Taste of Downtown – Pine Avenue

Must have been fate that i got to go to Taste of Downtown this year!
The festival was not too big, but there was a wide variety of eateries for everyone to enjoy. There was live music and a beer garden for those looking to unwind after work. You know who you are happy hour addicts! ;)
In order to partake in the feasting you’ll have to buy tickets from a ticket booth and each cost $ 1. Most booth will cost you anywhere from 2 – 5 tickets depending on what you are getting. However, I ended up buying $ 15 worth of tickets and was able to get my feast on. My favorites of the night was definitely the following:
1) Tri Tip Beef Slider: This was from Shannon on Pine. This cost 3 tickets ($ 3) and it was a good sized slide with a huge pile of tri tip on top. Make sure to ask for BBQ sauce because that makes it so much better.
2) Beef Empanada– Gaucho’s Grill was serving up a wide variety of Argentinian cuisine but what caught my eye were their empanadas. These were large and cost 2 tickets. One bite and the juices from inside the crusty pastry started flowing out. Make sure to grab extra napkins because it will get a bit messy ;)
3) Grapefruit & Maple Soda and Leek Mac n Cheese– Bo Beau’s Kitchen. This definitely had the longest line from all the other vendors, but they were serving dishes up quickly. The soda was so refreshing with the citrusy burst of grapefruit flavor along with the smoky, maple bacon garnish on the top. The leek mac n cheese was gooey, cheesy and had a subtle hint of leek flavor infused. This dish is definitely a winner!
Overall, this was a perfect event to attend esp. if you work or live in Long Beach, but make sure to go early to avoid waiting in long lines :)

~~~Taste Of Downtown Long Beach~~~
~~Three to Four Times A Year~~
~~~6pm to 10pm~~~
Oh the joy of getting together in the LBC to try a variety of small bites from several local restaurants. Oooh La La, À la carte… Yes, Please! Live music, great vibes, drinky-​drinky, & desserts! Think, major congestions… both by vehicles & pedestrians. My co-​workers & I have been hitting up these events for several years now. Hits and misses but just enough pleasure to have us coming back for more!
Go to
–Check out the dates for the next event.
–Sign up to be on their mailing list.
–Pre-​pay your tickets online and receive 2 additional tickets with every $ 10 purchase.
–Tickets are also sold during the event @ $ 1 each.
–Left-​over tickets can be saved for the next event. Yes, you heard me right! Try not to misplace them like I have.
Metered parking, on the streets. REMEMBER to READ THE SIGNS for RESTRICTIONS.
There are a couple pay-​to-​park lots nearby.
Here are some of my Favorite hits:
Watermelon lemonade (Pier 76) 1 tix
–cheap thirst quencher!
Homemade chicken lasagna (L’opera) 3 tix
–w/​both spicy tomato & pesto sauce, yum!
Short rib poutine (Federal Bar) 2 tix
–fries for the BEST value! Most favorite! Sinfully Delicious!
Mac n Cheese:
w/​lobster (Gladstone’s) 4 tix
–salty but gewd… w/​chunks of lobster meat
w/​leek fondue (Bo-​Beau Kitchen) 3 tix
–less salt, w/​breadcrumbs on top.
Butterscotch chocolate pudding (Bo-​Beau Kitchen) 3 tix
–LOVED the pudding, not so much the thick fudge/​ganache-​like chocolate layer on top.
Sacchetto di Choco (L’opera) 2 tix
–fruits & custard in mini chocolate cup. Mmm!
Chianina meatball’s (Michael’s Pizzeria) my least favorite. Not as great as I had hoped for quality beef. Way too soft and mushy inside, IMO. :/​2 tix
If you ever get a chance, check out Taste of Downtown Long Beach. A fun-​filled night of exploring with lots of foodie adventurers!

