This must be Long Beach
Let’s get it out of the way: Long Beach is huge. In terms of land mass, it spans 77 square miles, stretching inland to the north, touching Compton, and then east of the 605 where it breaches the Orange County border into Cypress. And inside that densely packed area, nearly half a million people live and breathe.
And so there isn’t one Long Beach — there are 123. Yes, Long Beach’s official site designates 123 distinct city neighborhoods, all with vastly different landscapes, stories and socioeconomic conditions.
Get to know Los Angeles through the places that bring it to life. From restaurants to shops to outdoor spaces, here’s what to discover now.
The picture of Long Beach you have in your head is probably the same one in the brochures. That is of downtown, where the Pike Outlets, Shoreline Village and Pine Avenue converge at the waterfront. It’s a good place to start. Arguably the biggest fish in the area is the Aquarium of the Pacific, the largest aquarium in Southern California. And despite years of declining popularity and disrepair, the Queen Mary, a major city landmark since 1967, is making a comeback after the city threw it a lifeline of cash in 2021 to save it from literally sinking.
But the farther you travel from downtown — away from the tourists, the cruise ship passengers and the conventioneers — the more you‘ll find people who love hanging out in their little section of Long Beach just fine, thanks.
Chris Giaco is a champion of his eclectic neighborhood, a district dubbed Retro Row, where he owns the unabashedly leftist bookstore Page Against the Machine. When he decided to settle there in 1996, it was because of the area’s artistic and authentic vibe, something he noticed other Long Beach neighborhoods are finding hard to retain. “I’m a fan of keeping its organic grittiness,” Giaco says.
Retro Row is, by the way, home to the Art Theater; Long Beach’s last surviving independent cinema recently celebrated its 100th year. But the city itself is even older. Incorporated in 1897 as the sixth municipality in L.A. County, it traces its history back to a Spanish land grant, and before that was a village called Povuu’nga where the indigenous Tongva people lived.
Since then, the Long Beach story spans many chapters and subplots, including its complicated history with gay and lesbian rights that has culminated with one of the largest annual Pride parades in the country. The city also has played a pivotal role in aviation with the now-defunct Douglas Aircraft plant. And as a favorite of movie location scouts all the way back to the silent era, Long Beach has been nicknamed “the Other Hollywood.” Ferris Bueller’s leafy suburban Chicago house? It’s actually in the Los Cerritos neighborhood. (Also, before he became the most successful film director in history, Steven Spielberg studied at California State University Long Beach. He dropped out in 1968 to pursue his career, but came back decades later to earn his B.A., submitting “Schindler’s List” to complete a film course requirement. It got credit.)
A culinary renaissance is alive in Long Beach, including a French-Californian neo-bistro, a vegan, LGBTQ+-friendly coffee shop and the state’s first women-focused sports bar.
But Long Beach isn’t a Hollywood movie where there’s always a “happily ever after.” As a result of the pandemic, homelessness increased by 62% between 2020 and 2022. The city proclaimed it as a local emergency in January 2023. Meanwhile, pollution from the ports continues to contribute to the worst air quality in the country. (Yes, all that stuff you ordered from Temu is part of the problem.)
Though Long Beach isn’t perfect, it could be argued that it’s like any great American city — so multifaceted that no one (including this writer) can ever pin it down. This is evidenced by a number of nicknames: “Aquatic Capital of America,” “The International City” and “Iowa by the Sea,” to name a few. The only one that caught on is “the LBC,” coined by Snoop Dogg, an alum of Long Beach Polytechnic High School, who has immortalized his hometown in the lyrics of at least 10 songs.
So with your mind on your money and your money on your mind, here are 20 things to eat, see and do in Long Beach.
What's included in this guide
Anyone who’s lived in a major metropolis can tell you that neighborhoods are a tricky thing. They’re eternally malleable and evoke sociological questions around how we place our homes, our neighbors and our communities within a wider tapestry. In the name of neighborly generosity, we included gems that may linger outside of technical parameters. Instead of leaning into stark definitions, we hope to celebrate all of the places that make us love where we live.
Showing Places
(Bora Chan / For The Times)
Find out what an omelet casserole is at the Breakfast Bar
Long Beach Breakfast
If Long Beach had an official meal, it would be breakfast. The city boasts such a remarkably high concentration of breakfast joints slinging bacon and eggs, should cholesterol levels be measured statewide, Long Beach would glow red on the map. But it also would show up as a hot spot for breakfast food innovation.
In Belmont Heights, the city’s unofficial breakfast district, Starling Diner draws lines of customers who awake after having dreamed of its French toast — a French toast unlike any other that starts as a section of baguette soaked in crème anglaise, which is then broiled and injected with mascarpone. Nearby, at the Attic — a restaurant set inside a 1920s Craftsman-style home — you could have Breakfast Rice in a Stone Bowl: bacon, andouille sausage and eggs sputtering inside a searing-hot stone vessel usually reserved for Korean bibimbap.
Yet there may be no breakfast food more unique to this town than the omelet casserole made by owners Josh and Pamela Beadle of the Breakfast Bar. In 2013, when the Beadles transformed a shuttered Mexican joint attached to a motel into what’s now become one of Long Beach’s preeminent breakfast spots, it was as if they wanted to ensure there was an outlet for this dish.
What exactly is an omelet casserole, you ask? Well, it’s neither an omelet nor a casserole. In fact, it defies description. Since it dissipates like an eggy cloud in your mouth, some say it resembles a cheese soufflé, but even that isn’t quite apt.
Ask the servers what’s in it and they’ll tell you that a piece of bread is soaked overnight with egg, cheese and milk, then baked in an au gratin dish. But learning the secret ingredient only makes it more mysterious and magical. The only confirmed fact is that it’s a family recipe passed down for three generations, originally invented by a great-uncle named Marcee, who, by the way, still gets full credit on the menu.
The success of the omelet casserole (and a full bar where you can get a head start on your day-drinking buzz at 6 a.m.) made the Breakfast Bar’s original location in downtown such a hit that the Beadles opened a second location in Belmont Heights.
In Belmont Heights, the city’s unofficial breakfast district, Starling Diner draws lines of customers who awake after having dreamed of its French toast — a French toast unlike any other that starts as a section of baguette soaked in crème anglaise, which is then broiled and injected with mascarpone. Nearby, at the Attic — a restaurant set inside a 1920s Craftsman-style home — you could have Breakfast Rice in a Stone Bowl: bacon, andouille sausage and eggs sputtering inside a searing-hot stone vessel usually reserved for Korean bibimbap.
