There\u2019s nothing as old, of course, as Fraunces Tavern in New York \u2014 which dates back to the 1760s, and where George Washington bid farewell to his troops. And nothing as old as Boston\u2019s Union Oyster House, which has been around since 1826. Daniel Webster would consume six platters of oysters during a sitting there.<\/p>\n
Long Beach isn\u2019t nearly that old. But still, our venerables do reflect our past \u2014 a time long forgotten, before sushi, before smoked salmon pizza, before much in the way of dietary obsessiveness.<\/p>\n
We used to be a nation that ate, and ate very heartily. Thinness was a sign of poverty; girth suggested affluence \u2014 an equation that\u2019s completely been flipped on its head. So, when going to the following venerables, make sure you have a good appetite. You\u2019ll be fed \u2014 and then some.<\/p>\n
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The menu at Heritage Family Pantry in Lakewood is a sizable one with an abundance of options for breakfast (served all day), lunch and dinner. (Photo by Merrill Shindler)\n<\/p>\n
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Diners enjoy a meal at Jongewaard\u2019s Bake n\u2019 Broil in Long Beach. (SCNG file photo)\n<\/p>\n
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The menu at Heritage Family Pantry in Lakewood is a sizable one with an abundance of options for breakfast (served all day), lunch and dinner. (Photo by Merrill Shindler)\n<\/p>\n
Expand<\/a><\/p>\n The sheer heft of the menu at Heritage Family Pantry (2601 Carson St., Lakewood; 562-421-1442) speaks of a style of dining that dates back long before the minimalist menus of the moment.<\/p>\n This old-school institution, just north of the airport, demands extra time just to sort through the abundance of options for breakfast (served all day), lunch and dinner. I counted nearly three dozen egg dishes \u2014 including five involving eggs with steaks. There\u2019s another five breakfast sandwiches and burritos. More than a dozen dishes \u201cOff the Griddle.\u201d More than a score of sandwiches, with 10 different sides. Ten burgers. And such nostalgic \u201cClassic Favorites\u201d as \u201cold fashioned\u201d pot roast and \u201cold fashioned\u201d meatloaf. One of the 12 desserts is tapioca-and-chocolate pudding \u2014 a trip back in time with every spoonful.<\/p>\n The fabled \u201cworld famous\u201d Curley\u2019s Caf\u00e9 (1999 E. Willow St., Signal Hill; 562-424-0018, https:\/\/curleyscafe.com<\/a>), home of \u201cFine Foods & Spirits,\u201d a Signal Hill landmark since 1932, isn\u2019t hard to find. Not only is it at the busy intersection of Cherry Avenue and Willow Street, but there\u2019s a small grove of working oil pumps in the parking lot, allowing those who sit on the outdoor patio to watch the pumps go up and down and up and down (ad infinitum) while sipping on a beer and chewing a burger.<\/p>\n But then, with a different football game on every big screen inside Curley\u2019s, sitting outside seems a denial of the secular joy of an autumnal Sunday. Going to Curley\u2019s for the pumps is fine; going to Curley\u2019s for the games is essential.<\/p>\n Curley\u2019s serves locally produced Cimino\u2019s Pepper Sauce \u2014 a terrific sauce that\u2019s been around since 1961, found almost exclusively at restaurants and markets in the Long Beach area. It\u2019s our hot sauce. Tabasco is from Louisiana; Cimino\u2019s is from Linden Avenue. Support your local sauce!<\/p>\n Curley\u2019s also serves what may be the best onion rings in all of Long Beach. Heck, they may be the best in Southern California. They\u2019re not so much rings, as they are onion cones \u2014 oddly cut onion slices that allow for a lot more batter, and a lot more crisp. I wasn\u2019t going to finish my order, diet and all that. And then, after a crazy amount of crunching and lip smacking, they were all gone. I suspect dousing them with Cimino\u2019s didn\u2019t hurt. These are world-class onion rings.<\/p>\n Domenico\u2019s Belmont Shore (5339 E. 2nd St., Long Beach; 562-439-0261, www.domenicosrestaurant.com<\/a>) takes great pride in \u201cServing the Shore Since \u201954.\u201d And though the menu does have some modernist moments on it (pepperoni mac-and-cheese! kale and spinach salad!), at least some of it is as it was back in the day, when Domenico Spano opened as a pizzeria, one of the first, serving eight pre-set pizzas, and two salads. Also spumoni. And (a bit of history here), \u201cWestern Beer\u201d and \u201cEastern Beer.