Sorrento's expands in Long Beach
Pizza is the dish to order at Sorrento's in Long Beach. Credit: Newsday/Andi Berlin
After a devastating fire that destroyed the Long Beach pizzeria, Sorrento's is looking bigger and better these days. In fact, it practically takes up the whole block.
The spot's popular West End butcher shop recently added a classy dining nook next door. Staffed by a separate server, the small restaurant serves sandwiches and family-style dinner entrees from a chalkboard menu that changes daily. Next to that, the new Caffe Sorrento's is a lovely place to sip espresso and nibble on Italian pastries — although most people choose to dine al fresco, sitting at the tables on the handsome front patio lined with flower pots. In good weather, this stretch of Beech Street feels like a scene from an Italian movie.
Manager Terrance Crawley said that the new Beech Street location was initially meant to be a temporary home after the 2021 fire. But when he realized moving back to a larger space on Park Avenue wouldn't be possible, owner Anthony Alesia took up in the neighboring storefronts instead.
"He always wanted to have a place with atmosphere, where people could come and hang out," Crawley said. "Almost like a living room."
The cafe space gives Sorrento's a chance to bring back the cookies and pastries that the original location was known for. The intimate dining area has a minimalist look with exposed brick walls and a crystal chandelier hanging from the wood-paneled ceiling. The tables were fashioned by Long Beach woodworkers from reclaimed Central American monkeypod wood. There are no TVs and a gentle soundtrack flows throughout the open-air room.
The kitchen staff, manned by chef Melvin Mojica, come up with the entrees on a daily basis. During a recent visit, the selections included Italian American appetizers like cappelini cakes and battered eggplant rollatini. Most entrees are $35-$50 and include chicken parm, a skirt steak with mac and cheese, and a massive plate of orecchiette with crumbled sausage and broccoli rabe ($35) large enough to feed three or four people. Thin strips of veal saltimbocca layered with prosciutto ($50) steer more toward the comfort food side of the spectrum with its generous coat of melted provolone cheese.
But the best thing to order may still be the pizza, which consistently ranks on Newsday's list of Long Island's best. Choose from ingredients listed on a chalkboard, and don't be afraid to go veg. Artichokes and mushrooms are a delight atop the mild tomato sauce and thin crackly crust, blistered with char marks.
Sorrento's, 768 W. Beech St., Long Beach. 516-962-9635, sorrentosoflb.com. Restaurant is open 11:45 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays, 11:45 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 11:45 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays. The cafe opens at 7:30 a.m.
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.