Yet there may be no breakfast food more unique to this town than the omelet casserole made by owners Josh and Pamela Beadle of the Breakfast Bar. In 2013, when the Beadles transformed a shuttered Mexican joint attached to a motel into what’s now become one of Long Beach’s preeminent breakfast spots, it was as if they wanted to ensure there was an outlet for this dish.
What exactly is an omelet casserole, you ask? Well, it’s neither an omelet nor a casserole. In fact, it defies description. Since it dissipates like an eggy cloud in your mouth, some say it resembles a cheese soufflé, but even that isn’t quite apt.
Ask the servers what’s in it and they’ll tell you that a piece of bread is soaked overnight with egg, cheese and milk, then baked in an au gratin dish. But learning the secret ingredient only makes it more mysterious and magical. The only confirmed fact is that it’s a family recipe passed down for three generations, originally invented by a great-uncle named Marcee, who, by the way, still gets full credit on the menu.
The success of the omelet casserole (and a full bar where you can get a head start on your day-drinking buzz at 6 a.m.) made the Breakfast Bar’s original location in downtown such a hit that the Beadles opened a second location in Belmont Heights.
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(Bora Chan / For The Times)
Take selfies and have a laugh at Bixby Knolls National Park
Long Beach National Park
Yes, it’s a joke. The National Park Service does not actually recognize Bixby Knolls National Park as an actual national park. Heck, it’s barely a park. In fact, at 0.05 acres, it’s smaller than a typical suburban backyard.
Before it declared itself as this great nation’s 64th national park, it was a city-owned plot of land managed by Public Works that was doing nothing except collecting weeds at the corner of Roosevelt Road and Long Beach Boulevard. So when the Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Assn. came into some redevelopment money, its members decided to do something fun.
And what fun they had. An official-looking National Park sign was put up, grading was put in and plants were planted. Most important, a big honking park map was installed at the edge of, well, the sidewalk. On it, there’s a comically unnecessary “You Are Here” marker and one showing where you can find the “Mainland Shuttle Station,” which points to the bus bench a few feet away.
Unfortunately, like other national parks, Bixby Knolls National Park has had its share of problems with inconsiderate visitors. Someone broke the antlers off the deer statue. And the bigfoot footprints and the fairy ring that were part of the original installation have gone missing.
What remains is, thankfully, still charming. There’s a tiny bridge that goes over nothing. And if you position your selfie camera at just the right angle, you might capture yourself in front of the majestic Bixby Waterfall (which is actually just a mural on a wall). But here’s a tip: If your intent is to show off as a world traveler on Facebook, be sure to crop out the two-story house behind it, and the doughnut shop across the street.
Before it declared itself as this great nation’s 64th national park, it was a city-owned plot of land managed by Public Works that was doing nothing except collecting weeds at the corner of Roosevelt Road and Long Beach Boulevard. So when the Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Assn. came into some redevelopment money, its members decided to do something fun.
And what fun they had. An official-looking National Park sign was put up, grading was put in and plants were planted. Most important, a big honking park map was installed at the edge of, well, the sidewalk. On it, there’s a comically unnecessary “You Are Here” marker and one showing where you can find the “Mainland Shuttle Station,” which points to the bus bench a few feet away.
Unfortunately, like other national parks, Bixby Knolls National Park has had its share of problems with inconsiderate visitors. Someone broke the antlers off the deer statue. And the bigfoot footprints and the fairy ring that were part of the original installation have gone missing.
What remains is, thankfully, still charming. There’s a tiny bridge that goes over nothing. And if you position your selfie camera at just the right angle, you might capture yourself in front of the majestic Bixby Waterfall (which is actually just a mural on a wall). But here’s a tip: If your intent is to show off as a world traveler on Facebook, be sure to crop out the two-story house behind it, and the doughnut shop across the street.
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(Bora Chan / For The Times)
Sink your teeth into a crunchy battered piece of cod at England Fish and Chips
Long Beach Fish French Fries
Located in the western part of Long Beach, in the corner spot of a 7-Eleven-anchored mini-mall, sits England Fish and Chips, a neighborhood mom-and-pop that has been serving deep-fried seafood at reasonable prices for at least two decades. The windows have graffiti etched on them by a razor blade. There’s a gurgling Orange Bang! dispenser that takes up most of the counter space. The seats are all plastic and foldable.
If you think the shop is showing its age in 2024, you’re wrong; it already looked worn 20 years ago. No one is here for the atmosphere. The place is a relic preserved in amber, which, coincidentally, will be the color of all the food you’ll eat. And you’ll want it all. Encased in crunchy cocoons of batter are foot-long spears of firm yet supple cod; jumbo shrimp coaxed into golden hula hoops; and scallops the size of walnuts.
Don’t worry about the inherent richness of what you’re about to consume. A malt-vinegar douse and a tartar-sauce dunk keeps everything balanced. Watching your carbs? You can skip the fries, which are the thin, fast-food kind. But do it just so you can try a bite of the deep-fried pineapple later.
Next to the register, where you’ll pay for your Fryolater haul in cash, there’s one of those novelty machines where you place your palm down and it tells you in lights, “How Long Will You Live?” If you eat here every day, the answer is probably not long. But it will have been a life well fed.
If you think the shop is showing its age in 2024, you’re wrong; it already looked worn 20 years ago. No one is here for the atmosphere. The place is a relic preserved in amber, which, coincidentally, will be the color of all the food you’ll eat. And you’ll want it all. Encased in crunchy cocoons of batter are foot-long spears of firm yet supple cod; jumbo shrimp coaxed into golden hula hoops; and scallops the size of walnuts.
Don’t worry about the inherent richness of what you’re about to consume. A malt-vinegar douse and a tartar-sauce dunk keeps everything balanced. Watching your carbs? You can skip the fries, which are the thin, fast-food kind. But do it just so you can try a bite of the deep-fried pineapple later.
Next to the register, where you’ll pay for your Fryolater haul in cash, there’s one of those novelty machines where you place your palm down and it tells you in lights, “How Long Will You Live?” If you eat here every day, the answer is probably not long. But it will have been a life well fed.
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(Bora Chan / For The Times)
Find your moment of zen at Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden
Long Beach Gardens
Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden at Cal State Long Beach looks like a screensaver came to life. Every picture you take will be worthy of a wall calendar. There are no bad angles here because it was made that way. In designing the garden, which opened in 1981, head landscape architect Ed Lovell followed a Japanese principle called “miegakure” where every step you take reveals a new and different landscape.
Central to the serene scenery is the koi pond, which is estimated to have a thousand koi that you are invited to feed with the garden-supplied fish food, so long as you make a reservation to do so. Afterward, take a seat on a bench and bask in the tranquility for as long as you want, or for however many hours you paid for parking on the campus lot across the street. The rate is $3 an hour.
