Minnesota's, Cabana and more Long Beach hot spots to check out
Long Beach has long been known for its fun factor — but come summer, the clock for good times in the City by the Sea kicks off Saturday night and leads into an all-day-long Sunday affair.
The 900-block of West Beech Street just teems with millennials on a Saturday night, and you’ll see masses of people pub-crawling from one to the next, creating lines to get in top spots well past midnight. On Sundays, draws range from all-inclusive brunch to al fresco music.
WHERE TO GO ON SATURDAY NIGHT
Beach House
912 W. Beech St.; 516-705-8674, thebeachhouselb.com
The spacious barroom has lots of room to dance — something you might want to do once live music kicks in at 6 p.m. followed by a DJ session starting at 9. The $12 cocktail menu sports clever offerings like the energy drink-spiked "Original Governor" and its rum-and-coconut cousin "Coco Lagoon."
Castaway
906 W. Beech St.; 516-744-6900
The night kicks off with live music at 6 p.m. then launches into a DJ party after 9. Castaway may keep the party going late, but should something worthy of watching on TV be happening, this spot has a 29-foot-long video wall behind the bar. Blue, green, yellow and pink chairs sit under a pair of dangling surfboards, and there’s a narrow sidewalk patio protected by an awning that gives some cover when the rain falls.
The Inn
943 W. Beech St.; 516-432-9220
You can head upstairs or stay down — there's live music after 5 p.m. and then a DJ by 10. Should you come by here Friday night, there’s an extended happy hour from 7-10 p.m. with drink specials (and both live bands and DJs after 9 or 10).
Minnesota’s
959 W. Beech St.; 516-431-0280, minnesotaslb.com
Don't think you’re heading to the same place that has been West Beech standby for decades — it changed hands in 2018 and reopened with a fresh look. On the other hand, it hasn’t lost its huge open-air patio, which works for getting some air and people-watching; bands and DJs serve as the evening entertainment on weekends.
WHERE TO GO ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON
The Long Beach Boardwalk
It's around two miles long and the city's most popular destination just about any time. Day-trippers might enter at Riverside Boulevard, where food trucks are parked around picnic tables. The offerings are mobile extensions of established eateries including Sail Away Coffee, Taco Tuesdays, Neapolitan Express and Corazon de Cuba.
Footsteps away, iFly is an eye-catching trapeze setup that trains even the most reluctant flyer to ascend its ladder and learn the basics of swinging in a single $65 session (10:30 a.m.-5 p.m., 516-640-1579, iflytrapeze.com).
Bike — or beach
Sure you can walk the boardwalk, but you can also bike around the city. Head a block west to Edwards Boulevard to the SoBi Long Beach bike share hub. Download the app, then pay $8 an hour (sobilongbeach.com).
The beach, of course, is a glaring option and while there’s lots of free parking all along the boardwalk, hitting the sand requires a daily pass until Sept. 2 between 9 a.m.-6 p.m. It's available ($15 nonresidents) at designated beach entrances.
Brunch — and beyond
On the other hand, if a bottomless brunch is in order, Roc & Olive does a bottomless brunch Sundays 11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. The place has an upscale-yet-beachy feel that could pass for a Hamptons hangout, and on Sundays (11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.) you can add a "bottomless" (90 minutes) drink option to entrees for $15 (180 West Park Ave.; 516-442-1090, rocandolive.com).
Back on West Beech, Jetty Bar & Grill's Sunday "fun day” event is one of the busier spots with live music by Ricky Roche and DJ Chopps starting at 4 p.m. The place gets truly lively, with people hanging by the bar and sitting by the open windows facing the street — don’t be shocked if a singalong breaks out (832 W. Beech St.; 516-442-1338, jettylb.com).
Cabana has been a mainstay for more than a dozen years. Sunday afternoons are also a long-running hit, starting with a three-hour brunch (noon-3 p.m.) followed by live music on the restaurant’s porch starting around 5 p.m. It's one of the few venues to have its own parking lot, so the scene extends out into what becomes a de facto courtyard for guests to hang in the setting sun (1034 W. Beech St.; 516-889-1345, thecabanalbny.com).
If you don’t want anything fancy, head to the proud dive Shine’s. This spot oozes history; it’s over a hundred years old and survived both Prohibition and superstorm Sandy. Old photos and yellowing clippings decorate the walls and there's a pool table plus darts (55 California St.; 516-432-9248, shinesbar.com).
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