recommendations in Long Beach, near Carpenter Center?

[howard81]

I'm going to the Carpenter Center this Saturday, and I'd appreciate some recomendations for dinner nearby. Not cheap, but not too high. Italian or American would be great!

[rjw_lgb_ca]

This is too late for the OP, but a couple of random thoughts:

The Carpenter Center is indeed isolated from anything Chow-worthy-- nothing really good within five minutes by car-- but a bit more time driving gets you to, yes, Enrique's (be prepared for a LONG wait if you get there anytime after, say, 6 PM-- they don't take reservations). The owners of this wonderful place also have a little pizza-and-pasta sidebar called K Pasta; the prices are good, and the food itself is quite tasty. I've enjoyed the pizzas there a lot.

In the same center there's an Italian trattoria called Passaparola (same people run La Parolaccia on Broadway in Belmont Heights). I haven't eaten there and can't comment on whether it's good or not. I do note that it seems to get a bit of a crowd on weekend nights, so it has built a following.

Michael's on Naples is wonderful, but expensive, and any Naples or Belmont Shore eateries will present a parking challenge. Plan accordingly. George's is always fun and the food is delicious, and best of all, it's priced right.

[Ogawak]

If you drove south toward the Naples/Marina area, there is Enriques for Mexican, Michaels for Italian, Beechwood and Naples Rib Co. for BBQ ribs, probably your best bets in all of Long Beach.

[JAB]

I'll 2nd Enriques & Michaels and throw out Georges for Greek.

[Dornfelder]

+1 for George's Greek Cafe. The better half and I lived in DTLB for four years, and made the original George's on Pine our most-frequented dining spot within super-short walking distance. In all, we've probably had 35 dinners there, all of which we've enjoyed quite a bit. Oh, the lamb chops and the gyro ...

[FED]

hmmm, are those close to carpenter? that's part of the csulb campus. kind of a culinary black hole over there i'm afraid. those are good suggestions but be aware that you might have a 10 or 20-minute drive over, depending on traffic.

[JAB]

Enrique's is very close.

[FED]

depends on what you mean ... it's about 10 minutes. reason i know is because i was in a production at carpenter where we had a limited dinner break. wound up getting takeout from bristol most times because it was the only place REALLY close.