Saturday, September 28, 2013

New Retail store in Los Altos Center opens

TATTERED sets to open Monday September 30 in Los Altos Center North



TATTERED owner Leah Zahn has announced that Los Altos Center's newest store will be opening Monday, September 30, 2013.  The "recycled fashion" store is currently holding a weekend buying event this Saturday and Sunday at the TATTERED store located two doors down from Trader Joes at 5555 E Sterns Street.

TATTERED sells and buys mens and womens "gently used" clothing and accessories -including purses- in both current and vintage styles.

The store buys clothing and is particularly interested in the following brands: Free People, OBEY,GAP, JCREW, American Eagle, Coach, Anthropologie, Aldo, Vans, Billabong, Kate Spade,Volcom,Tory Burch, Hudson, Seven fo All of Mankind, Steve Madden, Matix, John Varvatos, All Saints and Levi. 

A seller must have a valid I.D. card and be at least 18 years old.
  
TATTERED offers 40% in cash, or a 50% store credit to sellers.
  
For more information call (562) 431-4001, or check out their Facebook page at

facebook.com/tatteredtrading

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Taco Beach FACEBOOK tells the truth

Los Altos aka Taco Beach "Bellflower" FACEBOOK - 
Sports Bar or Family Restaurant?

(UPDATE 9/17/13 Two days after the story below was posted, Taco Beach Bellflower [Los Altos] took down the FACEBOOK page that is described in the post below) 

(UPDATE 9/16/13 One day after the story below was posted, Taco Beach Bellflower [Los Altos] updated their FACEBOOK page and removed most of the photos relating to alcohol:                                                   Taco Beach Bellflower changed their cover photoabout an hour ago)

9/15/13
After Taco Beach in Los Altos (called Taco Beach Bellflower on FACEBOOK) owner Kevan Vance applied for a liquor license from 8 am until 2 am-everyday, a meeting was called by 4th District Councilman Patrick O'Donnell to get the concerned neighborhood to meet with Vance about his plans and discuss the neighbors concerns. At the O'Donnell meeting, and the subsequent Long Beach Planning Commission's Meeting, Vance said at both venues that his plans were for a "family restaurant" where the customers could enjoy a margarita with their taco. 

The Type 47 restaurant alcohol license was issued with numerous restrictions to make sure that the establishment was a "restaurant" and not a bar that catered to the college students less than a mile away.

A Type 47 Restaurant alcohol license is defined by the Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) bureau as the following: 


ON SALE GENERAL – EATING PLACE - (Restaurant)
Authorizes the sale of beer, wine and distilled spirits for consumption on the licenses premises. Must operate and maintain the licensed premises as a bona fide eating place. Must maintain suitable kitchen facilities, and must make actual and substantial sales of meals for consumption on the premises. Minors are allowed on the premises.

The Taco Beach Bellflower (Los Altos) FACEBOOK page however suggest that the establishment would like to be known more as a "Sports Bar" than restaurant regardless of its Type 47 Liquor License.

Despite the assurances of a "family restaurant" (Click on to read: FAMILY) Happy Hour and the Sports Bar theme are what Taco Beach Los Altos apparently is promoting on its social media site. The FACEBOOK page which went up in August clearly markets the Type 47 Restaurant License as a "sports bar".  The FACEBOOK self posted description of Taco Beach on September 12 was:

"Taco Beach on Bellflower Blvd. is the NEW Bar/Restaurant in the city of Los Altos (Long Beach)."

When you click on the blue hyperlink of "Sports Bar" on the front page of the Taco Beach "Bellflower" FACEBOOK you are directed to other Long Beach "sports bars" like- Acapulco Inn ( on 2nd St), Legends ( also on 2nd St) and the Bull Bar (on 7th St). Not exactly the restaurant row of "family restaurants".

FACEBOOK "family" beverages
Of the eleven pictures on the 
FACEBOOK page as of September 12th, none are of food, 5 show alcoholic drinks or the bar area. 

The rest are of waitresses posing in scanty "football" attire- after all nothing says "family restaurant" like sexy waitresses-right (think"Hooters") ? 

