The food’s still great, and the charm’s off the charts

PHOTO by ROSHEILA ROBLES

In the days when we lived near Second Street—great days, those—we ate well. There were then, as there are today, lots of great places to eat on the street, and we indulged in most of them, because then, as opposed to now, we didn’t have kids.

Two of our favorite spots were unabashedly, unashamedly American: North Woods Inn and Shenandoah Café. They sat across the street from each other and doled out meat and fish in a straightforward manner that was never cute or pretentious. But the places also embodied opposite ends of the culture: North Woods, with its dark interior and naked-lady paintings, felt like dining in the boudoir; while Shenandoah, bright and rife with knick-knacks, was like going to Grandma’s for Sunday dinner.

They were great, and then they were gone. Now, I knew there were other North Woods locations, so although it wasn’t as convenient, I could still enjoy it. But I believed I had lost Shenandoah forever until a couple of weeks ago when someone told me the place lived . . . in Los Alamitos. It turns out that the Wilson family that owns the restaurant had opened the Los Alamitos location four years ago and tried to run both restaurants; but the strain of trying to keep the high standards they’d set was a little much and forced them to choose one location to run. They chose Los Alamitos, and though it assaults some very wonderful memories, I can tell you that they made the right decision.

Shenandoah at the Arbor has the same menu as the original Shenandoah, so let’s just get right to the food. It’s great—and yes, yes, they still have the fritters. My little threesome went for staples. I chose the brisket, which I have always loved—and I loved it again here for all the same reasons. Tender enough to cut with a fork, suffused with barbecue sauce, the meat had just enough tang; and when I combined it on the fork with the mashed potatoes and gravy, the hearty back-and-forth of sharp and soft made a body feel like he should commence to doing whatever it is men did when they were men.

One companion ordered the chicken-fried steak that, in many other settings, is an excuse to cover something gristly/grizzly with gravy but at Shenandoah is an actual terrific cut of meat, fried crispy, bathed in gravy. He loved it and spoke of wheat. My mother had the halibut topped by mushrooms in a béarnaise sauce. Again, the fish was crispy in the right places, soft in others. The two of them scraped their dishes clean. I saved some for the following day, which I just ate for lunch.

So the food is as good as I remember. What is different, and what makes this location better than the last, is the ambiance. As I said, the Second Street location felt like you were sitting at Grandma’s, and so does this place, except that it’s as if the folks at the Social Security have made some kind of mistake in Gram’s favor and she has taken full advantage. The dining room is roomy and topped with high-beamed ceilings. There are touches of Americana still, but they are augmented with a shabby-chic element and a wonderfully airy light that floods through numerous windows and doors.

But it’s outside were Gram seems to have really sunk her money. A sizeable wood deck patio is covered by large mulberry trees. In the middle of it is a small pond with a waterfall, and in the middle of that is statuary that includes a country boy swinging on a tire. On either side of the patio are more trees and neighboring gift and garden shops that keep some of their wares outside, lending to the atmosphere that is (wait for it) charming. But it’s also something the Second Street location never was: romantic. Especially when it gets dark and the lights wrapped around the trees and on the vine-covered fence are illuminated—not to mention the tiki torches. Oh, Gram, you think of everything.

SHENANDOAH AT THE ARBOR 10631 LOS ALAMITOS BLVD | LOS ALAMITOS 90720 | 562.431.1990 | OPEN FOR LUNCH MON-SAT 11-3 | DINNER EVERY DAY 5-9 | DINNER FOR TWO, $50-70

Tags: american, los alamitos, shenandoah