Cuisine Scene: Coffee Shops

There are lots of beloved coffee shops in Long Beach, as increasing interest in specialty coffee has led to a boom of roasters in the city. Just about anywhere you go in Long Beach you can find a better-than-average cup of Joe and more likely, an expertly crafted caffeinated beverage made from internationally sourced, locally roasted coffee beans. Yes, fall is home to International Coffee Day, but any time is a good time to visit some great local shops.

ROSE PARK ROASTERS

Rose Park Roasters was founded in 2009 to bring fair trade specialty beans to folks who brewed high-quality coffee at home. Since then, Rose Park has opened three shops (800 Pine Ave/3044 E 4th St/455 E Ocean Blvd) where customers can enjoy cappuccinos, lattes, and pastries. They offer a shifting array of coffees from around the world, but their Catalina in the Haze medium roast and The Breakwater dark roast are always available.

Rose Park Roasters

RECREATIONAL COFFEE

Recreational Coffee (237 Long Beach Blvd, Suite A) is a cozy Downtown space in a brick building where they make espresso drinks, pour overs, and other caffeinated beverages with fair trade coffees from around the world. The honey vanilla latte is a local favorite. A selection of breakfast pastries, vegan donuts, and sandwiches are also available. For a refreshing, delectable treat, try the sea salt affogato, an Italian concoction featuring espresso poured over ice cream.

COFFEE PARLOR

With their breakfast and lunch menu offering choices like the BLT of Your Dreams and Horchata French Toast, you will likely end up ordering a meal at Coffee Parlor (2944 Clark Ave) alongside your coffee. But their drinks menu lists several tantalizing coffee options that are reason enough to visit. You can get a more traditional espresso drink, cold brew, or pour over–or you can opt for the Quencher, an iced Mexican Coke with a double shot of espresso float.

THE MERCHANT

Located in Bixby Knolls, The Merchant (4121 Long Beach Blvd) is a bakery and coffee shop serving fair trade beans roasted with a zero-emissions coffee roaster. Twelve-ounce bags of whole beans are available for purchase in the shop. The Merchant’s coffee menu ranges from flat whites to a chocolate marshmallow cold brew. You can pair your drink with an apple bourbon croissant, bacon cheddar chive biscuit, or a cinnamon bomb pastry.

CARMEN’S COFFEE COMPANY

What about coffee that can come to you? Carmen’s Coffee Company operates out of a pale blue food truck that is stationed at Naples Island Car Wash (5790 Second St) seven days a week. It can also be booked for private and community events. Named after owner Elisa Heredia’s mother, Carmen’s specializes in espresso but also serves a large menu of coffee drinks, from nitro cold brew to a “polar” blended Bananas Foster-flavored latte.

VIENTO Y AGUA COFFEE HOUSE

Viento y Agua Coffee House (4007 E 4th St) opened in 2003 as an art gallery with a coffee bar. Over time, popular demand for coffee took over, but the artsy community vibe remains. The shop still hosts artists displaying their work as well as live music. There’s also Adelita’s Revenge, a pop-up vendor of gifts and artisan crafts. Stop in for the shop’s well-known and beloved Mexican mocha with a pastry, veggie sandwich, or toasted bagel.

BLACK DOG COFFEE ROASTERS

With a focus on sustainable sourcing, Black Dog Coffee Roasters (1399 E Burnett St / 1101 E 3rd St) purchases coffee beans from small farms around the world, including a farm in El Salvador with family ties to the coffee shop, and roasts them in their facility in Signal Hill. Their newer location in a residential section on 3rd Street features stylish black-and-white tile floors and cafe tables on the sidewalk perfect for sipping your pour over.

BLACK RING COFFEE

Established in 2014, Black Ring Coffee (5373 Long Beach Blvd) is a small batch specialty coffee roaster with a shop in North Long Beach. They quickly proved their merit in making excellent brews: In 2019 their cold brew on nitro was named America’s Best Cold Brew at Coffee Fest, one of the nation’s largest coffee conventions. Black Ring Coffee also provides their beans for a signature ice cream flavor at Long Beach Creamery.

