Some nights, deciding where to eat or what band to see can be as difficult as settling on an elective course to round out your schedule. Whether you’re new to town or have been here since graduating college (in 1983), here’s our cursory course catalogue of Long Beach life—the beer (Chemistry), the Spanish rock (Latin American Studies), the antique markets (Marketing). Also, for fun, we sat down with some teachers whose subjects—guns, bicycles, God—show that no matter your degree, there’s always more to learn.

AGRICULTURE
EL GALLO GIRO The real draw at El Gallo Giro is the torta: thick cuts of just-baked bread house meats scooped from the grill and shoved right into the sandwich. Whatever protein you pick (chicken’s a good choice), make sure your torta has everything on it: lettuce, tomato, avocado, a pepper or two and a slice of queso fresco. Like farm animals? Look for the torta cubana. One of the most popular items on the menu, the torta cubana is a Cuban-style import stacked full with four different meats: a slice of ham, a slab of pork leg, a chunk of breaded milanesa beef and a slice of head cheese, a gelatinous mix of what most would consider those otherwise inedible slivers of meat found, yes, in the head. The head cheese surely turns away some, but put it out of mind and you won’t even notice it—the torta cubana’s bound to bring on enough guilt anyway. 1795 Long Beach Blvd, Long Beach 90813, 562.591.3180 // MILES CLEMENTS

AMERICAN STUDIES
BOUCHEES BISTRO There are a few set burgers to choose from at Bouchees, but the best inevitably come from those you build yourself: Start with one of four patties—sirloin, turkey, vegetable or ahi tuna. Everything is ground fresh and the vegetable burgers are made in-house, heavy on the garbanzo beans and peppers. The ahi is seared and served on the rare side—the way God intended. After you pick a protein, there’s the matter of toppings. There are classics: lettuce, tomato, pickles and the like. But there are also some slightly more upscale accoutrements: caramelized onions, shiitake mushrooms, jalapeño salsa. Pick up to four toppings and move on to cheeses (cheddar, gruyere, feta, brie, among others) and sauces (green peppercorn dijonnaise, bacon-black pepper ranch, dill yogurt sauce, to name a few). It’s best to find a theme and build around that—Asian-inspired, Mediterranean-influenced—but regardless of how you construct them, Bouchees’ burgers are fantastic—tender and juicy, and, in bite-sized slider form, not too filling. 515 Long Beach Blvd, Long Beach 90802, 562.951.8222 // MC
PAPERPLANES Country rock as shaken awake by the best of Texas in 1978: Micah Panzich (high vocals) and Pete Tavera (low vocals) lead this foursome-sometimes-fivesome-or-sixsome depending on various wild walk-ons along blue highways back to Long Beach, where they released one of the finest local albums of the year last January. myspace.com/paperplanes. EXTRA CREDIT: GREATER CALIFORNIA Pop detailed so beyond orchestral that it’s better examined as architecture by a band full of top-notch songwriters whose most enduring challenge is only when to pronounce something perfect. Studied songs to sit beside Odesseys and Pet Sounds one day. myspace.com/greatercalifornia. // CHRIS ZIEGLER

ART
SPA GRACE As master esthetician, Jeremy Grace elevates facials into the realm of performance art. On the guest record card, you can choose from two “musical ambiances”—relaxing or invigorating. I went with relaxing, and after slipping under the covers, I listened as Jeremy entered the room to a soft, slow speakeasy jazz track (seriously cool). And the jazz continued as he began the treatment, using Aromatherapy Associates’ (with whom Spa Grace has partnered) rose-based Renew line. Later, as the treatment moved more into deep relaxation—switching, per the “warm and soft” “aromatic characteristics” preference I’d ticked on my guest card, to Aromatherapy Associates’ lavender-based Balance facial oil—the music transitioned into extended classical tracks. By the end, we were back to jazz. With my eyes closed, I couldn’t help but picture Jeremy doing some sort of big finish—a bop on the nose and jazz hands, or somesuch awesomeness. 500 E Broadway (inside salon), Long Beach 90802, 562.388.5437 // ELLEN GRILEY

CHEMISTRY
BEACHWOOD BBQ You won’t find Bud Light or PBR at Beachwood BBQ, but there is a lot of beer (23 great ones on tap), although chances are you’ve never heard of a single one of them. With a beer list that changes by the day and sometimes by the shift, it can be hard to keep up: Saison, Hop Rod Rye, Vanilla Smoked Porter, Night Rider and Oaked Arrogant Bastard have all been on the menu, plus Madrugata Obscura, a Cask-conditioned Stout served warm and nearly flat. Yes, “warm”: You won’t find any beers cooler than 40 degrees at Beachwood—41 to 43 degrees for Belgian beers, 48-50 for darker beers, depending on the weather. The reason? According to Beachwood owner Gabriel Gordon, warmer beer equals better flavor. So even if that ice cold Natural Ice you’re drinking were to have a taste, you couldn’t taste it if it’s freezing. Dump it out and head here instead. 131 1/2 Main St, Seal Beach 90740, 562.493.4500 // EG

