Marlena Long Beach
Mediterranean restaurant · Long Beach ·
Mediterranean wood-fired cooking with seasonal tasting menus
Mediterranean wood-fired cooking with seasonal tasting menus
"Their prior restaurant, Marlena, opened amid the peak of the pandemic in August 2020 and was added to the California Michelin Guide in November 2021, a rise that helped establish the Fishers’ reputations; the couple later underwent a messy break with the business owner, who flipped the restaurant into a new concept called Foliage." - Lauren Saria
"It’s not every day that Long Beach gets a splashy new Italian spot, especially one run by a chef who used to cook at Felix and Rustic Canyon. At Marlena, expect wood-fired meats, pizzas topped with wild mushrooms and fontina, and lots of housemade pasta in a breezy indoor-outdoor space." - Sylvio Martins
"Marlena is a rare hybrid for Long Beach—a great all-day cafe and a big night-out dinner spot rolled into one. This Mediterranean restaurant in Naples has an open-air dining room where you can order a morning cappuccino, but after 5pm flips into a wine-fueled clubhouse for locals. It’s usually packed with birthday groups, well-dressed people who likely pay dues at the local yacht club, and others who can’t control the volume of their voice. And while the well-rounded menu has a solid mix of tapas, pastas, and steaks, it’s the wood-fired pizzas that stand out. The chef used to bake at Bestia and Gjusta, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the pies at Marlena arrived nicely blistered and crispy in all the right places. " - Garrett Snyder, Nikko Duren, Brant Cox
"Marlena is a rare hybrid for Long Beach—a great all-day cafe and a big night-out dinner spot in one. This Mediterranean restaurant in Naples has an open-air dining room where you can order a morning cappuccino, but after 5pm flips into a wine-fueled clubhouse for locals. It’s usually packed with birthday groups, well-dressed people who likely pay dues at the local yacht club, and others who can’t control the volume of their voice. The well-rounded menu has a solid mix of tapas, pastas, and steaks, but it’s the wood-fired pizzas that stand out. The chef used to bake at Bestia and Gjusta, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the pies at Marlena arrive nicely blistered and crispy." - Nikko Duren
"Launched in the middle of the pandemic and achieving Michelin status, Marlena made headlines when the husband-and-wife chef team David Fisher and Serena Chow Fisher abruptly quit, a split that preceded the restaurant's closure and the owner's opening of a new concept in the same space." - Lauren Saria