Do make a reservation before you pay for parking, though. Visits are free, but you need an online reservation, lest you be turned away. Once you secure one, you can bring in as many as five other people with you. Weekend slots closer to the garden’s 1 p.m. closing time fill up the quickest. On weekdays, the garden closes at 5 p.m. You’ll know when it’s about to close because a jarring announcement will be made, interrupting the relaxing spa music piped in through hidden speakers. It’s your cue that your calming Japanese garden escape is ending and reality is waiting outside.
Central to the serene scenery is the koi pond, which is estimated to have a thousand koi that you are invited to feed with the garden-supplied fish food, so long as you make a reservation to do so. Afterward, take a seat on a bench and bask in the tranquility for as long as you want, or for however many hours you paid for parking on the campus lot across the street. The rate is $3 an hour.
Do make a reservation before you pay for parking, though. Visits are free, but you need an online reservation, lest you be turned away. Once you secure one, you can bring in as many as five other people with you. Weekend slots closer to the garden’s 1 p.m. closing time fill up the quickest. On weekdays, the garden closes at 5 p.m. You’ll know when it’s about to close because a jarring announcement will be made, interrupting the relaxing spa music piped in through hidden speakers. It’s your cue that your calming Japanese garden escape is ending and reality is waiting outside.
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(Bora Chan / For The Times)
Try the Cambodian beef jerky at Sophy’s
Long Beach Cambodian
Technically Sophy’s: Cambodia Town Food & Music isn’t in Cambodia Town. But it used to be. When the city officially designated the corridor along Anaheim Street between Atlantic and Junipero as Cambodia Town in 2007, Sophy Khut’s restaurant was already a beloved neighborhood institution there. A year later, the restaurant was forced to move out when its landlord refused to renew the lease. It relocated seven blocks away to PCH, decidedly removed from the enclave of the largest concentration of Cambodians outside Cambodia.
It traded up with a more spacious dining room and its own parking lot. Most important, it kept serving its beloved Cambodian dishes to its community and introducing the cuisine to newcomers who may not know much about the country sandwiched between Thailand and Vietnam.
Because of its shared borders, you’ll find some Thai and Vietnamese dishes among the Cambodian ones. To fully capitalize on chef Khut’s talents, opt for the latter. The Cambodian beef jerky is a must. Requiring hours of preparation that culminates in crispy, peppery, deep-fried logs of meat twisty and thick enough to rig a sailboat, the jerky is arguably the restaurant’s most popular dish. Then get the crabmeat-flecked dish called chan pu instead of pad Thai.
In fact, to be sure you’re ordering Cambodian, look for anything with the word “kroeung” in it. The spice paste is the distinctly Khmer formula that consists of ground lemongrass, galangal and turmeric. It imbues stir-fries and soups with a potent and unforgettable flavor that you could never mistake for Vietnamese or Thai.
It traded up with a more spacious dining room and its own parking lot. Most important, it kept serving its beloved Cambodian dishes to its community and introducing the cuisine to newcomers who may not know much about the country sandwiched between Thailand and Vietnam.
Because of its shared borders, you’ll find some Thai and Vietnamese dishes among the Cambodian ones. To fully capitalize on chef Khut’s talents, opt for the latter. The Cambodian beef jerky is a must. Requiring hours of preparation that culminates in crispy, peppery, deep-fried logs of meat twisty and thick enough to rig a sailboat, the jerky is arguably the restaurant’s most popular dish. Then get the crabmeat-flecked dish called chan pu instead of pad Thai.
In fact, to be sure you’re ordering Cambodian, look for anything with the word “kroeung” in it. The spice paste is the distinctly Khmer formula that consists of ground lemongrass, galangal and turmeric. It imbues stir-fries and soups with a potent and unforgettable flavor that you could never mistake for Vietnamese or Thai.
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(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Stroll and dream about being able to afford a house along Naples’ canals
Long Beach Walk
Although it’s named after an Italian city not known for canals, Naples in Long Beach was completed in the 1920s by developer Arthur M. Parsons to be an homage to Venice. (“Venice” was already taken.) A century later, homes along the semicircular Rivo Alto Canal and Naples Canal can go as high as $8 million, which makes the enclave the most expensive neighborhood in Long Beach. But unlike other high-priced communities, Naples is not gated.
In fact, you can tour the canal on a gondola cruise with Gondola Getaway, which starts at $140 for a 50-minute trip for you and five friends. A cheaper option is to rent a kayak from Kayaks on the Water, located on the peninsula across Alamitos Bay, for $14 an hour. There are a few requirements, though. First, you have to know how to swim. Second, you have to abide by the rules of the canal: It’s one-way traffic through the Rivo Alto loop and it goes counterclockwise.
But the easiest, no-cost way to see Naples’ canals is to drive onto the island, find a spot to park around La Bella Fontana Park and explore the banks of the canals on foot. Access to these walkways can be found underneath any of Naples’ five bridges. The stairs under the Ravenna Drive bridge is a good entry point.
Sunset is an ideal time to visit and ponder the lifestyle of those lucky enough to live here with their boats tied up at the docks. Just think: You’re only a winning lottery ticket away from living here yourself.
In fact, you can tour the canal on a gondola cruise with Gondola Getaway, which starts at $140 for a 50-minute trip for you and five friends. A cheaper option is to rent a kayak from Kayaks on the Water, located on the peninsula across Alamitos Bay, for $14 an hour. There are a few requirements, though. First, you have to know how to swim. Second, you have to abide by the rules of the canal: It’s one-way traffic through the Rivo Alto loop and it goes counterclockwise.
But the easiest, no-cost way to see Naples’ canals is to drive onto the island, find a spot to park around La Bella Fontana Park and explore the banks of the canals on foot. Access to these walkways can be found underneath any of Naples’ five bridges. The stairs under the Ravenna Drive bridge is a good entry point.
Sunset is an ideal time to visit and ponder the lifestyle of those lucky enough to live here with their boats tied up at the docks. Just think: You’re only a winning lottery ticket away from living here yourself.
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(Bora Chan / For The Times)
Sip beer and eat a pickled egg at 100-year-old Joe Jost’s
Long Beach Bar/Nightclub
If you haven’t heard of Joe Jost’s (it rhymes with “hosts”), where have you been for the last 100 years? It’s nothing short of an institution. There are at least three mounted deer heads on the premises, a thousand framed pictures of people on vacation wearing Joe Jost’s signature T-shirt, and scenic oil paintings that look like they were done by Bob Ross. You can’t fake a vibe like this; it’s accumulated and earned through the process of existing, like tree rings in a sequoia.