The Taco Beach "Bellflower" entries from Taco Beach are almost all about drinking... and little about food...and nothing about being a "family restaurant".  See for yourself: 


  1. Taco Beach Bellflower - Mexican Restaurant, Sports Bar | Facebook

    https://www.facebook.com/tacobeachbellflower

    Taco Beach Bellflower. 57 likes · 15 talking about this · 70 checkins. Taco Beach on Bellflower Blvd is the NEW Bar/Restaurant in the city of Los Altos (Long Beach ...
September 15 at 10:00am in PDT

Thursday, September 12 at 5:00pm in PDT

Get in the gane and join us tonight for football, food, and drinks

Come to Taco Beach and watch the Game tonight and enjoy great food and margaritas

Today Chelsey and Kathy will be serving you, come in and try our NEW Watermelon and/or Cucumber Margaritas

Happy Hour starts NOW! 3pm-6pm
$2.50 Budlight 16oz pint
$2.50 Tecate 16oz pint
$3 House Margarita

2099 N Bellflower BlvdLong Beach
Come on in today for dinner! It's TACO TUESDAY!!!!
$2 CALI TACOS
2099 N Bellflower blvd in Long Beach

Chargers @ Bears tonight, the Game is on, come join us at Taco Beach on Bellflower blvd

Join us at Taco Beach this Football Season every thursday, sunday and monday for great food and cocktails

Thursday, September 5, 5:30PM
COME WATCH THE GAME:
RAVENS at BRONCOS
2099 N Bellflower BlvdLong Beach CA

Come to Taco Beach on Bellflower right now amd enjoy the football game. 15 TVs and drink specials

Try our NEW Cucumber Margarita or Watermelon Margarita

Today at 10:00am

See for yourself and you decide- does this look like the "family restaurant" the Los Altos neighborhood was promised?



Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Formal complaint filed against Los Altos Taco Beach "Bellflower"

A formal complaint with the California ABC has been filed over sidewalk signs promoting alcohol sales

A formal complaint was filed at the Lakewood Field Office of the State of California Bureau of Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) against the Los Altos Taco Beach aka Taco Beach Bellflower at 2099 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach in the Los Altos Center Adjacent Neighborhood.

The formal complaint was filed after another incident were one of the businesses growing sidewalk signs (they now number 3) outside the Los Altos Taco Beach   was "advertising, promoting and indicating the availability of alcoholic beverage". 

There are 11 conditions for the Conditional License. The ABC restrictions were agreed to by Taco Beach Owner Kevan Vance, and by the over 45 License Protesters, as a condition of their withdrawal of the Protest of the Taco Beach application for a license and as conditions for granting Conditional License #47-52489677 to Taco Beach.

 Condition #3  of the license restrictions clearly states:

"3. There shall be no exterior advertising or sign of any kind or type, including advertising directed to the exterior from within, promoting or indicating the availability of alcoholic beverages."  

This is the second time a sign advertising  and promoting the availability of alcohol inside the License Type 47 (restaurant) establishment. 


The first documented case of exterior sign advertisement of alcoholic beverages at Taco Beach was on  Wednesday August 21st, 2013  On that day a chalkboard sign (that for a week had been used as an "OPEN" sign and to advertise "TACO TUESDAY") was converted to advertising alcohol available inside, complete with a drawing of a cocktail.
The advertising sign was placed on the busy corner of Bellflower Blvd. and Abbeyfield.  The writing on the sign is "HOLA Come in and try a Taco and Margarita". 

On September 11, another sign advertising Thursday night football also advertised the times of Taco Beach "Happy Hour" - starting at 3 pm in the afternoon.

When Taco Beach owner Kevan Vance first applied for a liquor license until  2 am every night, neighbors addressed their many concerns with 4th District Councilman Patrick O'Donnell. One concern was the fact that school children use Abbeyfield as the entrance  to the neighborhood.

Neighbors were concerned that the downtown Taco Beach "Happy Hour" times  in a residential neighborhood would be promoting cheap alcohol at the prime time when school children are returning home from school and passing the driveway and parking lot of Taco Beach at the busy corner of Abbeyfield and Bellflower.

With the Los Altos Taco Beach "restaurant" now promoting cheap alcohol right when school gets out - and only on school days- (their Happy Hour is only Monday-Friday) and right at the time students are returning home into their neighborhood and outside playing- the worst fears of the Los Altos Center Adjacent Neighborhoods have come to pass- a full liquor bar serving cheap drinks at the entrance to a residential neighborhood filled with school aged children.

After continuing to point out the numerous violations of the Long Beach CUP and the California ABC restrictions to the owner and manager, Los Altos Center Adjacent Neighborhood leaders are now willing to take their formal protests beyond the local office and go to the district offices of the ABC in Cerritos, or the state ABC headquarters to insure the safety and peaceful enjoyment of their residential neighborhood.   

The meaning of "Happy Hour" is well known, not ambiguous and directly relates to specials on alcohol:

Happy hour

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Cocktail hour" redirects here. For the Jo Stafford album, see Cocktail Hour (album).
Happy hour is a marketing term for a period of time in which a public venue, such as a barbowling alleystadium, or state/county fair, offers discounts on alcoholic drinks, such as beerwine, and cocktails.
Typically, it is in the late afternoon Monday through Thursday, usually taking place at some period between 4 PM and 8 PM. Many bars also have a late night happy hour for afternoon shift workers from 10 PM-1 AM. This promotion is intended to boost business on what may otherwise be a slow day. In most cases the "happy hour" lasts longer than a single hour.
The term also is commonly used to describe the gathering of work colleagues at a restaurant or bar after work hours, possibly outside the usual period.[citation needed] or vice versa.
The specifics usually differ from country to country. In some European countries like the Netherlands, the price of an alcoholic drink is regulated, and selling them at half price is prohibited. During happy hour, a customer gets double the amount of drinks instead. In Italy, a customer often pays the same price or even more for the drink but is offered free fingerfoods. In the United States it typically entails finger foods and discounted drinks.

