Monday 9th of December 2013 01:06:00 AM

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I stopped in the brewery after flying into LA late at night, and I was long overdue for a meal. It took a bit of effort to find the place since it doesn't face the road - you have to park and then walk into the pedestrian only mall before you see it.

I sat at the bar and it took a little while for the bartender to come over. I ordered a pulled chicken sandwich on a pretzel roll. The sandwich came out quickly, but was nothing special.

I also had their James's Brown Ale and the Red Ale (who's name I forget). Both were tasty, and enjoyable.

The bartender was very talkative since it was a bit of a slow night. Some people he knew were at the bar and they opened a bottle of AleSmith Speedway Stout (they serve lots of beers besides their own). The bartender asked me if I liked stouts, and not really having paid attention I didn't seem enthusiastic. He gave me a free taste anyway, which was totally worth it. Lesson learned - if a bartender asks you if you like something, you should probably say yes.

Tuesday 17th of April 2012 11:46:33 AM

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The Beachwood BBQ in Long Beach (the original location is in Seal Beach), is on the ground floor in a new building on a pedestrian-only mall, not directly on the street. This was disconcerting on our visit as no street-facing businesses in the building were yet open for business on our visit.

The atmosphere is modern and welcoming with clean lines. There are full windows on three sides, including several roll-up glass garage doors, cool mint-green walls, and a very high charcoal gray ceiling with exposed pipes and ducting. Floors are unfinished concrete. The oak and corrugated metal bar is quite long and has tall black padded chairs on two sides. Also in the bar area are a few narrow tall tables with stools. Many tables and a few booths fill the dining area. At the time of our visit they were just beginning to construct a large outdoor beer garden along the front of the building on the mall.

The stainless steel brew kettle and mash tun and a few glimpses of the fermenters can be seen behind the bar through a large window.

The beer selection is huge - seven house-brewed beers and 27 mostly local, mostly craft beer choices. The house brewed beers on our visit: Foam Top Cream Ale, Uno Belgian Single Ale, Breaker Pale, Ale, Knucklehead Red Ale, Melrose India Pale Ale, Warrior Black IPA, and Bulldog Stout. The IPA was quite good.

The food is upper-level quality pub fare and the lunch specials are worthy. We tried a smoked chicken salad, a pulled pork sandwich on a pretzel bun, and a fried green tomato sandwich and found them all good.