Really nice experience at the famous Phil Trani's, located in Long Beach, CA.
I've been wanting to try Phil Trani's for a bit now, so my wife and I finally made the effort to drive up to the north part of Long Beach on a Tuesday later morning. Per Google Maps and their website, it is supposed to be open at 11 am but Yelp was correct when they had hours beginning at 11:30. They unlocked the gate at 11:25 , for a 11:30 opening. There is a huge dedicated parking lot, with large parking spots so waited a bit, and then walked in. We were greeted warmly by the host who had unlocked the gate, and taken to a shared booth/table. We were the first in, but regulars soon came in to sit at the bar. The waiting area was decorated with plaques and newspaper articles about the history of this restaurant and its popularity. Inside, there are tons of sports memorabilia, with names that didn't ring a bell to me, but must have meant a lot to the owner. It was like being inside a wealthy person's man cave.
So did I mention the wrong hours on their website?...their website seemed pretty good, with a lot of information, and well organized...at one time, somebody took a lot of care to create the site. The problem is that it is not being updated. There were messages still from the Covid era, and the menu prices were 40% - 60% higher than on the site. This is why a lot of restaurants don't put prices on their website menus, expecting guests to get it when they arrive or get it from places like Yelp.
We got complementary half loaf of bread that had just been baked, with a lot of whipped butter...so that helped a lot. We wanted to try their pot roast wet beef sandwich, but were then told that it wasn't available. Because it takes 7 hours to make, thinking it was just being made (since yesterday was Memorial Day), and they didn't want to serve reheated pot roast (which I think is a really good sign of their commitment to quality).
The food was really good. My wife decided to get the deluxe cheeseburger with fries ($23). It was a very large burger (closer to half a pound than a quarter), served on a really sturdy brioche bun, with lettuce/tomato/onion on the side. It came with french FRIED potatoes...not really french fries, but big wedges of potato that had been oven fried for a long time. These are not that common in restaurants, and we really enjoyed it. The meat on the burger was OK quality.
Another dish that I don't see much of in LA, are sand dabs ($24). I really like the delicate flakiness of flatfish, so will try that whenever I can. I figured it would come with one filet, maybe two..but this one came with THREE...and they were large pieces. The meat was very, very thin, and most of the thickness of the meal was the breading, but it had been expertly cooked so it wasn't too greasy. The breading was excellent. Yes, most of the taste was from the breading and not the fish itself, but the quantity given was very generous. Nowhere does it say how many pieces this dish has, so I wonder if the number of pieces are reflected in how thick the sand dabs are (since you can't really control what the supplier has at what time). It would have been better with tartar sauce...I just used the leftover thousand island dressing that came as a side with the burger. It came with chosen garlic mashed potatoes (good, definitely heavy but not too much so), and unannounced broccoli/green beans, which was a nice surprise. It's a dinner portion.
The service was excellent throughout...they were very well staffed, and because it wasn't so busy when we ate, we were checked up on. My water glass was continuously refilled whenever I needed it. Cathy was our waitress, and the host was also attentive as well.
The ambiance reminded me of the old supper club atmosphere, popular in Wisconsin (well to do, older, white). The food and surroundings would also have been very appropriate for a country club clubhouse restaurant as well, where if you are not part of the club, you feel very different than the regulars. But that is the opposite of a tourist restaurant, and I'm glad that this part of Long Beach has Phil Trani's....because diversity is good in our city . read more