"Head to the southern tip of Los Angeles County to find Long Beach’s Ballast Point. The waterfront brewery and restaurant serve up craft beers in a stunning seaside location, with views of the harbor. Start with a beer from the extensive tap menu, paired with bites like spinach dip, Caesar salad, and Roman-style pizzas. Larger mains include burgers, a smoked brisket torta, and Baja fish tacos." - Rebecca Roland
"With its views of the marina and Seal Beach, Ballast Point is the best place to drink outdoors in Long Beach. It’s much calmer after work than on weekends, when it can feel a bit like a frat party. Almost everyone here will be coworkers and friends meeting up to drink IPAs you can’t find in a grocery store, and eat things from a solid menu of bar snacks." - brant cox, brett keating
"We don’t have the building plans to back this up, but Ballast Point has maybe the biggest patio in LA County. They’ve got three huge spaces over two floors which is more than enough room to spread out, drink beer, and gaze out over Alamitos Bay. The food might be what you’d expect to find on a brewery’s menu—burgers, fish tacos, and flatbreads. But everything is solid and once you lay eyes on the Pacific Ocean off in the distance, you’ll probably forget what you ordered anyway." - brant cox, kat hong, arden shore, nikko duren
"Sure, you can find Ballast Point IPAs at any grocery store these days—and the atmosphere at their harborside brewpub can sometimes feel like a tailgate party—but once you walk upstairs to their dockside patio, none of that matters. With panoramic views of the Long Beach shoreline, this is what drinking beer in California is all about. There’s more than enough room to spread out, drink one of the 30-plus options on tap, and claim your very own fire pit. The food is what you’d expect on a brewery menu: burgers, fish tacos, and flatbreads. Everything is solid and once you lay eyes on the Pacific off in the distance, you’ll probably forget what you ordered anyway." - brant cox, sylvio martins, nikko duren, garrett snyder
"Open for takeout, delivery, and limited patio seating. We don’t have the blueprints to prove this, but we’re pretty sure Ballast Point has the biggest patio in LA County. They’ve got three huge spaces, which have more than enough room to spread out, and they’ve also rearranged tables to ensure proper social-distancing guidelines. The menu is filled with all sorts of brewery-appropriate foods, like burgers, fish tacos, and flatbreads, but you’re really here to sit and look at the ocean for the first time since the beaches closed. Stare off into the distance, feel the chill of the sea brush your cheek, and enjoy this moment, free of any obligations or pressures from a significant other. Feels good, huh?" - kat hong