Ellie's — Restaurant in Long Beach

This review is for Gingers.

I don’t really have words for how bad our experience was here: possibly just got an off night, but is that really acceptable in a reservation only fixed “tasting menu” experience? Look, $75 for 7 full courses (not at all tasting size) is a killer deal. I want to make that point. And the vision behind the dishes and experience is great. There was a genuine sense of potential in the air, but at every turn Ginger’s fell on its face.

The execution was atrocious on all levels.

Host/server repeatedly interrupted the tables conversation to express his personal opinions on the topic. He poured the water from so high it splashed all over the table, between the cracks in the table and into my lap. Every single time and into every persons glass. When clearing plates he would pick up each persons cutlery from their plates and put it on the table. Which means his hands touched everyone’s cutlery in succession and could absolutely have spread bodily fluids between diners. We never got fresh silverware, sometimes we didn’t even get new plates between courses.

Each dish had nice elements, but also there’s seemed to be extremely inconsistent execution in the kitchen- some people’s plates simply didn’t have certain ingredients like caviar on the oysters. In other courses come people had raw ingredients (carrots) while other plates had perfect carrots. The duck was inedible and the whole table refused to eat it. I brought this up to the host and he sorta got embarrassed and said he’d let the kitchen know. No apology, no offer to redo the course. Just a chuckle and nod- blaming the kitchen. Some courses had no salt, some were blisteringly salty.

The mini split AC blasted freezing air directly into the table the whole night. Maybe good in July, but not pleasant in February. Also a massive wet streak of mold down the wall and wallpaper from said mini split- it has obviously been leaking for quite some time. At one point someone came in with a Bluetooth speaker, apologized profusely that there was no music, and proceeded to play extremely loud jazz.

The best part of the night was the good humor and company of our fellow diners. Unfortunately we will...

It is a good idea to call ahead for reservations as they do get packed. It’s a very small facility, the outdoor seating is nice but if you are a local you know that’s where all the homeless parkour when the restaurant is closed and they have been known to urinate all over the patio as well as trash it completely so so keep that in mind, also it’s a neighborhood setting so people watching can be entertaining as 711 is across the street but if you are here on a date the inside is much nicer although can feel extremely tight. The menu is simple with appetizers, veggie/salad options pasta and dinner courses and they do have brunch but I would recommend avoiding that as it seems chaotic. The food was yummy, although the fresh made pasta dish I ordered reminded me of an udon noodle used with Italian ingredients, they claim the pasta is made fresh and it did taste fresh but if you are familiar with Hmart you can get the same fresh noodles there. My concern was I asked for all beef meatballs since I do not eat pork and my plate was served with meatballs, luckily my husband does not have food restrictions so he ate them and noted that 2 tasted like all beef while one was definitely aid of beef and pork with the traditional spices. The short rib dish was yummy and the pasta itself was good. The staff keep themselves busy chatting with each other. By the time one came to check how we were doing it was too late to say anything about the meatballs I couldn’t have and again I am lucky my husband has no food restrictions. Honestly this little establishment could do much better in an area that is better suited for the amount of guests they have. Their is street parking but that can be tricky as this neighborhood is already very cramped and finding parking can be a hastle. Lastly My issue is they never trim their plants that are now taller then the stop signs; this is going to cause an accident inevitably, prior to them moving into the neighborhood we didn’t have this problem yet they haven’t done any maintenance on the plants, even though they should be trimmed down so the stop...

We came to Ellie's for our engagement celebration and it would be a lie to say I was very surprised. I heard only very good things about this restaurant and I had high hopes. My expectations were met and exceeded! And I did lie a little, I was surprised by how fresh the concept was.

The space is small, light, and intimate. The food was equally the same; even though we left very full. Most Italian places here, there is often a feeling of heaviness in the decor, heaviness in the food, and heaviness in the concept. Ellie's hit different. There was a lightness to all aspects of the experience. While it was very Italian, it was very Californian too. And i loved that.

We started off with a breadboard with sourdough. It was a great alternative to garlic bread, which you can definitely find here. The bread board was scattered with awesome butters and tangy bites.

We then split the melon and shrimp salad which was spicy, creamy, sweet, and had an amazing bite to it. It was my second favorite dish by far. We also split the Brussel sprouts, which my fiance absolutely loved. I liked the sausage they tossed it in.

Then we got to the special of the night, the pork belly and polenta. Absolutely phenomenal. I was taken back to Californian roots with spicyness in the corn. Absolutely amazing dish. The pasta had the right bite, and while amazing, it was hard to follow up the star protein. They are known for the pasta, and im excited to try more of them when I definitely come back!

As an engagement surprise we were gifted two scallops Mid meal which absolutely cut the meal in half and was an excellent, And tasty cleanser before moving to the heavier parts of the meal.

This restaurant shot up to my top 5 restaurants in long beach very fast only after Sura, Little Coyote, and Amatolli. Absolutely amazing experience in every respect.

Thank you for a memorable dinner on such a...