Little Long Beach — Restaurant in Osaka

My friend and I came to this bar on a random Wednesday night, as it happened to be a stone's throw from our Airbnb. When we walked in, the owner (an American by birth) was entertaining a group of local regulars with stories - he immediately switched to English and welcomed us to the bar.

People are very polite in Japan, in Osaka they are particularly friendly; but this was by far the epitome of service and banter I have ever experienced in my adult life at a bar. The bartenders taught my friend and I so much about drinking culture in Japan, what it's like to be a foreigner living in Japan, and doing so while serving the local regulars and foreigners who happened to be there.

When we arrived here, we had told the bartenders a story without an ending - our friend, Mr. Bibbins, had gotten lost in Kyoto and never made it to Osaka with us that evening. Let me tell you, bartender reading this review, what happened to Mr. Bibbins.

After exiting the Shinto Shrine he had gotten lost in in Kyoto, Mr. Bibbins was welcomed by a salary man at a bar. At the bottom of a tall bottle of sake, Mr. Bibbins received word from the mysterious latina foreigner he had sat next to on the train from Tokyo to Kyoto just that morning: "hey, are you free to get a drink?”

After receiving dinner date tips from his new friends at the bar, Mr. Bibbins set forth to meet his destiny. Destiny, was an Izakaya where the two lovebirds talked into the long hours of the night. Around 1am, after my friend and I left Little Long Beach and promised to later finish our story, Mr. Bibbins found himself in the hostel of this foreigner, and much later, suddenly found himself back in our Airbnb in Osaka via taxi. However, I believe there is a version of Mr. Bibbins who stayed in Kyoto, married that latina foreigner, learned Japanese, and became an alcoholic English teacher - for time is a...

I spent 6+ months living in Osaka this year and Little Long Beach was one of my favorite parts of the experience.

I only speak a little Japanese, so my ideal place was always one that was mostly locals but with maybe some visitors and hopefully English-friendly. LLB was a great fit.

Chad, the owner, is from Southern California (hence the "Long Beach") but he's lived in Osaka for 20 years and speaks Japanese. The regular crowd at LLB is fun and interested locals- mostly Japanese but with lots of other nationalities as well.

There is a great drink selection and I really enjoyed the limited bar menu- the pizza and quesadillas hit the spot and paired well with the highballs and chu-highs.

Chad like introducing people to each other and encouraging conversation. Often, he volunteered me to join in a game of darts with locals and I always had a great time.

I had so many great conversations at LLB and made many friends. I can wait to go back as soon as I can. I recommend it to people who want to try to practice a little Japanese, too. You can usually find a local who'd also like to practice their English.

Little Long Beach is a great spot and conveniently located in Namba. Stop by and tell Chad that...

This place is NOT a gaijin bar, it’s intended to cater to local clientele. But it is gaijin friendly! That’s a really good thing! The owner is from the US but fluent in Japanese and he strikes an excellent balance of providing his Japanese clientele with a great experience while also being super welcoming to foreigners. The best thing about it is he serves as kind of a go between that helps both groups mix with each other in a friendly, non pushy, and ultimately educational way. He gently educated me and my friend in how to be better visitors to Japan and even ended up being a catalyst for us to meet a really awesome local who showed us a side of Osaka we never would have seen. Chad is distinctly American but has respectfully adapted to his new country… he’s the closest thing to the bar owner from Casablanca that I’ve seen in real life. This is a great place for food, drink, and company for Japanese and foreigners alike! Also he’s ridiculously good at darts so be careful about...