Category: Eat & Drink

Tacos are part of everyday Southern California food culture, and Long Beach gives you plenty of opportunities to make them part of your trip. The interesting part is the variety: traditional taquerias, trucks and newer restaurants can all deliver very different versions of what sounds like a simple meal.

Look beyond one style

Depending on where you eat, you may encounter carne asada, al pastor, carnitas, birria, seafood and many other fillings. Rather than searching for one universally agreed “best taco,” try a few places during your stay.

A busy local spot with a short menu can be every bit as worthwhile as a restaurant receiving heavy attention online.

Explore while you eat

Tacos also give you a reason to leave the immediate tourist waterfront. Long Beach’s food scene is spread across numerous neighbourhoods, and a meal can become the starting point for discovering another part of the city.

If you are travelling with several people, ordering different tacos and sharing makes it easy to sample more without turning lunch into an enormous meal.

I would treat tacos much like seafood or Cambodian food in Long Beach: not as a single restaurant recommendation, but as a thread running through the city. Current favourites will change, while the pleasure of finding a good neighbourhood taqueria probably will not.

One of the best reasons to eat beyond the waterfront is Long Beach’s Cambodian food scene. The city is home to one of the largest Cambodian communities in the United States, and that history has made Khmer cooking an important part of local food culture.

For visitors, this offers something far more distinctive than eating another generic meal beside a tourist attraction.

What should you try?

Cambodian cooking combines herbs, fermented flavours, grilled meats, soups, noodles and influences shaped by the country’s geography and history. Menus vary widely, so rather than searching for one mandatory dish, ask what the restaurant does particularly well.

Some flavours may feel familiar if you know neighbouring Southeast Asian cuisines, but Cambodian food has its own identity and deserves to be approached on its own terms.

Explore Cambodia Town

Long Beach officially recognises a Cambodia Town cultural district along part of Anaheim Street. Eating there can be combined with exploring local businesses and learning more about the community.

I would make Cambodian food a deliberate part of a Long Beach trip rather than something you try only if it happens to be convenient. The Queen Mary tells one part of the city’s story; neighbourhood food tells another.

Restaurants change over time, so explore current local options rather than relying solely on an old list of supposedly “best” places.