@ForkReporter- Elizabeth Borsting Talks Dine Out Long Beach

The years go by so quickly. It seems like we were just talking to my friend Elizabeth bursting about dine Out Long Beach. It seems like it it was just the other day. But it's been a year. February eighteenth through the twenty eighth coming up here, you'll have a restaurant and cocktail week of course, presented by Runyon Gazette. Elizabeth. How are you, my friend?

I'm doing good, Neil, Thank you.

So, okay, let's break down. You're celebrating ten years, right.

You're correct, I believe it or not.

Yeah, congratulations, that's awesome.

Thank you.

Now the LBC has come into its own and there was a lot, you know, for a long time LA had the focus only and then that's grown and continue to move south with you know, Orange County and Long Beach and Long Beach really has such a great food scene. Why don't you break down a little bit about what you love about the Long Beach the uniqueness of the Long Beach food scene as we talk more about Dine Out Long Beach.

Yeah, well, what I love about Long Beach, I mean moved here to go to college.

And I won't say when, but it's been a while.

But I love Long Beach is you know, it's pockets of neighborhoods.

Right, So you have you know, you know, you have your.

Seaside communities balmash or Naples. You have Bixby Knoles, which is you know, north of the four or five super charming cal Heights.

You have you know, you know, foody.

Neighborhoods like Cambodia Town, which is you know, just you know, if we have the largest population of Cambodians outside of Cambodia. So I mean you can imagine the food which is down Anaheim Street and Long Beach if you know it. So what I love about Lund Beach is I mean it does have a diverse selection of restaurants and cuisines and price points. You know, it really has come into its own in the last ten to fifteen years and it's been wonderful.

Yeah.

They having those cultural pockets like that where groups because that happens. Some people come from a country and they have their their deep love rightly so of their culture. And when other you know, family members, friends or whatever, they say, hey come here, it's great and we love it here. They tend to move in similar areas and we as people who are born here in the States get the benefit of people that bring their cultures and

Yeah, they do.

And you know, I was looking over the last ten years, like when we first started, and I want to say close to probably forty percent have closed.

You know, it's you know, restaurants, it's been rough. It's been rough. You know, we had COVID.

You know, if you're a steakhouse trying to make something, take something out is not steak doesn't travel real well, right, nobody wants to pay one hundred bucks for a meal and take it home in a syrophone box.

So you know you had that.

But you know, but when restaurants, you know, for whatever reason, closed, you know, something pops up and takes its place. So this year we have our you know, some of our longtime restaurants that have been doing dine out Long Beach since day one, like Naples Rib Company and Michael's on Naples, Buana's Italian Restaurant downtown.

But we also have some newer restaurants this year.

So one is Bar Becky, have a really top chef there.

It's over by the airport.

Great cocktail scene there, so we're very excited. They opened, i want to say, in the last six months, doing really well. They're right next to a restaurant called the nine to eight and Georgia, so they're all participating in dine out Long Beach. So you know, you can do a progressive, progressive dinner if you want to start with cocktails at one place, meal.

And then with dessert somewhere else.

Another restaurant is The Local Current, which is downtown as well.

It's a new restaurant in the Marriotte at Ocean and Pine.

They're doing a breakfast, lunch and dinner menu, so you know, pick your pick your day part and very reasonable. We also have the so it's been getting a lot of attention.

Is that the Breaker's Hotel reopened?

Oh yes, so, I mean just they redid that from top to bottom. That's got that has a great history. It's an icon landmark in Long Beach. Elizabeth Taylor and Nikki Hilton spent their wedding night there in nineteen fifty because it was his dad's hotel. But their restaurant, their Italian restaurant, is participating.

You know.

It's you know, it's a shiny new toy in town. So if anyone's thinking of dining there, I get on.

It, make a reservation quickly.

So those are a few of the new restaurants participating and again all different price points, all different cuisines, all different experiences.

Yeah, I hate to hear about places closing, and we've heard all too much about that and we continue to get hit even here in Los Angeles with the fires as well recently have caused problems because people aren't going out to those areas unfortunately. But I do love hearing when places open, you know, it gives hope that there's new places for people to connect with and to you know, fall in love with all over it again in an area.

Yeah, So we always do.

During Dine Out Long Beach a a charity component and we call it Past the Plate. So we've done it different variations. It looks different each year. But this year, because of wildfires, are nonprofit Partner Restaurants Care, which is the nonprofit arm of the California Restaurant Association. They have an LA Fire Fund and it's for restaurants to help their own so any restaurant tours, it is a great program.

So this one is helping their own get back on their feet.

You know, we lost some really good restaurants with these wild buyers. But not only that, there's people that you know, the restaurants closed for fire damage.

They don't have a job, but they still have their bills.

So on February twenty fifth, most of the restaurants participating in Dine Out Long Beach and you can go to our website Dineoutlongbeach dot com. It's right on the landing page on who's giving back. Everyone's giving back a minimum of ten percent. Because restaurants are generous, many are giving back more for the restaurants closed on Monday, and that's Michael's on Naples and Vino e Kutina, they are going to do it on Tuesday because they're not open on Monday.

So restaurants helping restaurants, you will not find a more generous group of humans. There's something, of course, it's the hospitality industry. But I'm always blown away how much like chefs busting their hump every single day and then any time off they have is always doing charity work. It blows my mind.

Absolutely, and they you know, a lot of people don't realize this. You know, we have seen prices increase in restaurants, but we've seen it increase in the grocery store, so there's a correlation. But the margins are really small for restaurants, and you.

Know, but they're the first to raise their hand when you know, if they're asked.

I you know, I've had to do it for my kids school, for different charities I'm involved with. I've never been turned down by a restaurant. You know, they're always willing to help.

So this time they're going to help their own. But just to be clear, they've also been helping along the way too.

A lot of these restaurants have already done benefits for oh yeah, yeah, yeah, for the American Red Class.

This one will go.

Like I said, to restaurants, care all the proceeds raised from that and it's the nonprofit arm of their California Restaurant Association.

One thing that I want to point out is ease of use for people who have not been to the website. If you want to find out more, go to Dine Out Longbeach dot com. Dine Out Longbeach dot com really cool the way it's set up. It's got a user

Beach And, like you said, go to their website.

You don't have to you know, certain restaurants, it's probably best if you make a reserve just the nature. You know, like I said, like the Breakers, it's the hot new kid in town, so probably you were going.

To want to make a reservation there.

But you know, restaurant week, restaurant cocktail Week, you don't need.

Any tickets or anything like that.

You just go to the restaurant ask for their dine out long beach menu.

You know, you don't have to also order off that menu.

If you get there and you're like, you know what, I like what they have on the regular menu, order that.

You know.

Really it's a way to try a new restaurants, get out.

Of your comfort zone a little bit, try something new.

Support our restaurants, you know, we want them to stick around, and you know, and the best way to kind of find out what's going on is go to the website and again you can search by cuisine, by neighborhood. You know, all the menus are posted on there, so you can see what their dine out menu is. But again, if it's something where you're like, well, I want to go to the restaurant, but I'm not sure I want this particular menu, just go and have the regular menu you know, they're just glad.

To have you in.

Yeah, and supporting restaurants. I always say, don't complain to me when these things go away, because they got to support them. And the good thing is, you know what, if you like Lucille's Smokehouse Barbecue, which I do, and you want to just take advantage and it's one of your favorites, you want to just take advantage of a discount or something that they're doing for dine out Long Beach great, but I also recommend going and saying, hey, you know what, we've never ever been to Naples Rib

Always a pleasure to me.

I'll talk to you soon, all right, my friend