With friends coming from New York City this weekend, the hunt was on. What should we do? Where should I take them? What will rival the New York City standards my friends are used to in my city of Long Beach? With the closure of one of my favorite, quirky but classy, restaurant, The Sky Room, I needed to hunt for something high-end with great food, in Long Beach California. That’s when I remembered Chianina.

The Sky Room will never be replaced (it’s also rumored to reopen again) but Chianina can take its place for now. So, I made a reservation and hoped this restaurant was up to New York standards. Also, I hate leaving Long Beach. Obviously I do, but when it comes to showing people around, Long Beach has everything you’re looking for.

Chianina is located at 5716 E 2nd St, Long Beach, CA 90803 in the neighborhood of Naples Island. Upon arriving, you’ll notice their enormous logo on the side of the wall. It’s a cute, modular and stylized logo of a square-looking cow, It reminds me of Minecraft characters. You should know, Chianina prides themselves on having their own cattle farm where they get their beef from.

The Restaurant

The building is brown and not that pretty but it’s what’s inside that counts. The front door is heavy. You walk down a slender hallway upon entering and wait for your table. 

Chianina is smaller than I anticipated. It’s dimly lit with comfortable booths. They have a long bar near the front. We got a table near the back. To be completely honest, I don’t like venturing to this part of Long Beach. Even though Long Beach is very diverse, this area is primarily Anglo. As a person of color I feel very out-of-place at times. However, with sound absorption panels and high private booths, the dark lighting makes each booth feel private. To my surprise, it felt like we’re the only group inside the restaurant. This is a plus in my book. The more isolated, the better. Sometimes, I need to be away from crowds. So far this restaurant is appealing to the introvert in me.

Our waiter, Matthew, extremely handsome and well-spoken stops by our table and the service begins. I am very impressed by the service, it’s very good. But how does the service compare to the taste of the food?

The Food

Drinks came out first. We order a bottle of Southern Hemisphere Shiraz. It’s tasty. Let me back up a bit, I should probably mention I am extremely jaded, which means I’m constant looking for something exciting and new to inspire me. With that said, it is my personal opinion that this restaurant is full of hype. However upon trying it, I was blown away. It’s so good I should have tried it long ago.

We place our orders. I got a Lobster Trofie to start. My main course is the lamb dish. My partner got a tomato and burrata salad, followed by steak. The table shared the mac and cheese, Brussels sprouts and cooked carrots.

Each dish is beautiful. The tomato and burrata salad is so cute, I needed to take a picture. Although I didn’t taste the dish, my parter assured me it’s delicious. My Lobster Trofie, a smallish dish is also tasty.

My lamb was a bit fatty but exquisite… and I don’t use “exquisite” often (what am I a food critique now??? Yeah right!) I cannot believe I’ve never tried this place before.

Each side is well cooked and complimented my lamb perfectly. Although, the portions are smaller, I managed to get stuffed.

As the waiter asked for desserts, I decided to skip this part. However, my partner got the chocolate mousse. I tried it since it was in my face. So GOOD!

The New Yorkers are happy. I’m happy. Although, this place is not cheap, in fact it’s pretty expensive. It’s perfect for a special occasion or a nice treat. You know what I say, you are important and treating yourself right is always a good thing. (Is that what I say? I don’t know… I think I say it to myself mostly.) It’s about $150 per person (give or take.)

The entire meal lasted about three hours. We sat and ate with good company… Chatted away about life while planning our next big trip. We Ubered back home to relax our spoiled bellies.

Let Me Break It Down For You:

Unfortunately, Chianina did not make it through the pandemic. They are no longer around.

Chianina has their own cattle farm that makes their beef fresh and tasty.

It’s pricey. It was roughly $150 per person.

They experience is awesome. Everything we got was exceptional.

The service is very good.

Do I recommend Chianina? Without a doubt.

Check out their website for more info: HERE