And it’s why Hollywood loves Joe Jost’s. Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston filmed a scene for “The Bodyguard” here. Angelina Jolie played a bartender in “Gone in 60 Seconds.” In fact, all the regulars are used to Joe Jost’s Hollywood connection. At least once this past summer, there was a flier taped on the door announcing it would be closed for a few days for filming. This time, it was for the “Dexter” prequel.
When it’s not playing the role of filming location, the oldest bar in Long Beach is the most beloved watering hole in town. How can it not be after a century? Started by a Hungarian immigrant named Joe in 1924, and owned now by his grandson, the bar wasn’t a bar at first. It was a barber shop during Prohibition. After the law was repealed, Joe started serving beer and sandwiches but had to stop cutting hair when authorities decided that sharp scissors and alcohol wasn’t the greatest combo.
It turned out to be kismet. The beer and sandwiches are a fixture to this day, sold for prices that seem to have forgotten inflation. Joe’s Special — a Polish sausage slit lengthwise with cheese, a pickle and mustard between rye bread — is listed at less than $4, a price that hasn’t budged in at least two years. A small beer won’t cost you more than $3. A pickled egg, scooped out of a jar probably older than you, will set you back less than $2 and it comes on a nest of pretzel sticks. Parking is free in the bar’s own lot. But bring cash, because, well, did you expect a 100-year-old bar to accept Venmo?
And it’s why Hollywood loves Joe Jost’s. Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston filmed a scene for “The Bodyguard” here. Angelina Jolie played a bartender in “Gone in 60 Seconds.” In fact, all the regulars are used to Joe Jost’s Hollywood connection. At least once this past summer, there was a flier taped on the door announcing it would be closed for a few days for filming. This time, it was for the “Dexter” prequel.
When it’s not playing the role of filming location, the oldest bar in Long Beach is the most beloved watering hole in town. How can it not be after a century? Started by a Hungarian immigrant named Joe in 1924, and owned now by his grandson, the bar wasn’t a bar at first. It was a barber shop during Prohibition. After the law was repealed, Joe started serving beer and sandwiches but had to stop cutting hair when authorities decided that sharp scissors and alcohol wasn’t the greatest combo.
It turned out to be kismet. The beer and sandwiches are a fixture to this day, sold for prices that seem to have forgotten inflation. Joe’s Special — a Polish sausage slit lengthwise with cheese, a pickle and mustard between rye bread — is listed at less than $4, a price that hasn’t budged in at least two years. A small beer won’t cost you more than $3. A pickled egg, scooped out of a jar probably older than you, will set you back less than $2 and it comes on a nest of pretzel sticks. Parking is free in the bar’s own lot. But bring cash, because, well, did you expect a 100-year-old bar to accept Venmo?
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(Bora Chan / For The Times)
Be inspired at the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library
Library
No, Michelle Obama has not, as of this writing, visited her namesake library in North Long Beach. But she was an inspiration for students at nearby Jordan High School, who pitched the idea of naming it in her honor. That was enough for the Long Beach City Council to make it official when Long Beach’s newest and largest neighborhood library opened in 2016.
It wasn’t without controversy. Some felt the new library should’ve been named after a person with local ties. What’s not up for debate is that the place is more than just a dusty room full of bookshelves; it is a hip haven and activity-filled hangout for the neighborhood kids who need it the most.
The library hosts a “Teen Cafe” every Wednesday from 4 to 5 p.m. with snacks and games. A large section of the space holds a treasure trove of manga, comics and young-adult novels. Booths in this area are plastered with signs that say, “If you are not a high school student, you will be asked to move.” Next to it, the LearningLAB is fitted with sewing machines and 3D printers to inspire future artists and engineers.
The library has been a vital resource for adults in the community too. A health educator comes in three times a week to help people experiencing life crises. And outside, beneath the shadow of a spire preserved from the historic theater that once stood at this spot, there’s a garden with a sign that invites the community to enjoy the harvest. If avid gardener Michelle Obama should ever come and check it out herself, she wouldn’t just be flattered but genuinely impressed.
It wasn’t without controversy. Some felt the new library should’ve been named after a person with local ties. What’s not up for debate is that the place is more than just a dusty room full of bookshelves; it is a hip haven and activity-filled hangout for the neighborhood kids who need it the most.
The library hosts a “Teen Cafe” every Wednesday from 4 to 5 p.m. with snacks and games. A large section of the space holds a treasure trove of manga, comics and young-adult novels. Booths in this area are plastered with signs that say, “If you are not a high school student, you will be asked to move.” Next to it, the LearningLAB is fitted with sewing machines and 3D printers to inspire future artists and engineers.
The library has been a vital resource for adults in the community too. A health educator comes in three times a week to help people experiencing life crises. And outside, beneath the shadow of a spire preserved from the historic theater that once stood at this spot, there’s a garden with a sign that invites the community to enjoy the harvest. If avid gardener Michelle Obama should ever come and check it out herself, she wouldn’t just be flattered but genuinely impressed.
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(Bora Chan / For The Times)
Get a slice of pie, any pie at Jongewaard’s Bake n’ Broil
Long Beach Diner Food
Few places ooze Americana like Jongewaard’s Bake n’ Broil. Sit at the Norman Rockwell-meets-Martha Stewart lunch counter, and you are at eye level with pies cooling on wooden racks and frosted layer cakes stored inside tall glass domes.
It’s the kind of place that nurtures habitual repeat visits and turns locals into lifetime regulars. And it’s easy to see why. Meals here consist of reliable roadside-diner and coffee-shop standards that sink in your belly like a warm anchor. Breakfast ticks all the requisite boxes of bacon, eggs and pancakes. For lunch, the pot roast tastes like the classic should and the fried chicken breast is smothered in an excess of thick pepper-flecked gravy.
But the chicken pot pies — in fact, all the pies — are Jongeeward’s raison d’être. Still family-owned-and-operated by the son-in-law of Roger and Carol Jongewaard, who opened the spot in 1965, the kitchen produces around 100 scratch-made pies a day using Carol’s original recipes.
The only bad news is that after the pandemic, Jongewaard’s modified its hours and the dining room closes at 3 p.m. Dinner is now takeout only. But maybe pigging out on one of the divine slices of pie (or two) in the privacy of your own home isn’t the worst idea.
It’s the kind of place that nurtures habitual repeat visits and turns locals into lifetime regulars. And it’s easy to see why. Meals here consist of reliable roadside-diner and coffee-shop standards that sink in your belly like a warm anchor. Breakfast ticks all the requisite boxes of bacon, eggs and pancakes. For lunch, the pot roast tastes like the classic should and the fried chicken breast is smothered in an excess of thick pepper-flecked gravy.
