Liv's — Restaurant in Long Beach

Came here with high hopes, very cute place with a beachy California vibe. It was a Saturday afternoon and there might have been 3 tables occupied. I was a bit saddened to see two Latino males come in and be completely ignored for a good five minutes. This might be speaking only of the fact that there was just one server out front. This was an unpleasant situation to witness. That said, our large group of 8 adults plus one toddler was accommodated. We each got either a cocktail or non alcoholic drink. I got the Ysidro spritz which had sake and grapefruit juice - very refreshing. I got a seafood chowder in a sourdough bread bowl , I ended up sharing this dish because the other entrees were not to our liking. The table had a burger and fries, a fish and chips plate plus completely inedible chargrilled guajillo mussels and scallop dish. This dish had too much of a burnt rosemary and tasted very much like water rather than white wine. We had asked the server to also check if the kitchen would prepare a smaller fish and chips dish for the toddler : she said she would check if the chef would do it but we did not hear about it again. We were halfway through our meal and flagged down another server to ask about it. Apparently the order was not placed. Our total bill came up to over $300 before tip. Granted the waitress was also the person who mixed our drinks, shucked oysters, ran food tabs for leaving customers and took in other customers! I don't like leaving a restaurant with a less than stellar review after spending so much money. So food overall was a maybe 6/10 with lots of improvement needed. I would not make the extra effort to come back. Service needed additional staff and better...

We enjoyed our little splurge this Friday afternoon for our first time here. The staff was fantastic and very attentive. Of course 2nd street parking can be a challenge but 1pm got us right in front. Anyway, the food was good. I prefer fries with less of a char but I guess this is their norm. Plus, they’re still good. The fish on the Fish and Chips plate looks crispy but expect a soft crust with a very tender and very fresh flavor underneath. The restaurant boast fresh ingredients and they don’t disappoint. Although delicious, you can expect the Nashville Hot Fish to have the classic flavor without too much spice. Liv’s serves wine but unfortunately no cocktails. Stopping here for cocktails would be wonderful, however. The ambience is simple but eclectic and the staff makes the experience worth it. With our meal and two glasses of wine, our bill came up to about $118 which included a 20% tip. This was a great pre-birthday lunch. Would I come...

Service at Liv's was really great, but unfortunately that's where the greatness ends for me. We ordered off of the happy hour mini size menu to try different things, and the only thing that stood out is how truly "mini" the happy hour portions are. Can't complain about that since they did state in their menu that these are mini plates.

Onto the food quality, the oyster Cesar salad leaves me missing both Romain lettuce and oysters. The thing with fried oysters is that the oysters have to be big enough to not lose to the batter used for deep frying. Bigger oysters would help this dish standout. Salmon crudo is ok, nothing bad but nothing special either. And finally had the Stripes Bass picata, which is quite a bit over sauce. Most fish have delicate flavors, and in this instance, the Bass just ended up being "a protein" to carry the picata sauce full of capers. A bit more finesse would be expected for the kind of restaurant Liv's...