LBCC Bistro — Restaurant in Long Beach

Fantastic place and always a favorite stop of mine, pre-COVID pandemic. Made by students and run by students, under the guidance and instruction of Chefs Pierre Jues and Chris Young. I’m not sure why I haven’t already reviewed this place, but I am doing so now as the Spring 2021 semester at the college is coming to an end. The Bakery has been closed to the public but been offering the baked goods it makes to essential college employees working on campus, students and others in need, and some other fortunate few, like me.

During this semester what has been made in the bakery has expanded into things they have never done before. Rather than try to remember it all, I just want to share the note I sent to the program faculty and students today to share my favorites and show my appreciation:

Wow, this semester has been the best I’ve experienced since the bakery opened! Super job and huge thanks to all of the students! You’ve all stepped up and set a new high bar for my expectations of the bakery. Great seeing a lot of new things not offered before. My two new favorites are the chocolate cake, it should be called shock-a-lot cake because of the intense and shockingly amazing chocolate flavor and deliciousness! The banana Nutella bread was my other favorite, with such a great banana and walnut flavor and the subtle hazelnut chocolate flavor that doesn’t over power or over sweeten the bread. Thank you for bringing extra joy and enjoyment that helped brighten up this strange pandemic world—which finally seems to be coming to an end. And, finally, much thanks and love to Chefs Pierre and Chris for all the hard work they put in semester after semester to continue improving the Baking and Pastry program and taking it to...

Loved our experience at LBCC Bistro. There were four of us. We were quickly shown to our table. The patio was lovely. As long as you realize these students are just learning and give them the benefit of the doubt, the food is truly worth it, we enjoyed ourselves, and would go back.

Our appetizers were delicious (we tried both the olive tapenade and the green bean potato salad).

The servers were trying hard, but they came out to our table with entrees from a table which arrived about 15 minutes after us. They set down the lamb chops to one of us before we realized that the rest of the dishes were not ours. Had to wait a bit to get the remaining entrees. Noticed that the vegetables were switched between the lamb chops and the fish dish, but it wasn’t a big deal. The entrees were delicious and perfectly cooked. The mashed potatoes were buttery stars and most of us agreed they were our favorite.

Creme Brulee was outstanding. The chocolate tart had a very hard pastry shell but the chocolate portion was great.

All in all a fun outing and we’d...

You must make reservations to eat here and only on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Very pretty atmosphere. There are TV's showing them preparing your food. Really cool to see hands on learning taking place. They give you a few options from a set menu for the week and you can pay extra if you want to try more than one. It is a 3-course meal. Appetizer, main course and dessert. Very cool experience. I...