As an LA native who loves exploring the far reaches of the city for the most delicious food I can find, I've spent a fair amount of time eating my way through nearby Long Beach. Known for its blue-collar roots and a bustling modern community of artists, families, and entrepreneurs, this once-sleepy beach town is widely recognized as a vibrant place to live, work, and yes, eat. What do you get when you combine all these factors together?
Bob's got its start in the 1950s when an entrepreneur named Bob opened a modest donut shop on Polk Street. In the 1970s, Elinor, a single mom and Korean immigrant, bought the shop and ran it while raising two kids. After her sudden passing in 2001, her son Don and his wife Aya, just in their early twenties and raising three young children, took over.
Whether you're looking for a quick bite or you love chasing down some of NYC's most difficult-to-make restaurant reservations, the options might as well be endless. If you're leaning toward the former, one of the city's many Italian delis is always a great option for not only grabbing a great sandwich, but meats, cheeses, salads, sauces, and imports to take home for later.
The stromboli at Tony DiMaggio's Pizza on Monterey Road is a real San Jose gem. So it was heartbreaking and hunger-inducing when the restaurant was shut down for nearly a year for repairs following a devastating roof fire in July 2024. Fans checked in on the progress regularly on social media, noticing when the new sign when up last May and hoping for good news. That came in June of this year when Tony DiMaggio's reopened its doors exactly 11 months after the fire.
Beneath a ring of suspended greenery that catches light from front windows, lounge seating invites lingering, while a standing-height counter accommodates European-style quick sips. Further inside, leather banquette seating lines walls lit by modern vertical sconces. Floor tiling shifts from calm patterns to busier designs as it approaches the 30-foot bar fronted with ice-grey artificial quartz. Permanently parked on a cobblestone patio in the back is a green Jeep Willys, another nod to coffee's agricultural origins.
What makes our 90-year journey unique is that we've never stopped evolving. Each generation has faced its own challenges and market shifts, but our willingness to adapt while staying true to our foundational values has been our greatest strength.
