking lot—in 2019 and imagined building a restaurant there, beginning a years-long process that culminated in the bakery’s 2023 opening.
Since, the space has been named by the Los Angeles Times as one of the best places to get arepas in SoCal. And, despite its name, Nova is as much a Venezuelan restaurant as it is a bakery. Its menu moves from crisp, generously filled empanadas and pastelitos to stretchy cheese tequeños, sweet-corn cachapas. Arepas split open and packed with combinations such as reina pepiada—chicken, avocado, herbs and mayonnaise—or pabellón, the emblematic mixture of shredded beef, black beans, cheese and caramelized plantains. Fried potato balls. House sauces. Stuffed churros and flan… For Long Beach’s growing Latin American community, which moves cuisine beyond our comfort with Mexican food’s dominance, Nova offers the comfort of its unique flavors.
The Cultured Soul
400 E. Anaheim St., Suite A
The eradication of soul food in Long Beach—once a thriving cuisine found in nearly every district—has found a new heartbeat in a single place: The Cultured Soul.
Headed by Chef Jamie Armstead, the space showcases the chef’s hard work, from catering to a brick-and-mortar. (A battle you will often see firsthand: The store is closed if Chef Jamie has a catering gig—rightfully so, but plan ahead to avoid disappointment.) We’re talking massive plates of fabulously fried catfish or chicken. Sides of proper collard greens, well-seasoned mac’n’cheese, and fluffy cornbread. It is, without question, the city’s finest purveyor of soul food.
Bubu’s Restaurant
2017 Orange Ave.
For Chef Jesús García de la Cruz—the man who opened the hole-in-the-wall Mexican space that is Bubu’s on Orange Avenue in Long Beach—the road toward having his own business has been paved with gratitude.
He is, after all, no stranger to the Long Beach food scene. From the kitchens of Open Sesame and Yardhouse to Berlin Bistro and Parker’s Lighthouse, it was the mixture of Mexican determination and the American food industry that brought Chef Jesús, his wife Alondra—whom he met while working at a Lone Star restaurant—and his family to his chiquito-pero-picoso space.
A native of the great Mexican state of Puebla, you’ll find the full array of Mexican classics here: From Ensenada-style tacos and chilaquiles to menudo con pata and chile rellenos.
For Brian Addison’s full feature on Bubu’s, click here.
Hinata Ramen
4211 E. Willow St.
Long Beach’s ramen scene has exploded across the past several years, with some earning Michelin recognition—we see you, HiroNori—and others disappearing—Great Tiger Ramen came and went. And speaking of Great Tiger Ramen, that is where the tale of Hinata Ramen, East Long Beach’s hidden Japanese-meets-Chinese gem, begins.
After all, Hinata sits in the very space Great Tiger once occupied. Owner Paul Lee had high hopes for the space, but faced an intense reality after its head chef left: Great Tiger Ramen was that chef‘s ramen. Ramen, after all, is deeply coded to its creator with nuance. So he brought on Chef Leo Hengky, whose ramen is held down by a smoke-tinged beauty of a broth filled with the collagen of everything from pig trotters to pig head.
And it goes beyond the ramen (which includes the city’s best tsukemen). From stellar hibachi fried rice and gorgeous odes to Chef Leo’s Taiwanese heritage—including a spicy sesame chicken dish—Chef Leo’s food is wonderfully individualistic and unique in a world of ramen that feels all too ubiquitous and redundant.
For the full feature on Hinata Ramen, click here.
Pizza Parlor
2936 Clark Ave.
Given the city’s absurdly and rightfully great pizza game—something that has skyrocketed across the past five years—there is no doubt that Pizza Parlor remains the underdog of that conversation. And the pies? They make a case for both careful technique and a little playfulness.
At the corner of Clark Avenue and Spring Street, Pizza Parlor gives East Long Beach a neighborhood pizzeria with a serious interest in dough. Long Beach native Joshua Knight, who also owns the neighboring Coffee Parlor, opened the restaurant with Chef Mike Ortiz in December 2023, taking over the former Ottimo Pizzeria space.
Chef Mike? He brought experience from kitchens like Tartine and Lodge Bread. Joshua? He brought the baking and scratch-cooking approach he developed next door. Together, they built the menu around a naturally leavened sourdough crust that proofs for five days before it reaches the oven.
Coffee Parlor (COPA)
2944 Clark Ave.
Coffee Parlor—often dubbed “COPA”—is an underrated gem on multiple fronts. The caffeinated sister to the neighborhing Pizza Parlor, the space has always offered both stellar coffee and stellar grub thanks to owner and chef Joshua Knight. (Who also works alongside Chef Mike Ortiz for the incredible pizza program at Pizza Parlor mentioned above.)