DANCE
HOMELAND CULTURAL ARTS CENTER It’s open all day, but Homeland Cultural Arts Center doesn’t start popping—or drumming or acting or breaking—until the streetlights come on. Then the scene shifts from soccer in MacArthur Park outside to whatever’s happening on the scarred hardwood floors or in the portable trailer. The hip-hop community loves Homeland, but then so do the Hmong dancers, the African drummers, the poets, the graffiti muralists and the local playwrights. Founded in 1989 and run until 2006 by now-retired city employee Dixie Swift—who saw it as a place for the art people do, not just the art they watch—Homeland offers (and is) something for almost everyone. “There’s nowhere else in Los Angeles where you can have a DJ every week, atmosphere and people helping each other,” said Tut Master, a 1980s popper who works days as a custodian at Wilson High School, during an event earlier this year. 1321 E Anaheim St, Long Beach 90813, 562.570.1740 // THEO DOUGLAS

ENGINEERING
LONG BEACH BIKE SHOP Owner Carlos and his small team of bicycle fixer-uppers are trustworthy mechanics who know more about two wheelers than I know about avoiding manual labor (which is a lot, by the way). I’ve never had to wait longer than a few hours for my repairs—great, because it gives me an excuse to kick around the East Village. And the prices are cheap enough that you don’t have to think twice to give the green light to the work that needs to be done. Unlike a car mechanic who requires appointments and schedules, people off the street bring their rides to Carlos for quick fixes like flat tires or loose seat posts and are rolling away within a short amount of time. The store also has a killer array of forks, pedals, grips, horns, baskets, fenders and valve caps, not to mention pre-made lowriders, mountain bikes, child’s rides and a slew of cruisers. 523 E Broadway, Long Beach 90802, 562.436.7447 // JIM HALL

HISTORY
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF LONG BEACH “Redevelopment has been going on in Long Beach since the 1950s, and people who lived here 30 years ago often don’t recognize the city,” says Julie Bartolotto, director of the Historical Society. “They come to us to reinforce their memories or to clarify what they may have remembered wrong. It’s important for Long Beach to understand itself, and we help with that.” Want to know what this city used to look like? Head to the HSLB’s Bixby Knolls headquarters. “It sounds funny, but in some cases we do fill the role of the consoler,” says Bartolotto. “We remind people that their memories are real. We collect things that would otherwise be thrown away, things that enhance the human experience. We give meaning to what people remember. In that way, we can build community, even from things that have been destroyed.” 4260 Atlantic Ave, Long Beach 90807, 562.424.2220 // TD

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
DEAN’S PIZZA AND THAI While Dean’s keeps most of its two cuisines separate, there is one fusion-influenced intersection: the Thai curry pizza. There are a few different ways to order the pizza, but the constant is the red curry sauce. Smooth on first taste, the sauce ignites a few bites in—a slow and even burn that tastes like every good Thai curry should. Then come the pizza’s options, the first of which is the choice of ordering it without cheese. If you do, the pizza ends up more like focaccia bread—the dough slightly herbed and flavored with only a thin layer of sauce, the various toppings held in place only by gravity. But order it with cheese and—amazingly—it works much better. Admittedly, it does take a few bites to get used to—there’s a reason (or two, or three) why Thai food doesn’t use cheese—but the combination is ultimately a good one. As far as toppings are concerned, there’s either tofu or chicken. The tofu is cooked well—crispy but still just a bit gooey—and so is the chicken—similar to the satay. With all that, the Thai curry pizza succeeds as more than just an oddity of fusion food—it’s a legitimately good pizza. 929 Redondo Ave, Long Beach 90804, 562.987.3297 // MC

LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES
LOS MYSTERIOSOS Spanish songs about wild west drama delivered with Sergio Leone flair—waltz-time marauder ballads and Reis-rock rippers add extra exclamation points to a band who perform in mariachi regalia with the élan of a Rocket From the Crypt. Often spotted at Alex’s Bar, where they go after riding into each sunset. EXTRA CREDIT: BELLA NOVELA High-drama high-energy rock from a band whose fervent hope is to outnova the Mexican daytime soaps: “The bigger, the sadder and the more overdramatic the better,” singer Jackie O says. // CZ

