{"id":82954,"date":"2024-07-17T10:11:56","date_gmt":"2024-07-17T17:11:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=82954"},"modified":"2024-07-17T10:13:00","modified_gmt":"2024-07-17T17:13:00","slug":"steelcrafts-newest-tenant-i-luv-ur-buns-brings-extravagant-baos-to-bixby-knolls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/food\/steelcrafts-newest-tenant-i-luv-ur-buns-brings-extravagant-baos-to-bixby-knolls","title":{"rendered":"SteelCraft’s newest tenant, I Luv Ur Buns, brings extravagant baos to Bixby Knolls"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I Luv Ur Buns, an Asian-fusion eatery previously serving out of Daisy Diner<\/a> in the Washington neighborhood, now has a permanent space at SteelCraft Long Beach<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wife-and-wife duo that owns the restaurant, Sonya Suon and Mandy Bardisbanian, will be on hand at the grand opening ceremony Saturday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. for a day full of games, raffles and a prize wheel. There will also be live music from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. from DJ Emerald and the Surfabilly Cats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Suon started the business less than a year ago, she envisioned serving out of SteelCraft. Her initial application was \u201cpolitely declined,\u201d but she reapplied after serving at Daisy Diner for six months, and that led to her landing the new spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very gratifying to finally be here,\u201d Suon said. \u201cI love the concept of an outdoor space.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Co-owners of I Luv Ur Buns, Sonya Suon, right, and Mandy Bardisbanian on Monday, July 15, 2024. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Serving out of the space that formerly housed Waffle Love<\/a>, I Luv Ur Buns will showcase its new breakfast menu<\/a>, which will be available daily from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bao buns are fluffy, airy buns made from yeasted dough that’s steamed. They are commonly served closed, but I Luv Ur Buns serves all of its dishes with the bun folded in half with the fillings inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New breakfast buns include the Sticky Bird \u2014 an homage to chicken and waffles \u2014 an everything bagel sandwich bun called the L.B.C., and the Nutella Bomb featuring the customer\u2019s choice of strawberries, blueberries, caramelized apples or bananas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
I Luv Ur Buns introduces their breakfast bao bun as they open a new location at SteelCraft in Bixby Knolls in Long Beach, Monday, July 15, 2024. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Each breakfast order ranges from $6.50 to $8.50 with an option of getting six Baognets (like beignets) for $40.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another breakfast bun is the Appley Ever After containing caramelized apples, sweet cream cheese and caramel sauce inside a deep-fried, cornflake-crusted bao.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends, 12 \u201cglobal buns\u201d will be offered, featuring a vast array of combinations. Each lunch or dinner bun order ranges from $10 to $12 and comes with two buns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bun-dles range from $15 for two buns, fries and a drink to $65 for eight buns (up to four kinds), two large fries, a choice of two sides and two drinks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
The exterior of I Luv Ur Buns at Steel Craft in Bixby Knolls in Long Beach Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of the most popular offerings, U Make Khmer Day, has Cambodian-style beef with housemade lemongrass season, spicy hoisin sauce and pickled cucumber, carrot and onion along with cilantro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other combinations feature Vietnamese-style grilled pork belly, Thai-style grilled chicken and Korean-style Bulgogi marinated beef along with less adventurous fried chicken options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The expansive menu also contains crinkle-cut fries, crab rangoon, gyoza and plant-based options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
I Luv Ur Buns’ chicken and waffle bao bun, the Sticky Bird, with a maple syrup pour in Bixby Knolls in Long Beach, Monday, July 15, 2024. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Suon and Bardisbanian came up with the idea for the eatery while on their honeymoon in Bali and Singapore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born to Cambodian parents in a refugee camp in the Philippines, Suon was raised in the Washington D.C. area before moving to Long Beach about a decade ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She spent over 10 years in the food service industry prior to starting I Luv Ur Buns. Suon handles the cooking while Bardisbanian has played a major role in the company\u2019s branding and social media marketing. When not devoting her time to I Luv Ur Buns, Bardisbanian is the vice president of business and development for Striker Entertainment.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a labor of love so we have to make sure it survives,\u201d Suon said of the restaurant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I Luv Ur Buns is at Steelcraft Long Beach, 3768 Long Beach Blvd. It is open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The new restaurant serves chicken and waffles, Cambodian-style beef, beignets and more \u2014 all in fluffy bao bun form.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23521,"featured_media":82949,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[7],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[32323],"class_list":["post-82954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food","tag-steelcraft","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82954"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82954\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82962,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82954\/revisions\/82962"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82954"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=82954"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=82954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}