Happy hour can also be referred to as the period prior to dinner, where appetizers and drinks are served at one's home.

Resident finds sick squirrel

Neighborhood mother squirrel ends up in hospital

A Daggett Street neighbor in the 5400 block found a sick squirrel in their yard on Thursday (9/11/13). and brought it to the Long Beach Animal Hospital.

At the hospital, the squirrel was determined to be a female that most likely has babies in a nest because she is lactating .

Squirrels build their nests out of sticks in trees.  Anyone finding the babies (they may fall out) are asked not to feed them, instead call or bring them to the hospital.

The rescue hospital woman's name is Aile.

The Long Beach Animal Hospital is located at 3816 Anaheim St (between Redondo and Termino), the telephone is 562-434-9966.

Monday, September 2, 2013

New Stores for Los Altos Center

A pop-up, a remodeled ATT and two new stores

Pop up Halloween in Hallmark space
Crown Books is gone and a pop-up Halloween Mega store has taken over the old Hallmark space next to Lazy Acres in the Los Altos Center South.

New upscale expanded ATT store
Just around the corner, the old small ATT store has gone upscale. The store expanded into the closed Underground Salon space and is now a huge spacious show room for the ATT product line.

Eye exams coming back to Los Altos
Across the street in the Los
Altos Center North, work continues on the new Optometry office that will occupy one-third of the former Whittaker Music store next to Chronic Tacos. The rest of the former music store has
Two new store fronts for lease
been divided into two stores and they are up for lease.

Tattered Vintage coming soon


Window sign advertises Facebook and Twitter accounts
Tattered a new vintage clothing store is set to open between the Wok and Sushi and Indulgence Spa.

With former Buffalo Exchange employees as owners, the idea will be similar to the successful chain
(there is a Buffalo Exchange on 2nd Street) , but with an upscale vibe.


HUSH 2 on "stand by" over LGB

HUSH 2 on "stand-by" on Long Beach Airport "noise"

The response to last week's Press Telegram story on JetBlue's plans for Long Beach Airport has taken the internet by storm.

In addition to blog posts and emails sending the Press Telegram story into an internet tailspin...the Facebook exchanges have been to say the least interesting.

Below are the Facebook exchanges from former Councilwomen and HUSH 2 activist Rae Gabelich:



Please read this carefully and understand the implications of these proposed changes to our noise ordinance. HUSH2 stands ready to defend our quality of life in Long Beach communities.

Stay Tuned and Stay Involved!



www.presstelegram.com
LONG BEACH >> JetBlue Airways Vice President Scott Laurence hopes he can see the future. And he likes how it looks ­­— at least at Long Beach Airport.In a perfect world, JetBlue might have 35 or more daily departures from

Like ·  · Share · August 29 at 6:39pm · 



  • 3 people like this.
  • LaVonne Miller Thank you, Rae.
  • Gerrie Schipske Read my quote carefully -- it will not have support if it violates the City's noise ordinance -- plain and simple.





  • LaVonne Miller I'm glad to hear that Gerrie Schipske for Mayor 2014. It does, however, require careful reading .
  • Rae Gabelich Gerrie, for whatever reason I am not able to send you a private message. We do need to talk about this. Your quotes can be misleading to both residents and corporate. This is not a path I want to walk down again, but will do so if necessary.
  • Gerrie Schipske I get private messages all the time. The issue isn't coming to City Council according to Airport Director. I don't know how my quote is misleading: any proposal cannot violate or change the city airport noise ordinance. The City is not going to pay for an international flight facility.
  • Rae Gabelich Actually the 'Jet Blue Wish List" to restate the noise ordinance to allow JB to fly their E190's would be considered a change to the ordinance. They knew when they purchased the planes they could not fly in the communter category in Long Beach. According to Mr. Shannon, ANY CHANGE, sensible or not, would put the noise ordinance in jeopardy.
    2 hours ago · Like · 1



  • Ronald Ruef Go get 'em Rae!!!!

    about an hour ago via mobile · Like · 1

  • Gerrie Schipske Unless or until Jet Blue makes an official request -- this story was leaked by a paid blogger which was then picked up by the PRess Telegram. Any change in flight slots or to have an international customs facility would require city council action. So can we slow down on this until the request becomes real?