new waterfront amphitheater<\/a>, practically next door, was the perfect opportunity. The Reef reopened last week, hoping to build on its already rich Long Beach legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDavid Tallichet was famous for his empire of restaurants that included the Proud Bird next to LAX and the Castaway in Burbank, but that business started with The Reef. Early in his career, he moved around a lot as he worked in the hotel industry, but when he landed in Long Beach and started working at Hotel Lafayette, he didn\u2019t want to leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe just kind of fell in love with Long Beach, and figured, \u2018This is where I want to stay,\u2019\u201d John said.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJohn Tallichet, CEO of Specialty Restaurants and son of The Reef’s founder, shows the outdoor dining at the Reef restaurant in Long Beach on Tuesday, June 23, 2026. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWanting to put down roots in Long Beach and expand beyond the hotel business, David opened The Reef in partnership with five other businessmen. One of his partners, George Millay, would go on to open SeaWorld, Magic Mountain and a waterpark called Wet \u2019n Wild.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unsure if The Reef would be successful, David kept his job at Hotel Lafayette for another year. The Reef turned out to be a great success, and the first of the many themed restaurants David would open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe’re very proud of this restaurant. Being born in Long Beach, this is where it all began, and it’s extremely important, not just to me, but my whole family,\u201d John said.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Reef restaurant, with its big windows with views of downtown across Queensway Bay in Long Beach, Tuesday, June 23, 2026. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe Reef has gone through many changes in its 68 years. The original building was destroyed in a fire in 1976, but was quickly rebuilt. Several renovations have turned it into the grand, three-story space it is today. The Reef lost its tiki theme along the way, became The Sassafras for a couple of years in the \u201980s, and saw Long Beach expand around it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But John said the heart of the restaurant remains the same, and his family is excited to keep doing what they do and get The Reef\u2019s name back out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think a big part of what we do today is being part of the community. We have so many events here, we have companies have events here, we have so many weddings and quincea\u00f1eras and bar mitzvahs, and just so many things that give people a chance to come and celebrate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Reef restaurant, which is between the Queen Mary and the Maya Hotel in Long Beach, Tuesday, June 23, 2026. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nJohn said families have told him that they\u2019ve had several generations get married at The Reef with a view of the ocean and The Queen Mary as their backdrop. Other couples had their first date at the restaurant and have come back to The Reef for their wedding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, he hopes it will remain a special place for them and a generation of new customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Reef, 880 Harbor Scenic Drive, is open Thursday through Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. They hope to expand their hours in the future.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For decades, The Reef was a mainstay. With Long Beach\u2019s new amphitheater opening nearby, the family behind it hopes to reclaim that fame.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207,"featured_media":89251,"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":[32365],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[32346],"class_list":["post-89256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eat","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89256","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\/207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89256"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89258,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89256\/revisions\/89258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89256"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=89256"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=89256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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