Belmont Shore Stroll and Savor

In what is becoming an annual tradition, Jacob invited us to join him at the Belmont Shore's Stroll & Savor.

We've gone with Jacob for the past two years, but it always ends up being the last event of the summer.  Normally we remember it's going on at the very end of the summer and go in July.  This year though, Jacob saw it was going on the 15th and 16th of May and sent us the invite.

So what is the Belmont Shore Stroll and Savor?  According to the Belmont Shore website:

Belmont Shore's most popular event is a summer long "taste of Belmont Shore", with over 40 restaurants offering the best of their menus. Enjoy an evening strolling 2nd Street, savoring food from around the globe, and listening to talented local musicians as you stroll with your family, friends, and dogs (yes, we have treats for dogs too!) enjoy the festive atmosphere and indulge in all your favorite local restaurants.

First up, we've got to buy some tickets. Ticket books are $10 for 12 tickets. Most restaurants are selling items for 2-4 tickets, so for $20 we should be able to sample quite a few tasty treats.

Let's go spend these!

First up is one of my favorite treats that I've been enjoying ever since we've started coming here. The store called We Olive has a delicious Olive Oil Lemon Gelato with a balsamic drizzle. I'm a huge fan of balsamic vinegar and even though this tiny bit of gelato is expensive, I still get it. This year they're offering 4 different types of balsamic you can top it with. Regular, Pineapple, Peach or Blackberry. I chose Pineapple and it was wonderful.

Next up, Jacob's favorite stop, the Frosted Cupcakery. They make delicious red velvet and the hi-top salted caramel cupcakes.

All these cupcakes actually went back to the car to the cooler he brought just for them.

And I liked the salted caramel cupcakes too.

Nick's on 2nd is a new restaurant that wasn't here last year (or at least I don't remember it). They had what I thought was one of the best items I tried all night.
What's the perfect breakfast food? I'd postulate that this could be it.  A Belgian waffle sandwich with a crispy piece of fried chicken, sausage gravy, topped with large pieces of bacon and drizzled with syrup.

I split it with Jacob and it was a messy treat. Yum!

Theresa grabbed a California Roll from Yen Sushi.

Jacob's friend Steven joined us. They grabbed a penne chicken alfredo. One of the great parts about going with friends is that you can split things and try even more new stuff. One tip though, bring your own plastic knife, a napkin or two and hand sanitizer for those sticky treats.

The other great thing you'll find every few blocks is live music. It makes for a great atmosphere.

A tasty steak slider that I split with Jacob.

While Steven tried a chorizo taco.

How long ago had it been since we were here? July of 2012? When we were here last, Theresa had the street tacos from some restaurant and raved about them. Ever since, she's been trying to replicate them at home and trying them at other restaurants, hoping they'd be as good. 
We couldn't remember where we got them from last year, but we were hoping they'd be around this year. Luckily as we were walking up, we recognized the tacos came from Taco Surf and Theresa was happy!

But she couldn't remember which one was her favorite, pork or chicken. After trying one of each, it turned out to be chicken. Better get two more chicken tacos to enjoy while strolling.

  
Jacob and Steven tried the chicken, pork and fish tacos.

Enjoying some Pad Thai from Phucket Thai.

Stopping by the Natraj Cuisine of India, I tried some Makani Chicken and it was spicy and yummy. I was expecting a little more for the price though. Only a 1/4 piece of nan for 1 ticket? 

Another live band rocking out.

After making our way up and down both sides of the street, we still had a few tickets left. My favorite treat was the waffle sandwich, so it was time to get one all to myself!

And finally with just a couple tickets remaining, I finished the night with another balsamic lemon gelato. This time I got the blackberry balsamic and it was even better than the pineapple.

It was a great night hanging out with friends and trying all sorts of tasty food. 
The Stroll and Savor will be back this summer on June 19-20, July 17-18 and August 14-15.  If you're anywhere close to Long Beach, I recommend stopping by!