Expand<\/a><\/p>\nDuring my visit, the three standout items were the rib eye spring roll and the crispy duck served with garlic noodles and coconut shrimp rolls \u2014 with avocado.<\/p>\n
The rib eye roll follows Brodard\u2019s go-to recipe: a crisp fried wrapper tucked inside the roll, layered with fresh herbs and the main protein. Each of the rolls is served with a different sauce.<\/p>\n
Brodard Long Beach, 6480 E. Pacific Coast Highway, No. 100, is in the former Tocaya space.<\/p>\n
Frozen bananas
\n![\"Mysa](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GRG-L-BIZBEAT-COL-1015-04.jpg\")
Mysa Tran and her husband, Khe Lam, will open Sugar \u2018n Spice \u2014 a frozen banana shop \u2014 in Belmont Shore in December. (Photo courtesy of Mysa Tran)<\/p>\n
Too many banks, too many bars, too many coffee places \u2014 but no one has said too many frozen treats.<\/p>\n
Soon, Belmont Shore will be home to the iconic frozen banana shop Sugar N\u2019 Spice.<\/p>\n
In February 2024, I reported that Balboa Island\u2019s Sugar \u2018n Spice \u2014 a frozen banana shop\u2013 was on the market. The sellers listed both the property and the business for sale.<\/p>\n
The Alovis family (Courtney and Will) announced in early 2024 that they were ready to sell the business and property, according to public records \u2014 or, as Courtney put it, it was time to \u201cpass the banana.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sale closed later that year, transferring ownership to Sugar N\u2019 Spice LLC. The new owners \u2013 husband-and-wife duo Khe Lam and Mysa Tran \u2014 positioned themselves as caretakers of the long-running Balboa Island tradition, keeping the menu with a plan to expand.<\/p>\n
When I spoke to Tran this week, she said they have been overwhelmed by the Belmont Shore community\u2019s response to their planned opening at 5269 E. Second St., in the former European Wax Center storefront. Opening is planned for the first week of December, just in time for the Belmont Shore Christmas Parade on Dec. 5 and the Naples Boat Parade on the Dec. 12.<\/p>\n
\u201cBelmont Shore has the same classic vibe as Balboa,\u201d Tran said in a phone interview. \u201cWe like the party city energy of Second Street.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turns out, many families like mine have a generational tradition that includes frozen bananas and Balboa bars. Family groups as large as 50 people caravan to the shop, Tran said. The catering side of the business has expanded with a focus on wedding receptions and birthday parties.<\/p>\n
Both the frozen bananas and the ice cream bars are dipped in chocolate and then rolled on a choice of goodies, such as nuts, rainbow sprinkles, crushed Oreos or crushed toffee.<\/p>\n
The classic Balboa Bar is made from vanilla ice cream, and the current plan is for the Belmont Bar to be made with chocolate ice cream.<\/p>\n
Other than adding the Belmont Bar, everything else will be just like the Balboa location, Tran said.<\/p>\n
The frozen banana has a place in television history.<\/p>\n
From 2003 to 2006, the series \u201cArrested Development\u201d had an on-going storyline that included the Bluth family\u2019s \u201cOriginal Frozen Banana Stand,\u201d inspired by the real frozen banana rivalry and history on Balboa Island, where show creator Mitchell Hurwitz grew up and where competing stands have claimed the \u201coriginal\u201d recipe since the 1940s.<\/p>\n
Balboa Island has two rival stands, Dad\u2019s Donut & Bakery Shop and Sugar \u2019n Spice\u2013 each claiming to be the true inventor of the frozen banana.<\/p>\n
Fans of the show often jokingly order a \u201cBluth Banana,\u201d Tran said, something they can\u2019t sell \u2014 because they don\u2019t own the trademark.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brodard Vietnamese Cuisine officially opened on Oct. 1 in the 2nd & PCH shopping center, and I enjoyed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":497026,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7,8132,3739,131,133,132,137,3738],"class_list":["post-497025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-california","tag-grunion-business-beat","tag-grunion-news","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-the-grunion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497025\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/497026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Brodard](\"https:\/\/www.presstelegram.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GRG-L-BIZBEAT-COL-1015-02-rotated-1.jpeg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.presstelegram.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GRG-L-BIZBEAT-COL-1015-01-rotated-1.jpeg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.presstelegram.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GRG-L-BIZBEAT-COL-1015-03.jpeg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n