QARGO COFFEE

Located in Downtown Long Beach, Qargo Coffee (707 E. Ocean Blvd, Unit B-106) serves drinks made with Lavazza Italian espresso. You can also pick up a breakfast sandwich or pastry, ready-made deli sandwich, boba tea, or a mini drink made especially for your pup or your kiddo. This shop decked out with modern design elements is a convenient spot for convention attendees and downtown residents alike in need of a delicious coffee or grab-and-go meal.

TIERRA MIA COFFEE

Tierra Mia Coffee (425 E Pacific Coast Hwy / 1907 E Carson St) has two Long Beach locations with a drive thru, making them an especially handy stop for folks grabbing breakfast on the way to work as well as parents of small children desperate for something caffeinated but dreading the hassle of getting the kids in and out of the car. The menu of Mexican-inspired drinks and pastries include a Rice and Beans Frappe (think horchata meets coffee) and a to-die-for Tres Leches muffin.

Cuisine Scene

Cuisine Scene: Tea

Tea, unlike its twitchy cousin coffee, is not often associated as a beverage to be taken on-the-go. While coffee pumps us up, tea is more commonly used to smooth things out, an elixir to relax with, perhaps even retreat into. And so, this list of some of Long Beach’s best tea sanctuaries not only takes into account the excellent quality of the tea–which is very excellent–but the atmosphere where it can be enjoyed, atmospheres that range from cozy to whimisical; charming spaces that’ll fit you, your taste and mood to a tea.

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Cuisine Scene: Bakeries

There’s no cookie-cutter formula for Long Beach’s variety of independent bakeries (other than the fact that they all smell like heaven) whether they specialize in multi-tiered wedding cakes, oversize breakfast muffins, crusted loaves of sourdough, or baked goods inspired by diverse heritage.

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Cuisine Scene: Boba

Given that there seems to be a boba tea shop on every other corner, you may be surprised to learn that the popular drink, identifiable by its sweetness and pearl-shaped tapioca balls, was invented less than 40 years ago in Taiwan. It has since spread all over the globe with Long Beach doing its part; there are almost as many boba shops in town as coffee houses. Almost. Allow us to suggest a few terrific spots in town likely to fit you to a delicious tea.

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Cuisine Scene: Brunch

Long Beach does a lot of things well: provide America with lots of professional and Olympic athletes; provide America with lots of stuff through our port, the second-busiest in the country (you’re welcome) and… breakfast. Oh, how we breakfast in Long Beach. Traditional and contemporary fare, big box and holes in the wall, meaty and vegany and so, so much more. In fact, we're offering you five categories with two suggestions a piece – 10 total – and, believe us, this doesn’t begin to scratch the surface. But it is all delicious (you’re welcome, again).

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Cuisine Scene: Breakfast Burritos

If Long Beach were required to designate an official city dish, many might suggest the humble, yet satisfyingly delicious, breakfast burrito. In the an ongoing debate that will never be resolved, locals champion their favorites and proclaim loyalty to the restaurant/diner/bakery they believe makes the best in town. Join in on this local pastime and try out some of the best local breakfast burritos by visiting these Long Beach restaurants.

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Cuisine Scene: Just Desserts

Life is sweet in Long Beach. Anyone with a craving for something sugary can get their dessert fix here — whether they are looking for a kaleidoscope of shaved ice flavors, macaroons stuffed with ice cream, decadent cupcakes, freshly baked seasonal fruit pies, classic candies, or anything else Willa Wonka would approve of.

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About the Author

Claire Atkinson

Claire Atkinson is a Southern California native who has lived in Long Beach for 20 years. She spends her free time visiting local parks, farmers markets, and museums, and loves learning about Long Beach history and culture.