Massimo's Verified listing

The abrupt shuttering of Michael's on Naples to make way for chain restaurant Bacari let a hole in Long Beach's culinary heart. So there is, perhaps, no story more uplifting and cheer-inducing than Massimo’s Naples opening.

Led by the much-loved (and much-missed) former leader of Michael’s on Naples, Massimo Aronne, the space sits directly next to the former restaurant he led to success. That juxtaposition is, amusingly, ironic. Of course, the abrupt closure of Michael’s on Naples—led not by a lack of patronage but by a sale to the massive restaurant group Kronfli Bros. for another Bacari location—was felt most not for the idea of the restaurant but by its people, who represented it. And that included Massimo and, in particular, Chef Eric Samaniego.

Massimo had considered many things. One included a nine-room bed-and-breakfast—”The ultimate in hospitality,” he noted—on the coast of Italy. Another possibility included taking over another space in Long Beach. Come Thanksgiving, he had his answer on his future route: taking over the former Michael’s Market space he himself managed.

Amid stellar plates of octopus and potatoes lined with Castelvetrano olives and garlic confit… Thinly sliced rounds of eggplant roasted until caramelized and layered with bits of salty, house-made mozzarella and bright tomato sauce… Wonderful pizzas that span classic red sauce-lined pies to pesto-drenched rounds and white pizzas… Wines—oh, such a gorgeous array of Italian wines—that span from Grillo and Fiano to Etna Rosso and blends from Verbicaro… Massimo’s Naples is a space dedicated to classic Italian hospitality.

For Brian Addison's full feature on Massimo's, click here.