Foodies Guide To Long Beach, California

One of the greatest parts of traveling, in my humble opinion, is eating the local food. Each new city promises its visitors something new and part of truly understanding the local culture, starts with its food.

What I LOVED about the food in Long Beach was the diversity. One night I was having a sensational beef wellington on The Queen Mary and the next sitting around a fire pit eating these salads that would just blow your mind. If Long Beach is not already on your list of foodie destinations, IT SHOULD BE! Everyday that you aren’t eating through Long Beach you are doing yourself a disservice.

So lets talk food.

Sir Winston’s:

Sir Winston’s is located on board the Queen Mary in all her grandeur. If you can only have one meal in Long Beach – this right here is it. I am not a picky eater but I know that a restaurant is good at what they do and their food when the menu isn’t overbearing. The menu selection for entrees is small but they throw it out of the park. I saw they had beef wellington on the menu and that tiny voice of Gordon Ramsey was yelling in my head to order it because if you can cook this dish right and well, you deserve that recognition. I am happy to say, the beef wellington more than exceeded my expectations and it was cooked perfectly. Probably the best one I have ever had.

Beef Wellington

Other notable dishes were the french onion soup and the souffle. Everything was insanely delicious, but the beef wellington is incredibly memorable. Also – our waiter brought us these amazing chocolate covered strawberries.

Souffle

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Breakfast Bar:

What I LOVE about Breakfast Bar was not only the food but the story behind its come to fruition and the quirkiness of it. The owners opened the Breakfast Bar and took a chance with essentially nothing. Backed by their community they have been able to thrive and continue bringing delicious dishes to its visitors. One of the interesting things I noticed on the table was that if you come in wearing last nights clothes, they have a drink menu with deeply discounted drinks for you. Think $3 bucks.

Some of the dishes they are serving up are things like breakfast sliders, avocado toast, pancakes, eggs benny, and so much more. I couldn’t pick a favorite here! I tried so many things among the group of us and all of it was amazing.

Sliders

Avocado Toast

Parker’s Lighthouse:

Parker’s Lighthouse

If you are after a fresh lunch in Shoreline Village, Parker’s Lighthouse is where its at! Beautiful from the water and on land, I found the decor and food to be a perfect spot for lunch after a morning of touring Long Beach.

Garlic Cheese Bread

I heard the garlic cheese bread is to die for – and guess what? IT IS! I’m not sure what magic the kitchen is working on this dish but don’t miss it.

Grilled Shrimp Avocado Salad

For lunch I went with a grilled shrimp avocado salad. It was the perfect pairing with the garlic cheese bread!

Butter Cake

As for the best dish of all time, dessert – don’t forget to order the butter cake. Literally the best butter cake in the world! It comes with vanilla ice cream, strawberry puree and streusel crumble. There was not a crumb left on this plate!

Michael’s Pizzeria:

What I loved about dining at Michael’s Pizzeria was not only the food but the outdoor seating. Sure, you can eat outside at a lot of places BUT a lot of places don’t offer fire pit table dining, and that is worth mentioning. I went with a sizable group and we all sat around the fire pit table and dined on some of the best food in Long Beach. Don’t just take my word for it – Michael’s comes highly rated as the #1 restaurant in Long Beach and the #2 restaurant in ALL of Los Angela’s. That is pretty impressive and the food shines.

Carbonara Pizza

Parmigiana Di Melanzane

Seasonal Salad

Margherita

Watermelon Salad

Pasta!

I have never been more impressed by salads and the use of flavor anywhere. I have to recommend the entire menu because I tasted so many dishes and all of them were equally incredible. But it goes without saying, you don’t become this highly rated for no reason.

James Republic:

Casual upscale eatery in Long Beach, James Republic has a small but fierce menu. I was dining with several other people and a lot of us ordered the same dish: Cali Scramble. You can certainly get a scramble anywhere but not like this, this one was special and it spoke to all of us. The Cali Scramble included: eggs, peppers, spinach, goat cheddar, avocado, dill creme fraiche, and scallions. i don’t think I could have put together a better dish with an explosion of flavors.

Cali Scramble

Boathouse on the Bay:

Last dinner on my trip with Visit Long Beach and surely it did not disappoint! Boathouse on the Bay has a great selection of seafood and other dishes to please any palate. What I loved most was the salmon (not pictured because I ate it too fast – THAT good) and the coconut shrimp.

Sampler

You can actually see some of the best sunsets from Boathouse too overlooking the water. I would plan ahead if you want to eat outside and catch the magic in the sky!

There are a lot of places to eat in Long Beach and I have yet to eat at them all BUT I hope to get the opportunity to visit again and eat at more of the restaurants. The food scene is booming in Long Beach, less busy than L.A. and even has an easy airport to fly into. I couldn’t have designed an easier trip if I tried.

*This post was written in collaboration with the Long Beach Tourism Bureau, but as always, opinions are entirely my own.