This is the first LB Taste of Downtown that I’ve attended, and I was slightly disappointed. Like other reviewers, I think it would be better if the streets were closed off. When people start lining up at the booths for food, it’s difficult to make your way through the crowd. I actually got fairly surprised when I turned around and was face-​to-​face with a chihuahua (in someone’s backpack), since we were pushed so closely together.
I got $ 45 in tickets for three people, and that was too way too many. We ended up with leftovers and bought empanadas from Gaucho to take home and shakes from Johnny Rockets for an extended dessert.
What I enjoyed the most:
— The 5-​ticket plate from George’s (well, everything but the hummus; it was sour and unappetizing).
— The brussel sprouts from some place in the parking lot that was selling shrimp
— The dirty chips and short rib poutine from The Federal Bar
What I enjoyed the least:
— The lobster roll (I couldn’t taste much of anything over the overwhelming taste of bacon, and the roll was hard and dry)
Many of the booths were far apart, and there needed to be more tables and trashcans. I think each venue should have had a garbage receptacle, and there should have definitely been some by each eating station. In the end, I saw people leaving their empty plates and containers on these tables, making everything look dirty.

Long Beach!
Taste of Downtown provides an opportunity to try out local eateries. You purchase tickets which have no expiration date. You can use the tickets anytime for this continuously moving event. I did note that there are other reviews for the different venues.
Overall, this is a great event for locals. I would not drive out of my way to come here. That being said, people are friendly and I met several localites. I am sure I would be a fan if I lived close by and walked here.
Long Beach is a great town with great people. I love Long Beach and this event is AOK for an outsider visiting. Thanks Long Beach! Great music, too.
By the way, my favorite food was the chowder from Pier 76.
AOK

We were having dinner at Georges Greek Café and found out they were doing a 2^nd day of Taste of Downtown. We were too full to partake but did walk through to see what the other restaurants were offering. It’s not like the food truck movement in SF and nothing comparable in size to Off the Grid at Fort Mason with 40 trucks. These are mostly booths in front of participating restaurants and even Famous Dave’s showed up with their table of BBQs.
Tickets are purchased ahead of time for $ 1 each (just like festivals held in the past at our kids’ grammar school) and some of the smaller portions cost $ 1, the larger plates (Georges Greek) were $ 5. There was live entertainment at a parking lot with more booths and alcohol. It’s a good way for local businesses to lure customers to their place.

Although Downtown Long Beach offers some great places to eat, this years Taste of Downtown Pine Ave kind of fell short of a good time.
What I did like:
1. Pulled pork slider from Beachwood BBQ as well as their Alpha something beer. The pulled pork slider is served on a soft lightly salted pretzel bun, topped with a tangy slaw that compliments the tender smoky pork really nicely. I liked that I got to pick my own BBQ sauce from their assortment of flavors. Of course I chose spicy, and it was perfect. The Alpha beer was cold, strong and hoppy. Great beer, good BBQ is what I can count on from Beachwood.
2. The calzone from Michael’s Pizzeria. The dough was soft and buttery. The filling was ricotta cheese, sausage and peas. Sounds simple enough but the saltiness of the sausage combined with the creamy ricotta is really good. The pesto on top was my favorite part. Really good flavors all around.
What I didn’t like:
1. The «3 cheese» Mac and cheese from The Federal Bar. I’m using quotation marks because there is no way the use of 3 cheeses would result in such a fail. All I could taste was flavorless pasta. Under salted, bland noodles does not equal good Mac and cheese.
2. The mushroom empanadas from Sevilla’s were dry and cold. I understand that they are serving food outside, but I’m sure they can figure out how to keep an empanada warm. Hell, my food from the other stands was warm. And I love mushrooms but that’s all it was. Dough stuffed with mushrooms. Needs a sauce in there or some type of spices.
Lastly, the set up of the event sucks. There’s an empty lot next to the federal where half the stands sell their food, and the rest of the stands are right on Pine in front of their belonging restaurant. Good concept but what really happens is people are scattered, searching and trying not to get ran over crossing Pine. The Taste of Downtown on 1^st St. has their shit together. They close off 1^st in between linden and elm, and the variety of stands are all there at your fingertips. Easy and convenient! This was my second time at the Pine event. I won’t be back next year but I will be at the 1^st St event.

L’Opera’s home-​made Triangoli De Gamberi (1 ticket per ravioli) & my favorite dessert, (it’s all the sugar calories I allow), Soffice E Leggera — pineapple upside down cake (2 tickets) are the show stoppers.
Definitely try these two offerings on Pine.

These events are always fun in Long Beach. The restaurants come together and offer samples of their food for a certain amount of tickets (which you can purchase at a booth). Great for locals to try out the restaurants. My only recommendation is that the restaurants switch up their food options with other items on their menu on occasion. Some do, others do the «same old same old.»