But the chicken pot pies — in fact, all the pies — are Jongeeward’s raison d’être. Still family-owned-and-operated by the son-in-law of Roger and Carol Jongewaard, who opened the spot in 1965, the kitchen produces around 100 scratch-made pies a day using Carol’s original recipes.
The only bad news is that after the pandemic, Jongewaard’s modified its hours and the dining room closes at 3 p.m. Dinner is now takeout only. But maybe pigging out on one of the divine slices of pie (or two) in the privacy of your own home isn’t the worst idea.
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(Bora Chan / For The Times)
Watch an independent film with a glass of wine at the Art Theater
Long Beach Movie Theater
There were once 50 independent cinemas in Long Beach. That list has since dwindled down to one: the Art Theater on Long Beach’s Retro Row. And this year, the Art is celebrating its first centennial, which is a particularly notable milestone for a movie house that survived fires, earthquakes and online streaming, its most recent and arguably most serious existential threat.
Now operating as a nonprofit, the Art was bought and restored using original blueprints by Kerstin Kansteiner and her husband, Jan Robert van Dijs, in 2007. The only change they made was installing a digital projector.
Like other independent movie houses in L.A., the Art hosts lively screenings of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” which, if you ask anyone who has gone, is more of a stage show with a “shadow cast” that encourages audience participation. Independent films, documentaries and revivals of classics like “Pulp Fiction” round out its programming. A particular treat for cinephiles are the nights when silent movies are screened as a live orchestra plays the soundtrack. This past Halloween featured the 1922 classic “Nosferatu” with the score performed by the Jack Curtis Dubowsky Ensemble.
Kansteiner, a legend in Retro Row, also owns Art du Vin, the wine bar next door. The connection means you are allowed to bring the wine and any items you buy there into the theater with you. In fact, the theater reportedly does not prohibit bringing in outside food. People have been seen taking in entire pizzas. If you do, clean up after yourself, and maybe offer a slice to anyone within smelling distance.
Now operating as a nonprofit, the Art was bought and restored using original blueprints by Kerstin Kansteiner and her husband, Jan Robert van Dijs, in 2007. The only change they made was installing a digital projector.
Like other independent movie houses in L.A., the Art hosts lively screenings of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” which, if you ask anyone who has gone, is more of a stage show with a “shadow cast” that encourages audience participation. Independent films, documentaries and revivals of classics like “Pulp Fiction” round out its programming. A particular treat for cinephiles are the nights when silent movies are screened as a live orchestra plays the soundtrack. This past Halloween featured the 1922 classic “Nosferatu” with the score performed by the Jack Curtis Dubowsky Ensemble.
Kansteiner, a legend in Retro Row, also owns Art du Vin, the wine bar next door. The connection means you are allowed to bring the wine and any items you buy there into the theater with you. In fact, the theater reportedly does not prohibit bringing in outside food. People have been seen taking in entire pizzas. If you do, clean up after yourself, and maybe offer a slice to anyone within smelling distance.
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(Michael Blackshire / Los Angeles Times)
Let your kids swim and wade in Mother’s Beach
Long Beach Beach
You aren’t likely to find hardbodies or surfers at Mother’s Beach. A lack of waves and no actual view of the Pacific Ocean makes this inland stretch of sand on Alamitos Bay more of a big community swimming pool. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t great. In the summer, people stake out their spot so early in the day, it’s nearly impossible to find parking by noon. And it’s exactly the shallowness and calmness of the water that makes it one of Long Beach’s most popular beaches: It’s ideal for families.
If your kids aren’t the swimming type, there’s a playground to keep them entertained. Meanwhile, sit back, relax and take in the lively scene. Between the sand and the tree-shaded park, vendors sell floaties, inflatable rafts and summer dresses. In the distance, paddleboarders and kayakers skim the water between the beach and the marina on the opposite shore.
Bringing a picnic lunch allows for uninterrupted sunbathing, but if you didn’t, don’t fret: There’s a branch of Louisiana Charlie’s on the north side of the park. It serves full-on Cajun meals like blackened shrimp and cornmeal-breaded fried catfish, but also burgers and tacos.
Parking is 50 cents for every 15 minutes, but you can reup with the Passport Parking app from the comfort of your beach blanket.
If your kids aren’t the swimming type, there’s a playground to keep them entertained. Meanwhile, sit back, relax and take in the lively scene. Between the sand and the tree-shaded park, vendors sell floaties, inflatable rafts and summer dresses. In the distance, paddleboarders and kayakers skim the water between the beach and the marina on the opposite shore.
Bringing a picnic lunch allows for uninterrupted sunbathing, but if you didn’t, don’t fret: There’s a branch of Louisiana Charlie’s on the north side of the park. It serves full-on Cajun meals like blackened shrimp and cornmeal-breaded fried catfish, but also burgers and tacos.
Parking is 50 cents for every 15 minutes, but you can reup with the Passport Parking app from the comfort of your beach blanket.
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(Bora Chan / For The Times)
Nab a reservation at Ammatolí, the hottest restaurant in town
Long Beach Levantine
You don’t need to look up at the wall of framed reviews to believe that Long Beach’s Ammatolí is critically acclaimed (it has made it onto this publication’s list of L.A.’s 101 best restaurants more than once). You also don’t need to know that the restaurant is so popular it had to expand beyond its original 2018 footprint to take over the space of a burger joint next door. All you need to see are the faces of the customers from literally all over the world to realize that this place has become nothing short of a Southern California landmark.
Ammatolí isn’t just beloved among the locals of Long Beach; it’s reportedly become a destination to some international travelers, some of whom drive directly here upon arrival at LAX.
Though the dining room is stunning, with dangling ivy, wicker chairs and elegant arches, everyone is here for chef Dima Habibeh’s cooking. She doesn’t just focus on the Palestinian cuisine of her father, the Syrian food of her mother or even the Jordanian dishes of Amman, where she grew up. Instead, you see influences from all three and others from the region called the Levant.
Her menu is exhaustive. It would take dozens of repeat visits just to fully explore the list of over 20 mezze. These small dishes, the Levantine equivalent of Spanish tapas and Italian antipasti, is perhaps the best way to experience the scope and beauty of her creations.
Her roasted beet hummus has the striking pink hue of a Barbie accessory. The mutabbal is smoky and dotted with pomegranate arils. Both need to be scooped with an order of the house-made pita, which are served so fresh, they arrive puffed up like balloons and exhale steam when you tear into them.
For entrees, perfectly spiced shawarma exists in multiple iterations, and the rotisserie chicken is a food-critic favorite. But can you really say you’ve been to Ammatolí if you skipped dessert? Osmalieh ice cream is topped with ghazel banat, essentially a cotton candy toupee. And is there a better way to charm your date than the cleverly named A Date With a Cake? It has dates in it. Get it?
