Seven opens in Long Beach

Can there be too many Italian restaurants in Long Beach? That's the feeling Marco Almeida was getting, so he spent a month and a half transforming his Italian restaurant into a bohemian chic lounge. 

Marco and his brother Hugo recently reopened Seven in the cavernous space that used to hold 7Seventy7. (The name refers to the address, 777 Beech St.) The brothers brought on consultants to update the menu and interior decorating scheme, which now straddles the line between nightclub and your cultured aunt who's into thrift shopping. Southwestern prints from New Mexico play off the twee wallpaper designs, which look straight out of a Wes Anderson movie. The space doesn't have much natural light though, so there's still a lounge feel to it. 

Although many of the Italian classics on the menu have been replaced with tuna poke tartare, lobster rolls and bourbon cream sauce mussels, the friendly server still seemed to gravitate toward them on a recent night.  The vodka diabla ($26) is one of the best items on the menu, fat rigatoni smothered in a zippy pink sauce and topped with a bulb of creamy burrata cheese. And the chicken capri ($26), a breast pounded into a cutlet and deep fried like a chicken Milanese, is equally satisfying underneath a mound of fresh arugula and cherry tomatoes.

But more exciting, Marco said they're working on adding a couple of Portuguese dishes — grilled octopus and salt cod bacalao — to the menu.

Although the space is still a full restaurant, it's hosting live music and DJs on the weekends. A separate party room seats 80 people. 

Seven, 777 W Beech St., Long Beach, 516-544-6173, sevenlb.com. Open 5-10 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 5-midnight Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, 11:30 to 9 p.m. Sunday. Closed Monday and Tuesday.

By Andi Berlin

andi.berlin@newsday.comAndiBerlin

Andi Berlin is from Arizona and does not know where she is going. But when she gets there, she’ll find something beautiful and delicious that the world needs to taste.