Socializing at Saint and Second

Saint and Second

4828 Second Street

Long Beach, CA 90803

Katie doesn't have many friends that she hangs out with. Preferring to be with her family, playing with her nieces and nephews, and staying home to watch tv, have her eyes glued to her phone for long stretches at a time, or her favorite pastime by far, sleeping as much as she can. So, it's very rare for Katie to make plans with one of her friends, and actually keep those plans instead of weaseling out of them. That's how I know that she really enjoys someone, like her friend Diana and her boyfriend Carlos, with whom we were going to be meeting for brunch on a recent Sunday morning. 

They live in Long Beach, and since we never make it up this way, we decided to come up their way to check out the Long Beach dining scene. I had sent Diana a list of brunch spots, and let her pick where we'd be eating. She said my list was pretty good, and she selected Saint and Second, which is in the Belmont Shore area of Long Beach. 

Saint and Second opened in 2015 and is brought to us by the Hofman Hospitality Group, which is under the same umbrella as Hof's Hut and Lucille's BBQ. In fact, this site used to be a Lucille's but was converted to this new concept six years ago. They are going for a restaurant experience that is comfortable, yet sophisticated at the same time. A very tough balance to achieve. Their website states that they strive for food that is local and organic, from purveyors that equal their very high standards. I was intrigued. 

Traffic from OC was lighter than usual, and we had some good, "parkma," getting a spot pretty much right in front of the restaurant. Adding to everything coming together nicely, Diana and Carlos pulled up just as we were getting out of the car. Our little quartet made our way to the restaurant and was seated to the side of the restaurant, where they had constructed some booths on the sidewalk. 

Brunch at Saint and Second is served on weekends from 9 to 2pm. The one-page menu is not going to blow you away with its diversity, but there's enough here to satisfy most people. There's six egg dishes to choose from, followed by a couple of hashes, one flatbread, and one each of pancakes, waffle, and two offerings of french toast. Prices range between $12 to $19 for entrees, which is pretty modest when you consider the area this restaurant is situated in. Let's see if Diana made a good pick from my list of brunch places in the LBC. 

Let's start things off with what Carlos had as his first meal of the day, the Classic Eggs Benedict ($14). This version of a benny uses a cheddar biscuit as a base and then tops it with thick-cut Canadian bacon, poached eggs, and hollandaise sauce as a topper. Carlos seemed pretty pleased with this meal, as it did not stay around very long. From my vantage point, the eggs looked nicely poached and the hollandaise sauce appeared to be thick. The house potatoes that came alongside this looked like they would be right up my alley, as the potatoes were different sizes, so there would be some variety in texture from bite to bite. 

Diana has been described as a spicy dish many times before, so it was no surprise to the three of us that she went with the Chicken Chorizo Avocado Hash ($18). Joining the chicken, avocado, and chorizo on this plate were some potatoes, green beans, butternut squash, two poached eggs, and a chipotle hollandaise sauce. An unusual mixture of ingredients for a breakfast hash, but one that was lighter than most, and did not sacrifice flavor. 

I got the other hash on the menu, the House Smoked Tri-Tip Hash ($19). This hearty meal combined potatoes, tri-tip, onions, broccolini, bacon, two poached eggs, and the same chipotle hollandaise sauce that was used on Diana's hash. I really enjoyed this. I thought the tri-tip was going to get lost here, but it was front and center, and very good. The poached egg and hollandaise sauce tied everything together well, and the potatoes did offer some bites with creamy potato, and others that were on the crispy side. My only criticism would be that they could have added a little extra bacon, but I'm always clamoring for extra bacon with my meals. 

The most straightforward meal between the four of us belonged to Katie, who got the Traditional ($13). This came with two eggs, she got them over hard, two strips of bacon, potatoes, and a cheddar biscuit with butter and preserves. Katie was impressed with the high quality of the food she had here, which helped set it apart from other breakfast spots. She was especially fond of the cheddar biscuit, which was worth breaking her keto diet for, at least for a few bites.  

Since I'm always fond of combining sweet and savory at breakfast, I also got the seasonal favorite, the Tres Leches French Toast ($13). The two slices of french toast were topped with caramelized banana, pecan and oat crumble, and caramel whipped cream. This was the weak link of my meal at Saint and Second this morning. It was just kind of bland, and the muted sweetness did nothing to rouse my taste buds. It would have been better with some syrup alongside it. 

Even though the french toast failed to impress, the same could not be said about the rest of our meal at Saint and Second. The four of us all enjoyed our meals and would come back again for another visit. This trip whetted my appetite to try their lunch or dinner next time. I especially have my eye on their tri-tip sandwich, signature burger, and smoked pork chop on future visits. Back to this meal though, I did not find their prices crazy expensive, which is not always the norm when you are eating out in the Belmont Shore area. Service was pretty solid this morning, as our server kept tabs on us regularly, without being too intrusive while we were busy catching up with Diana and Carlos. Hopefully, Katie will make more time for her friends as things open up more and more. 

Out of five knots, (because Belmont Shore is the site of a youth sailing program which was founded in 1929, and I'm sure they have taught many of their young sailors to tie many knots over those 92 years), five being best to zero being worst, Saint and Second gets 3 knots. 

For more information about Saint and Second, head to their website here: http://saintandsecond.com/