The Wicked Wolf Cocktail Bar + Tea Lounge & Café — Restaurant in Long Beach

I went on Thursday night between 8-10pm. This place is such a vibe. The interior is fun, there is an upstairs patio that was cute. Live music was great. Sadly, the service was not great.

There was one bartender and she was struggling. I waited 40 min sitting at the bar to get served. I’m typically pretty patient and could see she was struggling with the volume so I tried to wait it out but when she served everyone around me but I was there first I almost gave up. I finally got a mocktail that was very good but there was so much fresh mint in it I couldn’t drink it because it kept getting stuck in the straw. I started pulling it out and my friend commented, “wow that’s a lot of mint” but it was a really tasty drink so I tried to order another one but they were out of one of the ingredients. I waited another 15 minutes for a sprite. Meanwhile, as I was waiting someone at the bar walked away while saying they were tired of waiting. I felt that.

There was a barback, assume that was his role, he didn’t serve alcohol. He tried to help with nonalcoholic beverages and food.

I heard people saying, “she’s doing the best she can, I guess” about the bartender.

Ya know, that’s probably true and I can extend that grace but it didn’t make the experience any more enjoyable. I really wanted to like this place but I didn’t on this occasion.

I anticipate going back because my friend wants to try their tea service. I’m down to try it. One bad night does not a bar make.

The restrooms were clean, well stocked, and wheelchair accessible.

I was there for a birthday party and there was plenty of seating for the group.

The live music was very entertaining and enjoyable.

Parking…oof. It’s Long Beach. Good, free parking...

October 2023: The 2nd Monday of the month is crafts and cocktails night from 6:00-9:00 PM! My friend and I have been planning to meet up at Wicked Wolf for a few months and we finally made it happen.

I love the vintage-esque velvet sofas and chairs. We also had the privilege of previewing the new 2nd floor patio and event room. So cool!

My friend had The Jack Albert and we both had the Mexican Firing Squad, which I enjoyed very much. It has a great combination of flavors. I asked the bartender (Christian) to go easy on the sweetness and it tasted great.

Although they don't serve food, they have an arrangement with the BBQ place next door and Happy Thai down the street for free delivery.

I'm looking forward to returning for another Crafts and Cocktails night in the coming months.

Update: 11/01/2024 My friend and I had the privilege of going to the Wicked Wolf on opening day of their Tea Time. They're open for Tea Time Tuesday - Saturday during the day (until 4:00 PM).

The tea menu has a lot of variety and the pots are very reasonably priced. We had the Summit Blueberry blend. It was so good. We both added some honey to our cups for the first round, but didn't really need it so we skipped the honey on the 2nd round.

We also ordered the Charcuterie and some cucumber sandwiches. Both were delicious.

The tea cups were adorable and the interior decor is so cute and beautifully unique and dramatic! I loved seeing all the red fabric flowers against the green mural..

We spoke with the owner and her partner before they left. Such a...

Update: As corrected by the restaurant, for $50 there were technically two of two types of sandwiches served, but each one was small, maybe 3.5" squared, which is about 12 square inches of sandwich vs a normal sliced bread sandwich (4.5" squared = 20+ square inches) so you're still barely getting one full sandwich each. Also they were correct in that we did get a mimosa or non alcohol drink on arrival. However, no macaron was included, and we only received a single rather small petit four, not plural. They also followed up with my wife kinda apologizing and said they'd send a $50 gift card, and today we received a $30 gift card 🤦‍♂️

Had a 1230 reservation for the tea lunch. With no food served after 30 minutes, I asked for a piece of bread or anything at all for my pregnant wife to eat since she was super nauseous and starving. But no, they couldn't or wouldn't bring us anything to help. They said they put in an order of empanadas or something for her, but those never came. It took 45+ minutes for any food to arrive.

So for $50 a person, you get a pot of tea, two sliced bread sandwiches, a scone, a madeleine, a nickel sized bite of cake, and some grapes. By far the least amount of food for any tea service I've had, and inexcusable that for this level of food they couldn't be more prepared for their reservations or at least give us a slice of bread for the poor pregnant lady suffering at...