On this five-mile staircase walk through downtown Long Beach, you’ll spot public art, buildings with rich histories and views of the Pacific Ocean from several angles. The path includes several places to grab a coffee or snack. 1. Start your walk at Bus Shelter F, designated by the F on a large silver column. Walk west toward Pine Avenue. Along the way you’ll notice animal mosaics decorating the ground. The first letter of each animal’s name corresponds with the letter of each bus shelter. Cross Pine and turn left on the street, walking past the historic First National Bank of Long Beach building, which now houses an Italian restaurant on its first floor. 2. Continue north on Pine Avenue until you reach the Pine Square shopping mall. Hang a left at the Johnny Rockets and head to the upper right corner of the mall’s courtyard for your first staircase. Head up 28 steps, and veer left at the top toward the nearby staircase to head down 27 steps. Return to Pine Avenue, where you’ll bear …

Robert Barajas Jr. wakes up every morning at 2 a.m. to start making birria horneada — “ovened,” he says. “We used to make it in the ground, now we use conventional ovens in order to have that crispy taste.” It is never simmered, adds Barajas. His father started the business several years ago, serving birria de chivo much the way the family has been making it for three generations in Tecalitlán, Jalisco. Birrieria Barajas opened first as a puesto on Compton Boulevard and then launched a truck across the street, parked in front of Eddie’s Liquor every day but Monday, beginning at 6:30 a.m. “When we started we wouldn’t even sell half a goat,” Barajas says. “By word of mouth and faith we started to get going week by week. There are a lot of people that make birria. But it has to be goat, and it’s supposed to have your special mole, a kind of rub, your own recipe. Maybe that’s why we have good clientele, because we make the rub, everything, every day.” …

The metal-inspired pop-up has an entire menu devoted to vegetarian and vegan options dubbed “Heaven” (the meat-centric menu is called “Hell”). You can order the vegan options as a trio of tacos that includes black trompo (stacked with mushrooms, Napa cabbage, eggplant and onions coated in recado negro), green “chorizo” (with soy and a mix of epazote, cilantro, spinach, watercress, peanuts and pistachio) and “chicharrón” (made with flour and salsa verde), or get the plant-based proteins in a mulita, torta or burrito, including a Chilakilles combination with a fried egg. Show more Show less Source link