the Eldo

🇿🇦 SOUTH AFRICA / QUICK FIX: This popular Long Beach spot is a sports bar through and through, but look a little closer and a few favorites from the Rainbow Nation come into focus.

🇿🇦 SOUTH AFRICA
📍 3014 N. Studebaker Road,
Long Beach, Harbor
🅿️ Private lot
🥤 Full bar

📸 All photos by Jared Cohee
for Eat the World Los Angeles

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Since 1957 some form of neighborhood bar & grill has been named after and lived on the west side of Long Beach’s sprawling El Dorado Regional Park. It was not until 2012 that the current owner took over daily operations, and the name seems to have been shortened to the Eldo sometime in 2015. During the past twelve years a few favorites from South Africa have shown up on the menu, reflecting the birthplace of the new owner.

In between lists of burgers, plates of chicken wings, and plenty of other standard sports bar favorites, some South African staples like biltong, peri peri chicken, and Durban-style curries showed up for the first time in the area. Most of the current customers are coming for college football and fried sampler platters, but grab a seat at or near the bar and order some specialties instead.

The look on the faces of customers nearby are worth the order of biltong ($10.99, above) alone, whispering questions to themselves as someone dares to have an appetizer that is not nachos or cheese sticks. The dried beef is cut thick and served in a cup, or you can buy it by the pound if your group has more hungry mouths to feed.

There used to be a big neon sign on Studebaker Road advertising steaks and lobster which has been modified in recent years with the new name and offerings. The menu still includes plenty of steaks and even the chance to enjoy beef Wellington, but the lobster seems to have been retired.

Skip the steaks and seafood though and you will not be disappointed with an order of Durban lamb curry ($19.49, above), which comes with a big crispy papadam stuck in the middle. South Africa as a whole has 11 official languages, reflecting the vastness of its cultures. If you visit Durban, you will see a city that has the largest Indian population in the world outside of India.

This is of course captured in day to day life and the cuisine, so this style of dish is popular throughout the country and in the diaspora. Served over fragrant rice, the curry comes with sides of chutney and coconut shavings, and full of rich flavors. Unfortunately the curry is not available in carved out bread as bunny chow, but you can enjoy it in the form of a meat pie if you prefer.

You can get the peri peri chicken as an entree or throw it on a soft French roll for a peri peri chicken sandwich ($18.49, above) which comes with nicely crispy fries. The closest Nando’s to Southern California lives in Texas, but this sandwich could become a destination for those seeking the dish. You can also get the quintessentially South African boerewors in a sandwich, a grilled sausage that comes slathered with a sauce called train smash!

If you have the room for something sweet, they also have milk tarts and malva pudding to try. These desserts are commonplace in South Africa and the perfect way to round out a meal. Despite all of your surroundings screaming classic United States sports bar, it is possible to have quite a good South African meal by the time you leave the Eldo.

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