{"id":86258,"date":"2025-07-02T13:50:06","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T20:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=86258"},"modified":"2025-07-02T13:50:06","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T20:50:06","slug":"at-omg-burgers-near-wilson-high-try-the-water-ice-jo-lati","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/at-omg-burgers-near-wilson-high-try-the-water-ice-jo-lati","title":{"rendered":"At OMG Burgers near Wilson High, try the water ice ‘Jo-lati’"},"content":{"rendered":"

To anyone outside of Philadelphia, the term \u201cwater ice\u201d might seem redundant.<\/p>\n

For Valerie Paige, co-owner of OMG Burgers near Recreation Park, it means a frozen treat that\u2019s synonymous with summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s similar to shaved ice, but it\u2019s made like ice cream,\u201d Paige said.<\/p>\n

That consistency helps water ice stay frozen a little longer than shaved ice, Paige said.<\/p>\n

She and her husband, William Paige, serve the frozen treats out of a window on Seventh Street across from Woodrow Wilson High School.<\/p>\n

OMG Burgers<\/a> also serves smash burgers, patty melts and, of course, Philly Cheesesteaks with Cooper sharp cheese and fresh bread from BREAD Artisan Bakery in Santa Ana.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The smash burger with cheese at OMG Burgers in Long Beach. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The cheesesteaks are $14.99, burgers are $7.99 or $8.99 for a cheeseburger and the water ices range from $4.99 to $6.99.<\/p>\n

Valerie\u2019s favorite flavor is OMG Sour Swirl, but she also recommends the Sour Apple or the Pineapple Sunrise.<\/p>\n

For those craving some extra sweetness, you can order the water ice as a gelti, which is a water ice with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.<\/p>\n

At OMG Burgers, they changed the name to Jo-lati in honor of William Paige\u2019s late mother.<\/p>\n

She died shortly before the restaurant opened four months ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was really excited about this,\u201d Valerie said.<\/p>\n

Valerie and William decided to start the restaurant when they spotted a \u201cfor lease\u201d sign at the property along Seventh Street near Roycroft Avenue.<\/p>\n

They had been talking about bringing water ice to Southern California ever since the pair moved to Long Beach from Philadelphia, where William had agreed to move before the winters got the better of him.<\/p>\n

The restaurant is within walking distance from their home and has become their de facto home six days a week.<\/p>\n

The building isn\u2019t perfect. Its electrical system doesn\u2019t allow them to add a fryer to make fries, but they advise customers to walk down to the adjacent Buffalo Spot if they really can\u2019t go without them.<\/p>\n

The Paiges are working on renovating the front to be more inviting with a newly designed menu.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
William Paige and his wife Valerie are the co-owners of OMG Burgers in Long Beach. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They learned the hard way that they can\u2019t keep too much fresh bread stored inside the eatery because it grows mold in just three days.<\/p>\n

But the limited storage space also means Valerie can get creative with some limited availability menu items.<\/p>\n

If the supplies are available that day, she can make customers a salmon cheesesteak with broccoli, spinach, green bell pepper, onions and bean sprouts, or a hot honey chicken sandwich with much of the same.<\/p>\n

Valerie said she\u2019s most proud of her Mac n\u2019 Cheese ($5.99), which is a hit every Thanksgiving and took years to perfect.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Mac ‘n Cheese at OMG Burgers in Long Beach. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Also on the menu as sides are baked beans ($3.99), potato salad ($4.99), a Philly pretzel ($4.99), turkey chili bowl ($7.99) and chili cheese fritos ($4.99).<\/p>\n

The name OMG Burgers comes from the Paiges\u2019 previous venture, hosting events at a warehouse in North Long Beach.<\/p>\n

Valerie described the decor as \u201clike a sports bar\u201d with pool tables and TVs for watching whatever sporting event is on.<\/p>\n

When they weren\u2019t using the warehouse for events, William would hang out there with his friends smoking cigars, playing pool and watching sports.<\/p>\n

Valerie started calling the crew the \u201cOld Man Gang\u201d and the name stuck.<\/p>\n

OMG Burgers and More, 4712 E. Seventh Street, is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OMG Burgers also serves smash burgers, patty melts and, of course, Philly Cheesesteaks with Cooper sharp cheese and fresh bread.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23521,"featured_media":86173,"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":[6],"tags":[31926],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[32323],"class_list":["post-86258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hi-lo","tag-restaurant","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86258","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=86258"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86261,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86258\/revisions\/86261"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86258"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=86258"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=86258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}