Last Tuesday my girlfriend and I were picking up her daughter from school. We got our communication mixed up because when we arrived, her grandfather Richard Lopez was also there to pick her up. Richard Lopez is a Long Beach icon—he is a famous artist known for his abstracts and landscape paintings which in my opinion and the opinion of many others are fantastic! If you like art you have to check out his work—you will see him in upcoming articles. We didn’t know Richard was going to be there at the school but we were lucky to see him because he invited us to dinner at Café La Strada. Apparently Tuesday is a good night for Cafe La Strada because of their special for the night which is $5.00 entrees. Kari and I accepted since we love going there and we couldn’t pass up the deal. We called up Pam and Jess to see if they wanted to take advantage of the deal and we decided to meet at their house before we go. We all walked there since it was just down the street.
Café La Strada is located on 2nd St between Roycraft and Park Ave. Parking on 2nd Street is kind of difficult especially during busy hours. If you cannot find parking on the street then here are a couple of lucky places where you can probably find parking. One place is behind La Strada there is an alley and you usually can find an open space. You can also park across the street in the parking lot behind Super Mex. If all else fails there is also a paid parking lot behind Café La Strada which I think is $5.00 for all night. Either way when you make plans to go there you have to factor in parking time if you drive. We all planned to get there at 5:30pm because the special starts at 5:00 pm and I would suggest you get there early because Café La Strada is a small place and it fills up quick. Anyways another reason I like this place is because it is a small café with a couple of outside tables which is good on summer nights and it makes you feel like you are in a small café in Italy. It also has a very homey and friendly atmosphere. If you are not afraid to be close to people even if you do not know them then this is a place for you.
Luckly we got there early and we were able to get the big table in the middle because we had 10 People. It is the only big seating area there so if you have a big party plan for it. They have their own menu for Tuesday night which has selected items for $5.00 but not only were the entrees $5.00 but all the appetizers were $5.00, they had glasses of house wine for $5.00, and 2 beers for $5.00 which I thought was really cool because when restaurants have specials they usually get you on the alcohol or any extra stuff. For the Entrée’s they had 3 to choose from Spaghetti and meatballs, Chicken Lasagna, and Fettuccini Prima Vera. You can also order from the main menu but what I got from that night anyone of those entrées will be good. I also have to say they have great bread which is a French baguette made just right, not to hard and not to soft. I ordered the Chicken Lasagna and before I get into how it was don’t be fooled by the serving because it is very satisfying. It kind of looks small but it really isn’t. As for the dish it was fantastic it has this buttery garlic taste that lingers in your mouth even after you have left. I have heard other people say that’s one of the dishes they go to Café La Strada to get is the Chicken Lasagna. I highly recommend it especially with some wine. Usually with chicken they say you should get white but I had a red wine and it went really well with the lasagna. My girlfriend got the Fettuccini Prima Vera which she said was excellent. I also tried the Spaghetti and Meatballs and that was also really good. I have eaten here several times and got different dishes and I can honestly say that you will be happy with whatever you order. Our server was Sarah and she did a great job. She was friendly and made sure we had a good experience even though they were busy. My friend Jess even mentioned that he used to teach the owners kids at his school and one of the other servers overheard us and said that she knew and had texted the owner that he was there. I thought that was especially nice because I knew right then that this was a real local family restaurant.
Overall on a 5 star rating I would give Café La Strada a 5 and on Tuesday night because of the Special I would give it a 6. So if you have no plans on a Tuesday Night in Long Beach and want Good Food, Good Service and a great Atmosphere at a good price come to Café La Strada, say “hi” to Sarah and tell them that we sent you! 
If at first you don't succeed, come here for dinner!
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