\u201d<\/p>\n You can check out the early menus, posted on the walls, and on the website; they speak of a style of dining that\u2019s vanished. Even at Domenico\u2019s, where the number of pizza options is many (chicken Alfredo pizza!), as are the number of pastas, salads, soups and so forth. Still, there\u2019s something about the Domenico\u2019s experience that speaks of times gone by, and how much they\u2019re missed.<\/p>\n Yes, Virginia, there really is a Joe Jost \u2014 in fact, both a Joe Senior and Joe Junior. And the first Joe Jost, founder of Joe Jost\u2019s, a much-loved saloon on Anaheim Street (2803 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach; 562-439-5446, www.joejosts.com<\/a>), is immortalized in a long, and heartfelt essay on the joint\u2019s website, where we learn that \u201cJoe was born in a small Hungarian town called Istranfold, now in Yugoslavia. At age 12, he was given a choice of either becoming a priest or getting a job. Off he went to live with an uncle in a nearby village to serve a four-year apprenticeship as a barber. \u2026 At age of 16, he sailed into New York Harbor. He never forgot the moment he first gazed upon the Statue of Liberty, a memory he kept close to his heart for his entire lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n Eventually, he wound up in Southern California, where he opened a shop first on Balboa Island in Newport Beach \u2014 and then, in 1924, in Long Beach, where he ran what his teetotaler wife Edith referred to as \u201cthe store\u201d \u2014 loved for its beer, its sandwiches, its peanuts and, most of all, for its pickled eggs. Which are sold to eat in-house with pretzels, and in large jars to take home. I doubt there\u2019s a restaurant in America that makes better pickled eggs \u2014 or sells more of them.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been to Jongewaard\u2019s Bake n\u2019 Broil (3697 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach; 562-595-0396, www.thebakenbroil.com<\/a>), which dates back to 1965, so many times over the years for breakfast that it comes as something of a surprise to notice that Jongewaard\u2019s is not just a pancake-and-egg dish joint. Though based on the morning crowds, which spill out onto the patio, it\u2019s easy to perceive Jongewaard\u2019s as one of those many Long Beach eateries that closes in early afternoon, after the egg supply finally runs out.<\/p>\n Rather, Jongewaard\u2019s finally closes at 9 p.m. most nights (8:30 on Sundays). And there\u2019s much to eat there that\u2019s not breakfast. Though I must admit, those banana nut pancakes call out for me to choose them instead.<\/p>\n The sine qua non of lunch or dinner at Jongewaard\u2019s<\/a> has to be the chicken pot pie<\/a> \u2014 a dish so good, it deserves a descriptive. Perhaps \u201cthe iconic chicken pot pie,\u201d or \u201cthe legendary chicken pot pie,\u201d or even \u201cthe fabled chicken pot pie.\u201d It fits perfectly into the Bake n\u2019 Broil pledge of \u201cSimply good food.\u201d<\/p>\n And for so many of us, it\u2019s a quintessential taste of our childhoods \u2014 only better than the Swanson frozen pies we ate back in the day. The food at Jongewaard\u2019s both warms the body, and the soul \u2014 and fills the stomach very nicely, too. At prices that seem to be out of an earlier time.<\/p>\n The Queen Mary<\/a> (1126 Queens Hwy., Long Beach; 562-499-1657, www.queenmary.com\/dining<\/a>) went on its maiden voyage in 1936, and on its final voyage in 1967, when it sailed to Long Beach Harbor, where it\u2019s been berthed ever since as a tourist attraction with a hotel and a number of restaurants.<\/p>\n For my money, Sir Winston\u2019s is a fine place to go for a cocktail, preferably something that would have been consumed on one of the great ship\u2019s journeys across the pond.<\/p>\n The atmosphere \u2014 polished wood, flattering lighting, murmured conversations, and lots of photographs of Winston Churchill \u2014 inspires one to slip into a classic libation. Perhaps an Old Fashioned, a Rob Roy, a Gibson or a Negroni \u2014 all made with care at the bar.<\/p>\n I like the bar at Sir Winston\u2019s, for it\u2019s a refuge from the various parties being held in the large public rooms on the ship \u2014 and from the tourists walking the decks, wondering what to do next. For me, the answer was simple: some venerable ambience and something made with gin made me very happy. And perhaps the Dover sole meuni\u00e8re, a dish worthy of royalty, dining in black tie and tails.<\/p>\n