MARINE BIOLOGY
BAJA FISH Like so many ocean-adjacent restaurants before it, San Pedro’s Baja Fish is positively nautical: tables, stools and walls washed over in varying shades of sea-borne blue, every corner covered in aquatic paraphernalia, glossy groups of fish, scaly sculptures and gaping sets of shark jaws. But this seaside styling is practically a necessity: The restaurant doubles as a fish market intent on offering the entire hook-to-plate experience. So order the halibut taco, encased in a thin flour tortilla pocked with crisp brown spots collected by just the right amount of time on the grill. Inside, hunks of grilled and scored halibut are tossed with cabbage, pico de gallo and Baja sauce. The result is a taco that’s guiltless and light but still every bit as pleasing as even the most charred carne asada. Simply put, the halibut taco is about as close to a perfect fish taco as there is. 611 S Gaffey St, San Pedro 90731, 310.521.1931 // MC
BLANK BLUE Duo DJ Nobody (of the landmark Western Water Music Vol. 1) and Niki Randa and a gently psychedelic story about how California sinks into the sea. Songs about the ocean but music as a bridge between the maximal possibilities of bands like Mutantes and Pretty Things and the minimal meditations of Young Marble Giants or Broadcast. New EP coming soon. EXTRA CREDIT: YEAR ZERO Different visions of a drowned (or desolate) otherworld by a band whose every song is an intercepted broadcast from a homemade world from an old Metal Hurlant. Waves of guitar keep Lili De La Mora’s signature whisper just above water. // CZ

MATHEMATICS
SURATI FARSAN MART Each dish at Surati Farsan is only a few bites and a few bucks, so it’s best to order anything and everything you think might align with your tastes, like pani puri, fried wheat shells puffed up and stuffed with beans and potatoes. The golf-ball-sized snacks are topped with a pair of sweet and spicy sauces and served circling a cup of mint-flavored water. Give the things a quick dunk then pop them in—each one cracks open on first bite, unleashing a sweet heat that balances the snack’s starchy sustenance. Or pair the chole samosa and methi tepla. A single bowl of chole samosa—two samosas peeking their corners out of a thick curry sauce dotted with garbanzo beans, onions and a scoop of tamarind chutney—is practically a meal in itself, but it’s even better with methi tepla, a pan-fried flat bread mashed together with fenugreek leaves and what must be a cabinet full of other spices. It’s variety that’s most important at Surati Farsan—each visit could easily yield an entirely different experience. That’s the wonder of its small-plate menu—you may not be able to eat everything at once, but it won’t take long before it all starts adding up. 11814 E 186th St, Artesia 90701, 562.860.2310 // MC

MARKETING
LONG BEACH OUTDOOR ANTIQUE AND COLLECTIBLE MARKET There are swap meets, and then there’s the Long Beach Outdoor Antique and Collectible Market, which invades Veterans Stadium every third Sunday of the month. Unlike traditional swaps—where dudes with missing teeth sell bootleg CDs and potentially hot tools—the Antique Market is filled with stuff that you actually want, even if you don’t need it. The biggest deals are to be found in men’s clothing. While the asking prices for things such as trunks, chests, statues and dishes can be outrageous, a men’s coat or vintage shirt will run you much less than a lot of vintage shops. And with 20 acres to walk, you get a good workout, too. Veterans Stadium, near the intersection of Lakewood Blvd and Conant St, Long Beach 90808, 323.655.5703 // JH

METALLURGY
CRYSTAL ANTLERS Igneous soul from a five-piece whose echoplexed Pebble/Boulders/Rubble riffs have carried them into the lower reaches of the greater American pop consciousness, where they will one day stride dominant across the ruins. Loud, sharp and ready to last ten thousand years. EXTRA CREDIT: RTX Guitar shred so fast it blows the strobe lights and wise words from the other side from singer Jennifer Herrema, once of RTX and now of planet Earth, though for more our good than hers. // CZ

MULTICULTURAL STUDIES
MERRY’S From $16 dolls handmade by HIV-positive women in Kenya—stitched from the very same kitenge fabric worn by these women, who profit from the sale—to $28 reversible wraparound skirts sewn together by Indian women from their own used saris, Merry’s focuses on cottage industries. “This is about changing the world,” Colzin says. “It’s just people. Not politicians. People here touch these and ask, ‘This is a sari?’” 2747 E Broadway, Long Beach 90803, 562.987.4363 // EG

Tags: back to school, bouchees bistro, course catalog, crystal antlers, Food, Long Beach, Music