Taste Of Downtown - East Village

I really enjoyed the taste of East Village.Its a great intimate setting. They close off 1st street between two intersection of Linden and Elm..They brought in a great band! And they played the entire night. Ordinaire had a great short rib sandwich for $4.The nachos from Beachwood Brewery were great!

The Taste of Downtown-East Village featured 18 of the best restaurants, wine bars and breweries that DTLB has to offer. Each establishment served up smaller portions their tastiest dishes hoping to entice you to visit their brick and mortar locations. This year included Buono's Authentic Pizzeria, Modica's Deli, Famous Dave's BBQ, Breakfast Bar, Great Society Cider, Michael's Pizzeria along with other East Village restaurants and a few others. There was a lot to choose from, but I must agree with another reviewer in that there was a definite lack in ethnic foods, however I don't believe that it is the fault of the organizers. I'm sure that all downtown establishments are invited and many choose not to play. With our menus and food tickets in hand, we found ourselves meandering through the 2 areas festivities listening to great music while deciding on where to start. My $35 in tickets scored me a 6 course night that I can honestly say left me quite satisfied. It's a good thing that I'm running the LA Marathon on Sunday to burn some of these calories. Round 1: Pier 76 Fish Grill - Lobster Rolls and Cucumber Lemonade. Round 2: Padre - Ceviche on a Tostada and a Red Sangria. Round 3: Gladstone's - Lobster Mac n Cheese Round 4: Parkers Lighthouse- Cold Seafood Salad with a Citraholic IPA from Beachwood Brewery. Round 5: Back to Pier 76 for Clam Chowder. Round 6 Dessert: Cielo At The Sky Room - Dulce de Leche Creme Brûlée (x2)This years event began at the intersection of 1st and Linden and spread west on 1st Street to Elm St. and north on Linden to Broadway. The Linden side also included some artists booths, and all the great small businesses on both street remained open as well. Both sided also featured great music. This event is dog and family friendly. Free bike valet, great food and lots of beautiful people watching.Next up: Taste of Downtown-Pine Avenue.

I'm usually aware of this yearly event, this being 1 of 3 in the Taste of Downtown series. I almost missed this one had I not read one of my cities online publications on this second day of it. Nobody had put up a flyer in my building this time. I had leftover tickets from last year so I figured I should go taste what the newest restaurants were offering.The Breakfast Bar is the newest of the participating restaurants. I've made a visit to their restaurant before but for a take-out order. I tried their BB guacamole and from the serving, it was more like nachos with the black beans and chicken pieces. They had this white peach sangria that I really wanted to try but for 5 tickets, it wasn't worth the small plastic cup but perhaps I'll return to their restaurant to have a full serving of it.James Republic is the second newest. They offered ceviche and poke at 2 tickets each. I had the poke and it was pretty good. It came with a taro chip and it was nice and crunchy.It looked like a good turnout this evening. Dog-friendly, a few alcoholic options, and free bike valet, being entertained by a live band. It's a good event for the downtown community.My review from last year's Taste of Downtown - Waterfront can be viewed here:http://www.yelp.com/biz/taste-of-downtown-waterfront-long-beachSome of the same restaurants such as Auld Dubliner, Hooters, Gladstone's, and The Sky Room participated in the Waterfront event as well.Taste of Downtown - Pine is scheduled for June 4th and 5th.

The Downtowñ Long Beach Alliance put together a very successful event which ran along 1st street between Łinden and Elm Avenues. April 25 and April 26 were the evenings in which one could sampłe fares from about fifteen local restaurants. Èverything was extremelÿ well run and comfortable seating was provided for participants. SInce we arrived postgame around eight-thirty, ît was plèasant to find the booths still supplièd with amplè sèlèctions. The arrangement of selling of tickets is well plotted. We appreciated that tickets could be purchased in units of $5 rather than ten. Leftover tickets can be used at followup events in June and August. The ticket sellers were sweet and friendly. Not all venues announced, were actually there, which is dissappointing but there was not a lack of tasty treats. From Auld Dubliner we had a delicious warm bread pudding. From Pier 76 Fish Grill, an excellent clam chowder and from Parkers' Lighthouse, tasty tuna sliders. Had I been aware of this event on Wednesday, we would have been there, then also, to try other offerings. Finding out about events in Long Beach is hit or miss, so often things are missed. I've never experienced serendipitous pleasantries versus planned quite as much as here. A caveat. Although fully expecting dishes to cost multiple tickets, the online announcement suggested all cost $1. Clean up the murky words.I was very glad we made the effort to be there, so why not five stars? The horrible earsplitting "music" blasted at both ends of the space on the street. As one vender said: "At least they take breaks". Break time was a welcome relief and thereafter the volume was lowered. So after nine o'clock, nearby residents hopefully could hear themselves think, perchance to sleep if there were any early risers suffering in surrounding apartments. Food event or club, choose what you want to be. No one enjoyed shouting over the din.