Growing Long Beach: Cohesive Efforts Lead To ‘Activation’ At The Promenade

By Denny Cristales

For the past several years, the assertion that Long Beach is going through a “renaissance” has been made so often – by elected officials, real estate brokers, business leaders and even economists – that it seems to have become a full-fledged local mantra. With the advent of new retail centers – Long Beach Exchange and 2nd & PCH, to name a couple – and the construction of many developments citywide, there certainly is a good case to make that it’s more than a narrative, but a reality.

However, local restaurant entrepreneur Luis Navarro has a different term for this shift: “activation.” The opening of Portuguese Bend Distilling this past summer at 300 The Promenade N. – the only distillery in the city – marked Navarro’s fourth establishment in Long Beach. Navarro operates Lola’s Mexican Cuisine, with two locations in Bixby Knolls and Retro Row, and The Social List, a restaurant at 2105 E. 4th St. All told, Navarro has more than a decade in restaurant entrepreneurship.

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