Since this was my first time attending this event, I purchased 36 tickets for $ 30, which was enough for a family of four to sample an item almost every restaurant that participated in the Taste of Downtown. Parking was very easy and the location is highly walkable.
Below is a list of samples we tasted from various restaurants.
1). Gaucho Grill: My family and I were given a full size ham and cheese empanada to sample (2 tickets). We wanted the beef empanada, but they were sold out! The empanada was very delicious, and left my family and I wanting more! We will definitely be visiting Gaucho Grill in the future!
2). Beachwood BBQ: My family and I were given a full size pulled pork slider to sample (2 tickets). The various flavors mixed very well and it was deliciously unforgettable!
3). Cold Stone Creamery: My family and I tried the Ice Cream Sandwich Sampler (2 tickets). The size of each sample was adequate and yummy!
4). Kabob Curry: My family and I tried Chicken Tikka Masala and Basmati Rice (2 tickets), which were OK. The flavors were too subtle for me, but it was definitely spicy.
5). George’s Greek Café: We sampled a full plate of delicious samples for only 4 tickets!
6). Agave’s Kitchen: We sampled light ceviche and bacon covered dates, which were memorable!

I love going to this event it’s the best I think of ALL the Taste in the LBC, if your not there your missing out. See ya next year…

I’ve walked down Pine many times. Never tired the restaurants around there but been too a few bars. It was nice to see what Pine had to offer without making a full commitment to a single restaurant. I did find a few favorites I liked and cant wait to have an actual dining experience there. It was awesome and the people of Long Beach were awesome as well. I would like to see more restaurants join in, so hopefully next year it just get bigger.

These events are fun and I like the idea of sampling lots of different restaurants without having to commit to an entire meal. but I just don’t think you get that much food for the amount of tickets.
The best value items can be found at Beachwood Pulled with the Pork Sandwich on Pretzel Bun (3 Tickets) and Georges famous Greek Plate (4 Tickets).
The worst: Pasty Bakery– ¼ a normally $ 2.50 pasty for 2 tickets… I think I’ll pass.
Overall, its fun to have this event in DTLB but I wish the restaurants would offer better deals, portions and variety so that we would actually want to return and patronize these business in the future.

I love the Taste tour… This was a really cool Unilocal sponsored event with all the usual suspects in the Arts District of LB represented. Believe it or not, Hooters had the best bang for your buck at this event with 1 ticket buffalo chicken sliders. I always enjoy the Auld Dubliners fare and my wife enjoys sampling the Indian food. The music was bluegrassy and well done. Beautiful night, yummy grub… and I scored an official Unilocal sweatband to boot.

i had low expectations of this event from past experiences of similar events, but i was pleasantly surprised at how smooth and easy this event was. Came for the Wednesday night event and here’s my take…
Parking was a cinch… plenty of metered street parking as well as free within walking distance. It was easy place in Long Beach to get too… surprisingly no traffic at all when you’re within a 1 mile radius.
The event itself was not crowded… there was a comfortable amount of people and the lines for food vendors didn’t surpass more than 5 – 10 minutes. We were able to try everything we wanted in 1.5 hours! That time included taking breaks in between eats to peruse the menu for what’s next and enjoy our samples and each other’s company… we didn’t feel any pressure to rush and scurry to the next line for samples.
The food was good quality and they definitely do not skimp! The lobster mac n’ cheese served up by Gladstone’s appeared to be everyone’s fav and the serving size was very generous… it took 3 of us to finish one heaping cup full… then we went back for seconds and each indulged on our own cup! At the Wine Down Lounge, they were offering a full size pork sandwich!
Why not 5 stars you ask? I really would have liked to see more food vendors… they had the room for it being that the event was held on a street. Some vendors ran out of the more popular samples in the first hour to my surprise while others still didn’t quite have the portions down and taking a bit long to prepare the sample, especially those places putting together sandwiches. Thank god Gladstone’s made plenty of lobster mac n’ cheese… otherwise, i might have started a riot.
$ 1 per food ticket… some samples cost more than 1 ticket. Water and sodas also cost tickets so i strongly recommend bringing you own and saving the tickets for food! Bring a friend or two and share the samples… a dollar or two might just get you a full meal. =)

Fun! Fun! Fun!
It seemed smaller than I remember from last year. Not sure what happened to all of the stands, though it seems many establishments did not sign up (perhaps they did not have an increase in sales afterwards?).
Great folky/​rock music. Unilocal was there: got my reusable bag! Woot!
One thing I could advise is purchasing the tickets in advance online (you get 4 extra tickets for $ 20– 24 tickets– if you purchase them in advance and pick them up rather than at the table).