Ammatolí isn’t just beloved among the locals of Long Beach; it’s reportedly become a destination to some international travelers, some of whom drive directly here upon arrival at LAX.
Though the dining room is stunning, with dangling ivy, wicker chairs and elegant arches, everyone is here for chef Dima Habibeh’s cooking. She doesn’t just focus on the Palestinian cuisine of her father, the Syrian food of her mother or even the Jordanian dishes of Amman, where she grew up. Instead, you see influences from all three and others from the region called the Levant.
Her menu is exhaustive. It would take dozens of repeat visits just to fully explore the list of over 20 mezze. These small dishes, the Levantine equivalent of Spanish tapas and Italian antipasti, is perhaps the best way to experience the scope and beauty of her creations.
Her roasted beet hummus has the striking pink hue of a Barbie accessory. The mutabbal is smoky and dotted with pomegranate arils. Both need to be scooped with an order of the house-made pita, which are served so fresh, they arrive puffed up like balloons and exhale steam when you tear into them.
For entrees, perfectly spiced shawarma exists in multiple iterations, and the rotisserie chicken is a food-critic favorite. But can you really say you’ve been to Ammatolí if you skipped dessert? Osmalieh ice cream is topped with ghazel banat, essentially a cotton candy toupee. And is there a better way to charm your date than the cleverly named A Date With a Cake? It has dates in it. Get it?
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(Bora Chan / For The Times)
Catch a rising star at Que Sera
Long Beach Entertainment Venue
On 7th Street near Cherry Avenue, there’s a windowless building that looks unlike any other on the block. It’s black and covered with white squiggly lines that trace out patterns of faces and seemingly random words. The striking work was completed in 2018 by British artist Shantell Martin. Among the words Martin spray-painted on the building is “Que Sera,” which is the name of the bar that exists inside. Another word she wrote is “History,” which only begins to hint at the rich history and significance of Que Sera in Long Beach’s LGBTQ community.
That history begins when its founder, Ellen Ward, established it as a lesbian bar in 1975. Ward, who earned a degree at Cal State Long Beach, eventually became the first openly gay woman elected to the city council of Signal Hill, the town that’s embedded wholly within Long Beach. But it was in Que Sera that Ward built her legacy — the bar became a safe and hospitable space, with a fireplace, couches and, most important, no windows, ensuring anonymity for the bar’s patrons.
In the 1990s, Ward would sell the bar to her longtime friend and bartender Ilse Benz, who only passed the torch to new owners earlier this year. In her 47 years at Que Sera, Benz became a huge part of its story; she’s forever immortalized in Melissa Etheridge’s song “Cherry Avenue,” which name-checks her and the bar in the lyrics. It was, after all, at Que Sera during the ’80s that Etheridge got her start.
To this day, Que Sera hosts variety shows for and by the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as a wide array of musical acts that draw in a broad audience. And this past May, the bar finally got a credit card reader and jettisoned its long-standing cash-only policy.
But you needn’t spend any money on Wednesday nights, when Bear City Comedy, a program of about half a dozen professional stand-up comics, performs free starting at around 8:30 p.m. Past comedians include Joe Wong and Adam Conover. Still, bring a wad of bills to tip the bartender and also leave a few in the bucket for the comics.
That history begins when its founder, Ellen Ward, established it as a lesbian bar in 1975. Ward, who earned a degree at Cal State Long Beach, eventually became the first openly gay woman elected to the city council of Signal Hill, the town that’s embedded wholly within Long Beach. But it was in Que Sera that Ward built her legacy — the bar became a safe and hospitable space, with a fireplace, couches and, most important, no windows, ensuring anonymity for the bar’s patrons.
In the 1990s, Ward would sell the bar to her longtime friend and bartender Ilse Benz, who only passed the torch to new owners earlier this year. In her 47 years at Que Sera, Benz became a huge part of its story; she’s forever immortalized in Melissa Etheridge’s song “Cherry Avenue,” which name-checks her and the bar in the lyrics. It was, after all, at Que Sera during the ’80s that Etheridge got her start.
To this day, Que Sera hosts variety shows for and by the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as a wide array of musical acts that draw in a broad audience. And this past May, the bar finally got a credit card reader and jettisoned its long-standing cash-only policy.
But you needn’t spend any money on Wednesday nights, when Bear City Comedy, a program of about half a dozen professional stand-up comics, performs free starting at around 8:30 p.m. Past comedians include Joe Wong and Adam Conover. Still, bring a wad of bills to tip the bartender and also leave a few in the bucket for the comics.
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(Lorena Endara / For De Los)
Check out the exhibits at the Museum of Latin American Art on a Sunday
Long Beach Art Museum
You can’t talk about the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) without mentioning its founder, Dr. Robert Gumbiner, who was a Long Beach resident, an HMO pioneer and an avid collector of Latin American and Pacific Island art.
He started his collection with a piece by one of Ecuador’s greatest artists, Eduardo Kingman. The doctor acquired it while he was volunteering there in the 1960s. As Gumbiner’s collection grew, he converted what was once one of his health clinics into MOLAA in 1996, establishing it as the only museum in the country dedicated to modern and contemporary Latin American and Latino art.
But Gumbiner wasn’t done with his philanthropy. Before he died in his Naples home in 2009 from prostate cancer, he was working to open another museum across the street from MOLAA focused on the preservation of the traditional cultures of Oceania. The Pacific Island Ethnic Art Museum opened in 2010.
At MOLAA, admission is free on Sundays. It’s the perfect time and opportunity to check out “ARTEÔNICA,” an exhibition running through February that explores the little-known Latin American art movement that fuses art with technology. Most notably it features pieces from Brazilian electronic art pioneer Waldemar Cordeiro, who was one of the first to create computer art in South America 60 years ago.
Though exhibits like “ARTEÔNICA” are constantly changed out to make way for new ones, the sculpture garden dedicated to Gumbiner is a permanent fixture. It’s in a beautiful back area where there is often music and food vendors. The area is also the site of MOLAA’s annual Día de los Muertos celebration, which is always one heck of a fiesta.
He started his collection with a piece by one of Ecuador’s greatest artists, Eduardo Kingman. The doctor acquired it while he was volunteering there in the 1960s. As Gumbiner’s collection grew, he converted what was once one of his health clinics into MOLAA in 1996, establishing it as the only museum in the country dedicated to modern and contemporary Latin American and Latino art.
But Gumbiner wasn’t done with his philanthropy. Before he died in his Naples home in 2009 from prostate cancer, he was working to open another museum across the street from MOLAA focused on the preservation of the traditional cultures of Oceania. The Pacific Island Ethnic Art Museum opened in 2010.
