The best moules frites in town. Photos by Brian Addison.
They may have moved to a larger location but it is refreshing to inform Long Beach that Pier 76 still serves up some of the best seafood in town—and considering they do so without gouging your wallet, it is arguably the best seafood spot in town, period.
The new space at 1st and Pine, kitty-corner to The Federal Bar, is far more open than its previous space at Ocean and Linden—the temperature difference and open air sensation alone is astounding. Tack on outdoor dining at the heart of the Transit Mall—the passing trains, with their bells and people, offer a welcoming downtown background noise—and Pier 76 offers up an urban dining experience that is cooler than the other side of the pillow.
Though their vegetarian options are limited to their sides—you can get a great kale salad with some white cheddar mac’n’cheese for a total of $6 and be quite content—one shouldn’t be shocked that Pier puts seafood on anything and everything, from salads to bread, fries to rice.
The best part about Pier’s style is their cleanliness in their approach to food. Eschewing complicated preparation, their plates are simple and highlight the protein rather than its accompaniments. Take, for example, their grilled salmon salad, which plays to my weakness for all things pickled by way of pickled red onion for acidity, dried cherry tomatoes for a hint of sweet, and a champagne vinaigrette for both sweet ’n’ sour.
The grilled salmon salad.
The grill menu, offering everything from Idaho trout to live Maine lobster, pairs each water creature its own special sauce. And though the perfectly bitter arugula almond pesto for the shrimp, and the bleu cheese bacon sauce for the mahi mahi are delicious, one can easily overuse them and ultimately take away the limelight from the star that is the protein. Fillet or prawn, the simplicity with which Chef Chris Krajacic approaches his seafood is good enough to do without accoutrements.
This isn’t to say they don’t play with decadence—their langostino (a crawfish-like crustacean) and lobster roll is the definition of it. Buttery bits of lobster and langostino are tucked into an equally buttery French roll and topped with bits of vine tomato and cilantro, a chipotle bleu cheese sauce, and candied bacon (repeat: candied bacon). Oh, and let’s not forget the most important ingredient they list on their menu, “pure love.”
The langostino and lobster roll.
If that’s their definition of pure love, my definition of pure happiness lies within their bucket of moules frites. For just $11.50, you get a tin bucket filled with a plethora of freshly steamed California black mussels atop a pile of fries. This seafood classic, which I first experienced at Walt’s Wharf in Seal Beach, is quite possibly the best in the region, even surpassing the aforementioned Walt’s, given its price and flavor.
We’re talking brilliant execution here with a white wine broth—beautifully balanced to the point where one could easily use it as a soup—that the fries happily bathe in, mixed with onions, roasted poblano peppers, and chunks of bacon. Add a cold serving of the Tank 7 saison they offer by the bottle and you have one of the most addicting dishes in town (and even better: the restaurant’s order-at-the-counter, eat-and-go style can handle lunch seekers with the most limited of schedules).
If you love seafood and you haven’t been to Pier 76, or haven’t revisited it in a while, the endgame is that you must. Happy stomach, happy wallet.
Pier 76 is located at 95 Pine Avenue. It is open Sunday through Thursday from 11AM to 9PM and Friday and Saturday from 11AM to 9:30PM.
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