I’m always up for trying new places to eat. Food adventures, right? I’m not one to always want to go to the same places. I like to switch it up. I need variety. So when I make the conscious decision of consistently going to a specific place to get my fill of what I’m craving, I like to think that I’ve stumbled upon a solid place.
Italian food is not hard to mess up in my opinion. And by Italian food, I don’t mean the real deal. I’m not knocking down Olive Garden or its followers, but the last time I stepped foot there was back in the fifth grade for my graduation dinner. But did I stumble upon a keeper in my repertoire of places I would suggest?
To begin, I had been looking for a place to eat with a friend and I wanted a sit-down place so that we could talk and enjoy some good food. We had decided we wanted pasta. Scrolling through Yelp, we found a place. And not to completely bash them, but Picarelli’s Cucina Italiana on Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach still gets the sarcastic, “Oh, let’s go to Picarelli’s, huh?” So that was a dud. We stayed away from Italian for while.
Flash forward to present day and lo and behold, we found our place—P3 Artisan Pasta.
P3 is on 4th street in Long Beach. Every time I’ve gone, there has always been parking in the back. Mind you, it’s a tight squeeze. The place is rather limited with seating inside, but there’s more seating along the front windows outside. And each time I’ve gone there’s always been a place to sit. The waitresses have been friendly every single time, and the ambiance isn’t pretentious. I literally feel like I’ve come to friendly spot for some good food.
For starters, they give a small breadbasket. The bread is fresh, chewy on the inside, crisp on the outside, and flavored with herbs and salt. It’s accompanied with an olive oil/balsamic mix to dip your bread in. Their pastas are all handmade and offered in three flavors: egg, spinach, and red pepper. I really enjoyed the spinach pasta. Frankly, I can only do Alfredo sauce to a point, but their Chicken Alfredo is so rich and warm it feels like comfort food. The flavors in all of their dishes are hearty and rich.
However, if you were feeling a little adventurous like I was the other day, I’d tell you to brace yourself for the Gnocchi. Gnocchi is potato dumplings. I have never had Gnocchi before, but the best way to describe it to others who have also never had it before is to think of gummy dough coming apart on your tongue. It was an interesting sensation, to put it kindly. I am not a fan of Gnocchi.
As for drinks, I have tried their hot chocolate, and what a shock my friend and I got when we took our first sips. It was real chocolate mixed with milk served to us in mason jars—a choice our waitress gave us to feel a little rustic, as she put it.
P3 is worth the visit. So take some good company to enjoy some good food in a quaint joint.
