Dinner in Long Beach, CA
 

We are flying to Long Beach, CA the night before a cruise and staying at the Marriott(airport). Is there a good restaurant within walking distance? We will be in casual clothing.

There's nothing great within walking distance of the hotel. There's a fairly good eatery in the hotel itself. If you don't have a car and don't want to go anywhere, that's what I'd do. Before I forget: Dress code in just about every restaurant in southern California is casual.

However-- if you have a car or will spring for a cab, head east on Spring. Take a right on Clark, then a quick left into the strip mall on the southeast corner. The Mexican joint there is called Baja Sonora. Fast-food digs, but the food is good Cal-Mex, hearty and substantial.

My favorite southern Italian joint is a couple of miles away in east Long Beach. It's called Ferraro's, at the corner of Palo Verde and Los Coyotes Diagonal. Noodles and red sauce, but the owner is a paisan' from Sicily by way of Brooklyn, so it's authentic East Coast Italian-American. He makes a mean braciola, and the tomato salad is exceptional.

But frankly, I'd recommend cabbing it to Belmont Shore and grabbing a bite there at one of the numerous eateries on Second Street. Say, Malvasia. Or Shenandoah Café (pricey but wonderful). Or Café Gazelle. Walk around and look at the menus....

If you are absolutely stranded, ask the Marriott if you can take their shuttle to the Courtyard by Marriott in the East Village Arts District.Catty corner from that Marriott is UTOPIA RESTAURANT. Great food, excellent service, and very reasonable!

Long Beach's downtown Pine Ave, Ocean Ave, and Shoreline Village are all within walking distance, or you can take the free Red "Passport" Bus, even to Belmont Shore! KaRi

A restaurant I love in Long Beach is L'Opera. It is downtown, in what was once a bank. A beautiful building, good food and excellent service.

I can second Malvasia. Every time I am down at Belmont Shore I eat there. Nothing overly fancy, but good food at fair prices. I'll have to check out Shenandoah Cafe. rjw, where is it exactly please?

After dinner, you can walk down a few blocks (from Malvasia, you are walking toward the bank of america you will see down the street), to the crepe place. I think it's moving to a new location soon (the old vie de france location?) but it's a fun place to have a crepe for dessert. They also serve dinner there too, although I have never tried it.

I appreciate the suggestions! What about a good seafood restaurant in Long Beach?

crazymina: Shenandoah Café is 4722 E. Second Street, between Roycroft and Park. Love that place! Note: Beer & wine liquor license only, but the wine list is a good one.

Seafood specialists? King's Pine Avenue Fish House (Pine Avenue at Broadway) is really great. They also run Water Grill in downtown LA and Ocean Ave. Seafood in Santa Monica. The Fish Tale, in Los Altos Center (Bellflower just south of Stearns), isn't quite in the same league, but they have a killer spicy red fish chowder and nice fresh-baked bread.

If you can venture a little south of Long Beach, Walt's Wharf in Seal Beach (Main Street) is a treat. Oh, and the Original Fish Company on Katella in Los Alamitos is another good place. I go there almost weekly.

While I haven't eaten there (it was closed--for some reason--both times I tried) King's Fish House on Pine is supposed to have really good seafood--and a wide selection. Also, there's a McCormick's and Schmick's in downtown Long Beach.

Frenchy's Bistro does a nice job with sand dabs--hmmmm, sand dabs.

AL ((d))

Thanks rjw...I remember seeing it, but I wasn't sure if I was hallucinating. Whenever I go down there, I tend to stick with favorites, so I completely overlook other restaurants. Next time I go, I'll try it out.

Forgot to mention: Walt's Wharf in Seal Beach is great and in Los Alamitos there's the Fish Company on Katella.

Al ((d))

Oops! Should have known you'd beat me to the punch, rjw_lgb_ca. Oh well, if Purdue74 cross references, he/she should be able to come up with a winner.

AL ((d))

Anybody know if Mamma Tina's is still around? 4th and Pine wasn't it? Boy I miss that place!

Al: Great minds and all that, right? ;)

Mamma Tina's is still around, but it's on Pacific between 3rd and 4th. Haven't been there myself, but people still love it.

btw rjw, looks like you picked a great place to settle...according to real estate. I walked by the other day and picked up a home for sale flyer. I remember about 3-4 years ago, a 1100 sq foot belmont shore home was going for 500K. I thought back then that it was an insane price for a such a small home, and that it couldn't possibly go up much further.

Well, the flyer said it was $850,000 for a 1200 sq foot home on La Verne. :-O