The lobster mac and cheese keeps bringing me back!!! This is a cool event come out lets keep it going!!!

I went to another Taste of Downtown event last week, this time on Pine Ave. It was similar to the Taste event I attended (twice) on 1^st Street (see my previous reviews). But this time with 21 different restaurants offering a variety of tasty num nums, plus live music, etc. You buy tickets (12 for $ 10) and pay when you get your food or drinks.
However this Pine Ave event had one very crucial difference, a flaw, they DO NOT close off the street during «Taste». Why event organizers, why?
While the sidewalks on Pine are pretty wide, you now add all the restaurant «booths» and the people in line to get food and the other people standing around eating their tasty tidbits AND the occasional ped walking a bicycle… those large sidewalks get really small, really fast!
Buh bye 4^th star, buh bye! Yeah, only 3 stars for this Pine Ave «Taste» event because of this.
Here is the full list of restaurants for this Taste of Downtown event (and # tickets fo the dish)…
AGAVES KITCHEN/​TEQUILA — Chicken Taquitos (1), Ceviche (1), Margaritas (2) — Did Not Try.
ALONDRA HOT WINGS — 2 Hot Wings (3), Fried Cheese Balls (2), Chili Cheese Fries (3). — Friends tried the cheese balls and said they were really good.
ALEGRIA COCINA LATINA — Humitas Chilerias (sweet corn tamale soufflé-​3), Paella (3) — Did Not Try but the Paella looked really good!
AULD DUBLINER — Lamb Curry (2), Whiskey Chicken (2), bread pudding (2). — A friend got the curry, said he liked it and I got a taste. I should have got it, t’was good!
BEACHWOOD BBQ — Pulled Pork or Chicken slider w/​cole slaw & potato salad (3) — Tried before, not this time.
BUONO’s PIZZERIA — Pizza slice (2), Eggplant Parmiggiana (3), Pasta Alfredo w/​chicken & broccoli (3) — Did Not Try.
CAFÉ SEVILLA — Paella (3) Sangria (4) — Did Not Try.
COLD STONE CREAMERY — Ice Cream Cupcakes, Pies & sandwiches (2 ea) — Aside from being frozen so solid you have to wait at least 5 mins before you can get much out of it… Gotta have ice cream, right?
FRESH KABOBS — Combo plate with Chicken Curry, Veggie curry & basmati rice (4) — Did not try.
GOUCHO GRILL — Beef or Ham & cheese Empanada (2), Skirt Steak Brochette (4), sangrai (4) — Did not try.
GEORGES GREEK CAFÉ — Greek salad, Tzantaki, Hummus, Pita, Spanakopita & Gyro combo plate (4) — Have been to Georges many times so did not try anything.
GLADSTONES — Lobster Mac & Cheese (YUM!) (2), Chocolate Martini (moose?) (1) — The lobster mac is awesome!!! Have yet to try the chocolate martini thing.
JOHNNY ROCKETS — 2 Mini hot dogs or hamburgers (3), 2 shakes (5), small bowl of chili, mini brownie or coke (1 ea.) — My friend fried the chili and said it tasted like they opened a can of Hormel chili and warmed it up. Didn’t try anything else.
KAVIKAS BAR & GRILL — Kalua Pork (4), Wok fried edamame (2), potstickers (3), cookies (2) — The kalua pork was very tasty! Didn’t try the others.
LA CREPERIE — Chicken bacon & cheese crêpe (3), Pain Perdu (3) — Did not try.
L’OPERA — Butternut squash ravioli (2), dark chocolate cup with zabaione & fresh fruit (3) — Tried both, ravioli was a little sweet, but VERY good. The choco fruit cup was just DELISH!
OCTOPUS — Salmon hot roll (3), Mexican roll (2), Sesame Chicken (3), Bacon wrapped Asparagus (3), Japanese buffalo wings (3) — My friends & I tried the bacon wrapped Asparagus (VERY TASTY!) and Japanese buffalo wings (finger lickin good).
REEF RESTAURANT — California roll, spicy California roll (3), BBQ drumettes (3), Ahi poke (4) — didn’t try this time.
SHANNONS ON PINE — Tri Tip sandwich (5) — Did not try.
SHORTNIN BREAD — Variety of baked goods and a «dry» (less sweet) soda (1 ea) — I did try one of their little pastries, it was tasty. Also tried the rubarb flavored «dry» soda. It was all right.
WINE DOWN LOUNGE — Red snapper ceviche (3), Short Rib Sope (4), chocolate covered carmelized bacon (2), mini crème brulee or watermelon juice (1) –Choco covered Bacon had very good quality chocolate, YUMMY! Watermelon juice was surprisingly refreshing.
OVERALL: it’s still a nice event, but since they didn’t close the street, it was not nearly as enjoyable as the other one I’ve been to.