At MOLAA, admission is free on Sundays. It’s the perfect time and opportunity to check out “ARTEÔNICA,” an exhibition running through February that explores the little-known Latin American art movement that fuses art with technology. Most notably it features pieces from Brazilian electronic art pioneer Waldemar Cordeiro, who was one of the first to create computer art in South America 60 years ago.
Though exhibits like “ARTEÔNICA” are constantly changed out to make way for new ones, the sculpture garden dedicated to Gumbiner is a permanent fixture. It’s in a beautiful back area where there is often music and food vendors. The area is also the site of MOLAA’s annual Día de los Muertos celebration, which is always one heck of a fiesta.
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(Bora Chan / For The Times)
Get a tiki buzz at the Bamboo Club
Long Beach Cocktail Bar
Do you own a collection of Hawaiian shirts? Are your favorite drinks rum-based? Is your ideal evening spent in a fake hut made of palm fronds? If so, you might be a tiki-phile. And if you are one, you should already know about the Bamboo Club. It scratches the tiki itch to sip mai tais with fruit garnishes in a faux-Polynesian setting while a slack-key guitar twangs “Aloha Oe.”
The bar was built in 2019 by a man known in tiki circles as Bamboo Ben, an interior designer who specializes in constructing tiki bars just like this all over Southern California. There’s a tiny waterfall gurgling at the entrance. And no matter what time of day it is, the thatched-roof bar and its three coveted booths exist in the dimly lit flicker of a tropical fantasyland.
In the evening, the back patio comes alive. You can count on some sort of comedy act, band or DJ nearly every day of the week. And if you are looking to shore up your Hawaiian shirt and tiki mug collection, the bar hosts a Hardcore Tiki Marketplace the first Saturday of each month from noon to sunset in the parking lot.
The bar was built in 2019 by a man known in tiki circles as Bamboo Ben, an interior designer who specializes in constructing tiki bars just like this all over Southern California. There’s a tiny waterfall gurgling at the entrance. And no matter what time of day it is, the thatched-roof bar and its three coveted booths exist in the dimly lit flicker of a tropical fantasyland.
In the evening, the back patio comes alive. You can count on some sort of comedy act, band or DJ nearly every day of the week. And if you are looking to shore up your Hawaiian shirt and tiki mug collection, the bar hosts a Hardcore Tiki Marketplace the first Saturday of each month from noon to sunset in the parking lot.
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(Bora Chan / For The Times)
See how air travel should be at Long Beach Airport
Long Beach Airport
It only takes one stressful flight out of LAX to convince you that it should be avoided whenever possible. And if you’re going to be flying Southwest anyway, there’s no better airport that serves both Los Angeles and Orange counties than Long Beach Airport (LGB). The airline offers nonstop flights to 24 destinations from Long Beach, including Orlando, Maui and Honolulu. Even at its busiest, it’s less hectic than a Costco parking lot on a Sunday morning. Arrival and departure levels? No such thing. There’s one street in and out that loops for quick dropoffs and pickups.
Need to park your car there for a few days? LGB’s long-term parking structure (Lot B) is on-site and charges $20 per day. Compare that to the $35 economy parking at LAX, which is a mile away from the terminals and requires a shuttle.
A new ticketing lobby building opened in 2022. A sleek baggage claim building debuted in 2023. And this year, its historic Streamline Moderne-style terminal building was restored to its former glory. During the renovation, they uncovered a masterwork of mosaics consisting of 1.6 million tiles by artist Grace Clements that had been previously hidden by carpeting. You can admire it when they relocate the rental car counters there.
LGB, the oldest municipal airport in the state, also recently celebrated 100 years, which, coincidentally, is the amount of time it feels like you’re saving by avoiding LAX.
Need to park your car there for a few days? LGB’s long-term parking structure (Lot B) is on-site and charges $20 per day. Compare that to the $35 economy parking at LAX, which is a mile away from the terminals and requires a shuttle.
A new ticketing lobby building opened in 2022. A sleek baggage claim building debuted in 2023. And this year, its historic Streamline Moderne-style terminal building was restored to its former glory. During the renovation, they uncovered a masterwork of mosaics consisting of 1.6 million tiles by artist Grace Clements that had been previously hidden by carpeting. You can admire it when they relocate the rental car counters there.
LGB, the oldest municipal airport in the state, also recently celebrated 100 years, which, coincidentally, is the amount of time it feels like you’re saving by avoiding LAX.
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(Long Beach Museum of Art)
Have your thoughts provoked at the Long Beach Museum of Art
Long Beach Art Museum
The Long Beach Museum of Art (LBMA) has two branches. The more popular one is on Ocean Boulevard. Since it has an outdoor restaurant called Claire’s that boasts breezy views of Junipero Beach below and the Pacific Ocean beyond, you might see bachelorette parties in pastel dresses enjoying brunch and taking selfies. And who could blame them? A Sunday afternoon nibbling on benedicts and sipping pomegranate mimosas under the shade of those yellow umbrellas would, indeed, be an afternoon well spent.
Should they decide to venture into the museum after paying the $12 admission fee, they would be treated to immaculately curated exhibitions that change about every three months. This past summer, Keith Haring’s groundbreaking pop art was featured, and it was a hit.
By comparison, the LBMA branch downtown is woefully under-attended. Though it has free parking in its own lot like the Ocean campus, it rarely sees a visitor despite also offering free admission. And that’s a shame because the works featured there can often be unsettling, engaging and provocative, like the one by artist-engineer Chris Eckert that also ended its run recently. For his exhibit, Eckert installed hand-built, Soviet-looking machines like “Crosstalk,” an artwork that tapped into live news feeds. The machine reacted to the feeds in real time, as though an alternate dystopian timeline was tuned in to our own — and ours wasn’t any better.
Should they decide to venture into the museum after paying the $12 admission fee, they would be treated to immaculately curated exhibitions that change about every three months. This past summer, Keith Haring’s groundbreaking pop art was featured, and it was a hit.
By comparison, the LBMA branch downtown is woefully under-attended. Though it has free parking in its own lot like the Ocean campus, it rarely sees a visitor despite also offering free admission. And that’s a shame because the works featured there can often be unsettling, engaging and provocative, like the one by artist-engineer Chris Eckert that also ended its run recently. For his exhibit, Eckert installed hand-built, Soviet-looking machines like “Crosstalk,” an artwork that tapped into live news feeds. The machine reacted to the feeds in real time, as though an alternate dystopian timeline was tuned in to our own — and ours wasn’t any better.
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(Bora Chan / For The Times)
Grab a bite with a side of aviation history at the Hangar at Long Beach Exchange
Long Beach Food Court
To most people, Long Beach Exchange will look like a stereotypical contemporary shopping center with the expected roster of anchor stores like Whole Foods, PetSmart and Old Navy. But to aviation buffs, it sits on hallowed ground. It was here, starting in 1941, that Douglas Aircraft Co., its successor McDonnell Douglas and then later Boeing built and rolled out more than 15,000 aircraft. Among the legends were B-17 bombers, DC-9s, MD-80s and C-17s — airplanes that changed history and revolutionized commercial air travel.
At its peak, the plant employed more than 160,000 workers and sprawled nearly 2 million square feet. But after 65 years of ups and downs, mergers and acquisitions, Boeing closed the factory in 2006.
In 2018, 250,000 square feet of the property was developed into this retail and dining district with a food hall called the Hangar as its focal point. It’s here that respect is paid to the site’s significance and history. Designed to look like an actual aircraft hangar complete with a runway that leads up to the front doors, the Hangar commemorates the planes and the people who built them in blown-up historical photos placed above the 14 food vendor stalls.
Boeing still occupies three office buildings across from Long Beach Exchange, and it is a certainty that if you go on a weekday, there will be an aerospace engineer or two in the crowd (they’ll be the ones with business casual attire, dangling ID badges and stressed-out looks on their faces). With reasonable prices and eclectic choices spanning continents, the Hangar serves as Boeing’s unofficial company cafeteria. There’s even a speakeasy called Morning Nights and a Japanese vendor that pairs its Wagyu beef bentos with sake. If you should order a drink from either, raise a toast to the workers, past and present, who made aviation history here.
At its peak, the plant employed more than 160,000 workers and sprawled nearly 2 million square feet. But after 65 years of ups and downs, mergers and acquisitions, Boeing closed the factory in 2006.
In 2018, 250,000 square feet of the property was developed into this retail and dining district with a food hall called the Hangar as its focal point. It’s here that respect is paid to the site’s significance and history. Designed to look like an actual aircraft hangar complete with a runway that leads up to the front doors, the Hangar commemorates the planes and the people who built them in blown-up historical photos placed above the 14 food vendor stalls.
Boeing still occupies three office buildings across from Long Beach Exchange, and it is a certainty that if you go on a weekday, there will be an aerospace engineer or two in the crowd (they’ll be the ones with business casual attire, dangling ID badges and stressed-out looks on their faces). With reasonable prices and eclectic choices spanning continents, the Hangar serves as Boeing’s unofficial company cafeteria. There’s even a speakeasy called Morning Nights and a Japanese vendor that pairs its Wagyu beef bentos with sake. If you should order a drink from either, raise a toast to the workers, past and present, who made aviation history here.
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(Bora Chan / For The Times)
Buy a kooky outfit at Meow Vintage
Long Beach Vintage Store
Do you remember what Kramer wore on “Seinfeld”? His distinctively retro look with eye-catching patterns and general eccentricity was made possible by Kathleen Schaaf. Schaaf owns Meow Vintage, a vintage clothing store on Retro Row that she opened in 1986 even before it was called Retro Row. And because Schaaf flies all over the country hunting down and buying up “dead stock,” a term to describe outdated, obsolete and unwanted inventory, she often ends up with multiple copies of a garment — a criterion that is invaluable for the Hollywood costumers who rely on her.
Schaaf likes to think of her store as “the ark of vintage” since she has two of everything. So if you’re, say, in charge of dressing the “Stranger Things” kids in ’80s clothes, or the upcoming “Dexter” prequel that features the titular character coming of age in the ’90s, you call Schaaf because she’ll have an extra set for the stunt double. Or perhaps you just want an outfit guaranteed to turn heads when you barge into your next-door neighbor’s apartment to steal some cereal. Schaaf’s got just the thing for you. Her collection includes treasures, most from an era when clothes were built to last. So heed the sign she’s put behind the counter that says: “Please don’t say ‘dammmn’ when you hear the price.”
Schaaf likes to think of her store as “the ark of vintage” since she has two of everything. So if you’re, say, in charge of dressing the “Stranger Things” kids in ’80s clothes, or the upcoming “Dexter” prequel that features the titular character coming of age in the ’90s, you call Schaaf because she’ll have an extra set for the stunt double. Or perhaps you just want an outfit guaranteed to turn heads when you barge into your next-door neighbor’s apartment to steal some cereal. Schaaf’s got just the thing for you. Her collection includes treasures, most from an era when clothes were built to last. So heed the sign she’s put behind the counter that says: “Please don’t say ‘dammmn’ when you hear the price.”
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(Doug Cox)
Be enthralled by the docent-led tours at Rancho Los Alamitos
Long Beach Historical Landmark
To visit Rancho Los Alamitos, you don’t need to pay anything (admission and parking are free) and you don’t need a reservation. Except for a few holidays and special events listed on its website, the Rancho is open to the public Wednesday to Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. You will, however, encounter a guard shack at the gated community of Bixby Hills, so don’t think you got the address wrong. The guards will let you through once they know you’re visiting the Rancho. It’s no small irony that the Rancho, which was once part of a 300,000-acre Spanish land grant that spanned the Los Angeles River to the west, the San Gabriel Mountains to the north and the Santa Ana River to the east, now fits neatly into 7.5 acres inside this leafy suburban neighborhood. A lot has happened since 1784.
You’ll learn all about it when you and your knowledgeable docent tour the grounds, which includes the ranch house built by John Bixby. Bixby, whose family name has loomed large in Long Beach history ever since, acquired a portion of the land in the 1880s.
Have you ever seen a billiards table with no pockets? Do you know how long the gigantic Moreton Bay fig trees out front are expected to live? Why are there seashells strewn all over one of the garden paths? You will get the answers to these mysteries along with discovering who the Bixbys were, what they ate and where they slept during an engaging hour. Walk-ins to join the guided tours, which leave at 1, 2, 3 and 4 p.m., are accepted, but reservations are recommended and questions are encouraged.
You’ll learn all about it when you and your knowledgeable docent tour the grounds, which includes the ranch house built by John Bixby. Bixby, whose family name has loomed large in Long Beach history ever since, acquired a portion of the land in the 1880s.
Have you ever seen a billiards table with no pockets? Do you know how long the gigantic Moreton Bay fig trees out front are expected to live? Why are there seashells strewn all over one of the garden paths? You will get the answers to these mysteries along with discovering who the Bixbys were, what they ate and where they slept during an engaging hour. Walk-ins to join the guided tours, which leave at 1, 2, 3 and 4 p.m., are accepted, but reservations are recommended and questions are encouraged.
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