A Spanish restaurant specializing in tapas and paella is opening Saturday at 2nd & PCH.
Co-owned by brother and sister duo Xavi and Maria Padrosa, the original Telefèric Barcelona location was opened by their parents more than 30 years ago in Sant Cugat northwest of Barcelona.
Their mother, originally from Pamplona, was a pioneer in bringing pintxos to the Catalonia region in northeastern Spain, Xavi said.
Telefèric Barcelona offers a wide variety of appetizers, also known as tapas or pintxos.
Highlights include Crab Croquetas ($10) made with Mediterranean crabs topped with tuna sashimi and spicy aioli, along with Pulpo Telefèric ($19), a Galician octopus served with truffle oil and pimentén potato purée.
If you’re looking to order paella, Xavi recommends the Paella Negra ($46). The Long Beach version of the rice dish made with squid ink, gulf shrimp, scallops and clams will include toppings not found elsewhere such as tuna sashimi and octopus.
Guests wanting a luxury dining experience can order the 40 oz Catalan Tomahawk steak ($120) featuring beef imported from the north of Spain.
“That’s something that grabs people’s attention a lot,” Xavi said.
The Torrija dessert ($9), French toast with Catalan cream and vanilla ice cream, is their mother’s recipe.
Telefèric Barcelona’s location facing southwest toward Alamitos Bay also includes a bar with craft cocktails, sangria and beer.
After moving to Northern California on a tennis scholarship when he was 17 years old, Xavi made it a goal to expand the family restaurant to the U.S., he said.
Telefèric’s first United States location opened in Northern California in 2016. Now, the restaurant has three locations in Northern California and opened a location in Brentwood in February last year.
The siblings take special care to ensure guests have an authentic experience at the new 125-seat restaurant, importing tile and furniture from Spain along with all of the managers and chefs, Xavi said.
“I always like to say it’s a trip to Spain with no passport required,” he said.
Maria handles the design and architecture for each location, while Xavi runs the day-to-day operations.
“Sometimes working with family is not easy, but we respect each other’s space a lot,” Xavi said. “I don’t enter on the design part and she doesn’t enter on the operations side of it.”
Xavi said he found the location at 2nd & PCH while biking through the area training for a triathlon. He was immediately drawn to the “Mediterranean feel” of the shopping center with views of Alamitos Bay, he said.
When Jean Paul Wardy — founder and CEO of CenterCal Properties which owns 2nd & PCH — visited one of the Telefèric locations in Northern California, Xavi said he knew the expansion was meant to be.
The restaurant will hold a soft opening starting Saturday. The Long Beach location will only be open for dinner until Oct. 1, then will expand to its usual hours.
Telefèric Barcelona adds an 18% service charge to each check to ensure it is able to provide equitable wages to employees, Xavi said. Tips or gratuities on top of that are not expected.
Starting Oct. 1, Telefèric Barcelona — 6420 Pacific Coast Highway Ste 160 — will be open 11:30 a.m. to 9:15 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 11:30 a.m. to 10:15 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m. to 10:15 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 9:15 p.m. on Sunday.