Southern Italy by way of Southern California — seasonal vegetables and handmade pasta on a front patio that feels like a discovery worth keeping.
Ellie's is the restaurant you find when you're looking for something else and then realize you've found exactly what you wanted all along. Chef and owner Jason Witzl opened this seasonal Southern Italian restaurant in Alamitos Beach on Orange Avenue, and it has developed the kind of devoted following that only genuinely consistent quality produces. Over thirteen hundred Yelp reviews at a consistently high rating tell you something; the fact that those reviews mention returning visits with striking frequency tells you something more important.
The kitchen's commitment is to handmade pasta — made fresh daily, rotating seasonally, representing the genuine backbone of Southern Italian cooking rather than its most photogenic surface. The 'nduja tagliatelle, the shrimp preparations, the seasonal vegetable compositions that reflect California's extraordinary produce calendar: these are dishes that understand their tradition without being enslaved to it. Witzl's cooking is Southern Italian in philosophy but California in ingredient sourcing, and the synthesis produces food that feels both deeply rooted and entirely contemporary.
The dining room extends to a front patio that functions as the restaurant's best asset in Long Beach's favorable climate. The street-level position on Orange Avenue places the patio in the middle of the neighborhood's energy without being overwhelmed by it — you are in the street but not of it, eating very good food with the mild evening air doing exactly what mild evening air does in Southern California. It is the kind of dining position that European visitors recognize immediately as the thing they are always looking for in American restaurants.
At the back of the restaurant, Witzl operates GINGERS — a private prix fixe dining room for twelve guests around a family-style table. The format delivers the most intimate and socially effective group dining experience in Long Beach, transforming what might otherwise be a logistically complex group dinner into a coherent shared event with a clear culinary narrative.
Ellie's front patio is among the most naturally romantic dining positions in Long Beach — the California evening air, the neighborhood activity as ambient texture, and a menu of handmade pastas and seasonal vegetables that provides both genuine pleasure and genuine conversation material. Italian food has always been effective first date architecture because it is recognizable enough to be comfortable and specific enough to be interesting; at Ellie's, the Southern Italian seasonal focus adds a layer of specificity that elevates the experience above generic Italian comfort. Chef Witzl's kitchen communicates care with every preparation, and that care communicates in turn to the people eating it. For a more theatrical first date, see Olive & Rose or Chez Bacchus. For the full first date guide across all cities, see our first date occasion page.
The pasta program at Ellie's is the restaurant's defining statement. All pasta is made fresh daily and rotates with the season — which means that returning guests always encounter something new, and that first-time visitors will find the menu genuinely different depending on when they arrive. The shrimp and 'nduja tagliatelle has appeared in multiple seasonal iterations and represents the kitchen's most confident expression of Southern Italian flavor logic: the heat of 'nduja, the sweetness of California shrimp, and the precisely calibrated texture of fresh-rolled tagliatelle. The seasonal vegetable preparations demonstrate Witzl's respect for California produce — he treats vegetables as the main event rather than the accompaniment, a disposition that reflects both the Southern Italian tradition and the best of California cooking. The GINGERS back-room experience, available for groups of twelve, presents the full range of the kitchen's ambitions in a prix fixe format.
Ellie's is located at 204 Orange Ave in Long Beach's Alamitos Beach neighborhood. The restaurant opens Monday at 4:00 PM, Tuesday through Thursday at 11:30 AM, Friday at noon, and Saturday and Sunday at 10:30 AM. Parking in Alamitos Beach on weekend evenings is limited — guests are advised to arrive early or park on adjacent residential streets. Reservations are strongly recommended for weekend dinner service; patio tables should be specifically requested. The GINGERS private dining room requires advance booking and specific inquiry — contact the restaurant directly. A strong wine and beer list accompanies the food; the staff are knowledgeable and can guide selections toward food pairings without over-engineering the process. Website: ellieslbc.com
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The patio on Orange Avenue is perfect for a first date because the neighborhood is alive around you without being intrusive — you feel like you're somewhere rather than sitting in a room. The handmade pasta was exceptional; the shrimp and 'nduja combination is one of the most satisfying dishes I've had in Long Beach. We ended up staying for an extra hour just talking. That says everything.
Brought twelve people for a birthday in the GINGERS back room — the prix fixe format removes all the decision anxiety from a large group dinner and replaces it with a shared culinary experience that everyone talks about. The seasonal vegetable course was the table's unanimous highlight. Witzl's cooking is the best Italian food in Long Beach by a significant margin. We will be back for the regular menu next.
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