Social List Verified listing

The Social List has, for the better part of its past eight years of existence, has proudly advertised its neighborhood-ness.

It has almost always avoided pretense, even as it became the first 4th Street bar to regularly carry quality beers (like Houblon Chouffe when it first opened, a rarity) and whiskeys (like Blanton’s, unheard of in the early 2010s in Long Beach), now the regular among any full bar establishment.

And it has continually altered its menu in a way that isn’t attempting to shift the food realm into some other level but, rather, perpetually offer comfort food.

That could have been a gamble when they first opened.

“We’re not here to reinvent anything,” said co-owner Luis Navarro. “We’re here to make people feel comfortable.”

Riding on the heels of the city’s changing food scene, The Social List initially set out to mimic the bouncing-about that is common in the walking-friendly cities of Europe, wanting to offer patrons a place that was an in-between: Stop here, have some drinks and bites, and then jump to another space.

It was, for the time in Long Beach, a foreign concept—but it has since become a neighborhood staple.

Written and photos by Brian Addison.

For the full feature on The Social List, click here.