In April 2022, James Tir \u201913 pushed open the door of Chiang Rai, a small Thai restaurant on a busy stretch of Anaheim Street. It was lunchtime, and the dining room was empty \u2014 never a great sign. But Tir hadn\u2019t come for the crowd; he’d come because opening doors, literal and otherwise, had started to feel like a calling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As the creator of @LBFoodComa<\/a> \u2014 an Instagram account he started as a design major at CSULB \u2014 Tir walked to the counter and asked if he could film the chef making a dish. If he liked the dish, Tir explained, he\u2019d post the video. Minutes later, he was shooting a new sequence on his phone: aromatics hitting hot oil, curry bubbling up, noodles folding into broth.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Then he sat down with his bowl of khao soi. “It was the best khao soi I\u2019d ever had,\u201d he said \u2014 which is what he told his followers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Within days, the little restaurant on Anaheim had lines out the door; within months, it had become one of few local spots recommended in the Michelin Guide. Four years later, Chiang Rai is so popular that Tir can barely get a table himself.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s so annoying,\u201d he joked.\u00a0<\/p>\n Wearing his signature “LB” hat, James Tir ’13 records a video at Ammatoli, a Levantine restaurant in Long Beach, for @LBFoodComa. He is approaching 100,000 followers on Instagram and now fields between 20 to 50 requests a week from resturants hoping to be featured.<\/p>\n Building a brand\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Tir is one of the most influential figures in Long Beach\u2019s food scene \u2014 a self-described \u201cfood enthusiast\u201d whose iPhone videos have turned struggling restaurants and pop-ups into overnight sensations.\u00a0<\/p>\n But long before @LBFoodComa became a trusted guide for nearly every corner of the city, Cal State Long Beach’s design<\/a> program was teaching him how to think in systems, build stories and make ideas useful.\u00a0That training didn\u2019t just shape the way he films food; it shaped the way he sees the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know if I\u2019d be doing this because the design program really pushed me,\u201d he said. \u201cWithout that struggle, I think I would still be in the food industry, but I would probably be in the kitchen.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Born in Long Beach to Cambodian refugees, Tir grew up in kitchens \u2014 first in his parents\u2019 donut shop, later in his aunt\u2019s restaurant in Cambodia Town. Food was familiar. It was how his family survived and how they stayed connected with their homeland. He didn\u2019t yet have the language or the tools, but those counter seats and\u00a0steam tables\u00a0were\u00a0already becoming the\u00a0world\u00a0he would one day learn to elevate.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Though he graduated with an arts degree, Tir spent his first years at The Beach studying industrial design<\/a> \u2014 enough time, he said, to rewire how he thinks, forcing him to move fast, problem-solve visually and see everything as a product with a purpose.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBecause industrial design was kind of multi-disciplinary,\u201d he said, \u201cyou had to learn every facet of design, art, illustration and some engineering as well. It was like I took five, six, seven different majors all at once.”\u00a0<\/p>\n In that rigor, he discovered his best lane.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI was really good at editing,\u201d he said. \u201cI get my videos done in 15 to 20 minutes,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s my editing style.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Tir photographs a cocktail at Midnight Oil, an estabishment that runs a trio of bars in a setting Tir calls “Chinese-maximalist.” He said he loves it “when restaurants really commit” to a concept the way this one did.<\/p>\n Stacking successes\u00a0<\/p>\n After graduating in 2013, Tir grew @LBFoodComa as a hobby while cycling through a string of jobs that didn\u2019t fit. The account gained traction during Covid-19, when many restaurant owners credited him with helping them stay afloat, and now it’s Tir’s full-time job. Although he posts to Facebook, TikTok and X, his main hub is Instagram, where he is closing in on 100,000 followers \u2014 a fifth of the city\u2019s population.<\/p>\n Most of Tir’s income comes from agency shoots and paid gigs; he said he creates content for restaurants and agencies in his signature style and posts it himself if he genuinely likes the place. \u201cI\u2019m not obligated to post on my page,\u201d he said. \u201cIt lets me keep my integrity.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, he contributes to outlets such as LAist, produces community events, and calls opening his own place in Long Beach \u201cinevitable.”\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve grown beyond what I ever expected to grow beyond,” he said.<\/p>\n Although social and outgoing, Tir \u2014 seen here at Ammatoli \u2014 rarely appears in his videos, preferring to let dishes take center stage. “I’m not an influencer,” he said. “I mean, I do have influence, but …”<\/p>\n Returning to The Beach\u00a0<\/p>\n This fall, Tir returned to CSULB \u2014 iPhone in hand \u2014 to document new dining options<\/a> emerging during Future U<\/a> construction. A golf cart ferried him between food trucks, pop-up tents and container caf\u00e9s.\u00a0<\/p>\n He pointed out his favorite window seat at The Outpost and grinned as old landmarks came into view. \u201cI loved my time here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n His advice to students is simple: \u201cForm your network ASAP,” he said. \u201cBuild your connections with your classmates \u2026 I got to where I am because I schmooze. I talk to everyone.\u201d\u00a0And about CSULB itself: \u201cI have so much pride for this school, it\u2019s crazy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Seen in hindsight, the campus tour became an origin story: Of all the doors Tir has opened, the first one that mattered opened at The Beach.\u00a0<\/p>\n