Dolores Verified listing

Let’s just get one thing out of the way, Long Beach: There is no need to lament The Social List when you have something like Dolores birthed out of it.

It is unquestionably the best food to be churned out of the space by Chef Luis Navarro, with wife and business partner Brenda Rivera’s “fingerprints all over the menu because she is so willing to step outside the comfort zone,” as Chef Luis puts it. Its menu reflects everything The Social List was: Comforting, if not outright nostalgic; just slightly elevated and better executed this round. (The pair also operates and owns Lola's Mexican Cuisine.)

Gorgeous plates of house-made papardelle drenched in a taleggio-truffle cream sauce and dusted with a snowing of Parmesan. Steaks slathered with a peppercorn cream sauce and paired with fries. Yuzy-bathed chunks of tuna crudo topped with thinly sliced kiwi and Fresno chiles. Shrimp toast in one of the best curry sauces in town…

And the name change was essential. Not just to escape the seemingly endless amounts of internet trolls who thought the Navarro family was trying to make some type of political statement with “The Social List,” but also embody a newfound perspective

“This is Brenda and my next chapter—and our last chapter,” Chef Luis said. “If this is going to be our last hurrah, we wanted to do it right. This is the soul of what we do.”

Written and photos by Brian Addison.

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