Just take a look at their breakfast burrito—one, mind you, that is certainly vying for the best breakfast burrito in the city. Made with El Majorado flour tortillas, this monster is stuffed with over easy eggs. Mishima Reserve Wagyu beef tallow fried tots. (Yes, you read that right.) Tillamook sharp cheddar. Nueskes bacon. Jalapeño bacon onion jam. Avocado. And all with a morita tomatillo salsa on the side.
PS Fast Food 168 Restaurant
2232 E. Anaheim St.
There are spaces that dominate Long Beach’s Cambodian scene—Phnom Penh Noodle House and Crystal Cambodian & Thai immediately and rightfully come to mind—but there are many hidden gems. One, Koe Ruessei, is already on this list; PS Fast Food 168 joins it.
Owner Sivlang Poeng churns out Khmer classics while keeping it all very straightforward and affordable. (Nearly every single offering is under $15.) Solid oxtail noodle soup and fried chicken served with a papaya side salad. Sizzling beef and peppers next to some of the finest chicken porridge. All made with the commual love that has come to define Long Beach’s Cambodian food scene.
Biscuits & Subs
649 Long Beach Blvd.
There was something heartwarming about owner Savery apologizing for handling a utility issue over the phone while I ordered—and it reminded me of the hard work humble people put into their small businesses. At 8:30AM, there was no question that she could have used an extra pair of hands to assist with the growing line.
Are the AI menus alarming? Of course. Are the prices exorbitantly fair? Yes: My sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit was $7.50. Do you have to show up early for the biscuits because they’re often sold out? Yes, so prepare ahead. And while I haven’t explored the rest of the menu—they have a huge array of subs that are mostly $10—I am just happy to see a woman-owned business trying to thrive in DTLB while maintaining prices that serve that very community.
Mangiafoglie
2306 E. 4th St.
A repeat from last year and something I still feel obligated to uplift: Mangiafoglie, the first brick-and-mortar from chef and vegan pizza pop-up veteran Paul Reese, has brought fresh life to 4th Street in the former Scholb space. And with it, the most innovative vegan food in the region.
Years in the making, the restaurant reflects Reese’s philosophy: bridging the gap between vegan and non-vegan dining by creating Italian food that stands on its own. With a team of passionate cooks and collaborators, Mangiafoglie leans into craft and creativity, turning plant-based cooking into something both comforting and inventive. The space itself mirrors that ethos—warm, textured, and community-driven—serving as a new anchor for a neighborhood still mourning the loss of past staples like Portfolio.
The menu highlights that balance of innovation and tradition. Eggless pastas pair with purple potato gnocchi in truffle cream, pizzas topped with house-made sausage and pepperoni nod to Reese’s pop-up roots, and dishes like pizza montanara—fried dough topped simply with tomato, salt, and oregano—let quality ingredients shine. His inventive touches, like lemon “bottarga” crafted from preserved citrus and nori or house-made parmesan built from potato starch and fermented tofu, underscore the team’s commitment to reimagining Italian classics without compromise. More than a vegan restaurant, Mangiafoglie is a celebration of good food, community, and resilience—a space as much about the people it feeds as the plates it serves.
For Brian Addison’s full feature on Mangiafoglie, click here.
Sesame Dinette
1750 Pacific Ave.
Sesame Dinette was originally founded by daughter-and-mother team Linda Sivrican and Chef Judy Mai Nguyen. It started as a market pop-up in DTLA’s Chinatown during the pandemic, where Nguyen’s cold food was served out of a refrigerator, and it blew up into a national sensation, garnering coverage from the New York Times to the Los Angeles Times.
Since then, Linda has moved to Vietnam, and her parents have sold the business—but the recipes remain. It spans the traditional and even breaks away from it—like their beautifully witty pho French dip—but the traditional is where Long Beach can begin to explore some genuinely gorgeous Vietnamese dishes.
Cali Chilli’s Southern Indian breakfast weekends
4111 N. Viking Way
There is something wonderfully paradoxical about what Cali Chilli is doing with its breakfast on the weekends in Long Beach. For years, the Long Beach restaurant has built its reputation by refusing to be boxed in by tradition. It has outright bent the definitions of what Indian cuisine should be in an area where traditional Indian food, hallmarked by Artesia’s array of offerings, is held to the highest standard.