Taste of Downtown offers the same perks as Stroll & Savor, but for the Downtown restaurants. It’s definitely not as popular but it works out since there is ample room to roam around and search for new treats! Since the restaurants in the downtown area are a bit more spread out than Belmont Shore, they have an empty parking lot with tents set up for the locations more towards Rainbow Harbor and Shoreline Village.
If you haven’t been to any of Long Beach’s taste events, a bunch of local restaurants in the area come out to the street, set up some tables and tents and offer small plates of some of their food for a ticket or two (books of tickets are purchased in a central location on the street, usually 12 tickets for $ 10). Its a good way (especially for those picky eaters) to get a taste of what each restaurant has to offer without the risk of ordering a whole plate. A lot of places come up with great deals. George’s Greek Café and Kabob Curry offer whole plates piled with food for 3 – 4 tickets!
My favorites were Sevilla –their beef dish and chocolate mousse were delicious (only 1 ticket each!), Le Creperie –their most popular chicken carbonara crêpe rolled into a cute little coin purse type thing, and Parker’s Lighthouse –very good jambalaya
The only thing I would improve on is having a better central location and more advertising so that tables are easier to spot!

Wow! I’m shocked that there aren’t many other reviews for this event! It seemed like a total success tonight! Great vendors, great prices, and great atmosphere… It’s not overly crowded so that’s definitely a plus, and the small plates from the restaurants/​vendors were all delicious!
If you didn’t go, you missed out! They had sushi rolls (3 pcs) for 2 bucks, crepes, lobster sandwiches, kabobs, hot wings, dark chocolate fruit box, tiramisu mousse, lobster mac n cheese, gourmet dish after gourmet dish… It was awesome!
The majority of restaurants along Pine Ave participated in the event as well and they even validated parking tickets for people to park in the structure so that parking wasn’t an issue for anyone. I can’t wait for the next one, it satisfied every one of my taste buds at a very reasonable price might I add! 10 bucks for 12 tickets or a buck a ticket, each small plate from the variety of vendors ranged from 1 – 4 tickets. 2 booklets for 2 people and trust me, you’ll be stuffed!!! Totally worth it though!

This revolving event is hosted in different spots around Downtown Long Beach a few times a year.
My first Taste of was last month when it was at Rainbow Harbor. It’s a smaller event than the «Taste of» series you will find in other cities, partly because Long Beach is SO BIG that this «Taste of» just represents the Downtown area. But if you’re looking for great food without a massive crowd, you can’t get much better bang for your buck than here. For an average adult, I’d say a book and a half (18 tickets, or $ 15 if you can split the second book with someone) is your dinner. It wasn’t too crowded, and there were easily places to stand and sit while I enjoyed the local samplings.
Avia’s short rib & ravioli was a huge hit for me, if a little expensive. P.F. Chang’s was serving up their signature lettuce wraps, and Coldstone had yummy cake samples! Kabob Curry was the best deal around, with an entire meal for only 4 or 5 tickets. And after sampling Buono’s pizza, I really need to get back up there and get me a pie. Thick crust perfection!
There is also live music and they will sometimes showcase local artists’ work. It’s an incredibly well-​managed event, and I can’t wait to go to the next one!