Which is it is just outright amusing that the most untraditional Indian restaurant is serving up the most traditional Southern Indian breakfast on the weekends. Idli. Pongal. Medu vada. Puri. And an entire lineup of dosas, including an elegantly simple plain dosa. But my personal favorite? The indulgent Bangalore Benne Masala Dosa. Dripping with clarified butter and stuffed with potato bhaji, this is the savory lover’s dream, where the crack of the dosa and the softness of the filling create an astoundingly satisfying bite.
For the full feature on Cali Chilli’s southern Indian breakfast, click here.
Sabor y Mas
Northeast corner of 4th St. and Redondo Ave.; hours vary; check Instagram
The flourishing of Latin American food beyond the dominant confines of Mexican cuisine in Long Beach has been wonderful to witness—albeit slowly. Like La Casa de Iris on the very list, Sabor y Mas offers an array of Argentine empanadas in nearly every flavor you can think of.
Ground beef. Chicken (go for the spicy version). Spinach and cheese. Ham and cheese. Jalapeño and cheese. And, a personal favorite, an open-face caprese empanada, acting as a nod toward Argentina’s massive Italian diaspora. And yes, they also have alfajores, the famed South American cookie.
Led by Chef Jorge—joined by his wife, Silvia, and their son, Stephen—you’ll often find him adding olive oil to fresh chimichurri while his son convinces you to go for the sweet deal: six empanadas for $20.
Smog City Heights
1106 E. Wardlow Rd.
Smog City Heights—the Cal Heights kitchen and patio from the brewers of Torrance-based Smog City—is owned Laurie Porter and led in the kitchen by Chef Jeff Lustre. They hope that, after a longtime uphill battle to establish itself after leaving their taproom at Steelcraft, the neighborhood and surrounding city will come out to one of Cal Heights’s most unique dining and drinking spaces.
Taking over the former Verdes location—the short-lived vegan concept that was previously home to the decades-long breakfast legend, Babes—the venue combines Smog City’s beer lineup with a full kitchen and an outright rad patio. While much of the infrastructure was already in place, opening the doors wasn’t immediate.
For Brian Addison’s full feature on Smog City Heights, click here.
The Godmother of Long Beach
Ocean Boulevard and Bennett Avenue
She calls herself the Godmother of Long Beach, a Palermo-born mother who has decided post-divorce to do one pretty wild endeavor: Park herself at the southeast corner of Ocean Boulevard and Bennett Avenue every Thursday through Sunday, pop up a tent, set up a frier and stovetop, and serve up massive balls of arancini, stuffed-to-order cannolis, slices of pistachio cream cake and tiramisu, and bowls of penne alla vodka and beef ragú.
The terrible thing I’ve done in bringing her up? She’s currently on her annual trek to Sicily—so you’ll have to wait for her return to experience her masterful arancini.
For Brian Addison’s full feature on the Godmother, click here.
Tacomasa
4740 E. 7th St., Suite #130
Tacomasa might be a small chain, but it’s a vastly underrated one. Founded in 2021 by restaurateur Ivan Flores, who sought to introduce the bold, street-level flavors of Tijuana-San Diego’s border taco culture to the region’s fast-casual scene. From the beginning, Flores leaned into the traditional: handmade corn tortillas, meats grilled over mesquite, and house-made salsas.
What makes Tacomasa stand out is not just the flavor, but the philosophy behind its growth. Flores insists on a debt-free expansion model, using the success of existing locations to fund the next, so the brand grows steadily without overleveraging itself. Under his leadership, Tacomasa has grown into four corporate-owned locations, the latest being in Brea.
Beyond its food, Tacomasa reflects Flores’s personal narrative and values: a faith-driven approach, emphasis on community, and dedication to doing business with integrity.
For Brian Addison’s guide to essential Long Beach Mexican restaurants, click here.
Tanuki Curry House
4150 McGowen St., Suite #12 [inside The Hangar]
Tanuki Curry House is no exception to Chef Erwin Angeles’s dedication to traditional Japanese cuisine, which he first explored at Kihon. It brings the type of curry that is found on nearly every street corner in Japan—think CoCo Ichi or Hinoya—and, more locally, Gardena and Torrance. (Fun fact: Curry is Japan’s most consumed dish, surpassing sushi or ramen in Japan—and, more locally, in Gardena and Torrance.
With a new home inside The Hangar at the LBX retail complex, the space remains vastly underrated. Named after the mischievous, raccoon-meets-dog, shape-shifting creature of Japanese folklore, Tanuki showcases another side of Chef Erwin’s love for Japanese cuisine.
For Brian Addison’s original feature on Tanuki, click here.
For previous versions of my listicle, Underrated Long Beach Restaurants:
