Lona’s City Limits Cantina

Cool DJ, great food lady and nice security guards but the crowd is blah, maybe I’m just not one of the locals but they don’t seem to have any personality IMO. I’ll only go here in desperate need for karaōke and not with any high hopes of striking any good conversations up or meeting anyone remotely interesting.

Just started coming here and I am very impressed! Great and diverse crowd comes here and all are friendly. All the bartenders that work here are very welcoming, and most have worked here 10 years or longer. You couldn’t ask for a more down to earth and friendly owner than Lona, she is the best. Good pool tables, great food. I actually had a T-​bone at Outback the night before I had a steak dinner here, and the steak was better at City LImits! My girlfriend and I try to make it for breakfast once a week, great bloody marys, and the steak and eggs with hash browns and bisquits and gravy are the best!

I just read the idiots review of Lonas… Here was my reply…
Dude, what’s your issue? This place is a typical blue collar bar. Did you even think for a minute that Lona helps out the local homeless population by providing free food? You mentioned the salsa as being «disgusting», obviously you have never been to Mexico, as that is exactly how they make their salsa. The biker gang stuff was Long Beach Stunt Riders, who have their monthly meeting at the bar. They help veterans by donating their time and effort. Last year alone, then donated almost (undisclosed amount) to Disabled Veterans of America. Nice to call them «super unsafe».
As far as the food goes, I have ate there many times and never, ever would I call it gross. You are definitely out of your environment… I guess you are better at places in Hollywood that charge 3X the amount for the same food.

Once again we waited too long to even get acknowledged. Drinks are not stiff at all. Want a good dive bar? Go to Snug Harbor off of Del Amo and Bellflower, nice stiff cheap drinks !

Went to Lona’s for the first time on a Saturday night and they had karaōke in the front and a taco lady mixing it up in the back. I really kind of enjoyed it.
Went back there again on a few weeks later on a Sunday morning to watch football and was immediately immersed into the group of regulars. Had a good time with them while Lona poured the drinks.
The 3^rd visit was later in the evening in the middle of the week. The kitchen closed early and the crowd was small. Coach was pouring drinks.
In summary, Lona’s is a quintessential dive bar and I love me a good dive bar. The décor is dark. The steak tacos are pretty great. The bartenders are quite nice (Lona and Coach at least) and the drinks will get you drunk.

Nothing but a bunch of anger black dudes that wanna kick your ass when they lose at pool… me and my boys had to fight our way out… stay away

Awful — zero females and shit drinks. Can’t wait to get back to NYC

Dont go during karaōke nights cause the djs a totally an unprofessional dick. Bartenders are nice though, ask the younger guy to make his personall specialty and he’ll give you some delicious fruity thing made with their great selection of flavored vodkas and such. I didnt try the food because I was way too pissed at the karaōke guy to stay, but if i ever do return it will be solely because of that one handsome young man who made me that fabulous drink.

I Love Bar Rescue so my husband and I thought lets try Lona’s. Big mistake we walked in had to seat ourselves and for 10 minutes no one ever greeted us people we obviously locals and not very friendly. So we left and were never acknowledged. Wow.

Absolutely disgusting!!! Thought because of the whole «Bar Rescue» renovation, it would be fairly nice… NOT!!!
Starting from the beginning… I drive up and parking was awful. From what I saw later inside, I guess they expect you to double park your car, and then they go around to tell people inside the bar if you are blocking someone, in which case you have to go move your car??? No signs anywhere outside about this, and you aren’t even sure if you are in the right lot or on the gas station’s property!
Then walking up to the bar, there is a drunk-​looking guy standing, and intermittently dancing, outside the door. At first I thought he was a customer, but he spent the 2 – 3 hours I was there standing outside, so I’m guessing this was supposed to be their version of a doorman or something? Certainly wasn’t Security because I didn’t see him check one ID, nor say hello, or welcome to anybody all night, and he looked more sketchy than half the people in there, which is saying a LOT!!!
So going on to the patrons… Honestly, was kind of scared to even go in there! And I am used to walking around bars on streets in Downtown LA! About 2/3^rd’s of the place was filled with either tatted-​up bikers or gangster-​looking hoods, who all seemed like regulars. It was super uncomfortable and they made the place feel very unwelcoming, and frankly, super unsafe.
So, after walking in and standing for a good 5 minutes at the entrance to the bar with absolutely 0 acknowledgement, we wandered around trying to find our own seats. Whole set up was whacked, and every single table was taken over by the biker gang’s stuff, even if there was nobody sitting anywhere around there.
Food was atrocious!!! The main reason I came here was supposed to be because they had good tacos, because, honestly, I would NEVER, EVER, EVER come to this place specifically for a drink! Even before ever 1^st walking into the joint, I knew the drinks would be shit. So back to the food… everything tasted like it was straight out of a can! The supposedly «great» salsa??? Gross!!! Tasted like that grocery market «Pace Picante» salsa, but even milder and less fresh than a bottled version!!! Food tasted microwaved and had to spit out half the meat because it was all fat, or hard and chewy cartilage.
Beer was ok, but I ordered straight out the bottle, so how badly could they really mess that up? Hell no was not ordering off draft because you could tell it was all coming out warm and foamy, besides, no way I would trust them for their taps to even be clean… Honestly, probably wouldn’t have even eaten here if I had watched things a bit longer before my food actually came out. My friend, being a lot braver than me, tried ordering a straight shot, and they actually shook it!!! A spirit, by itself, to try and chill it!!! Shit came out sooo nasty and ruined! I know the place is a dive, but seriously, who in the world doesn’t know how to f-​ing stir to chill a shot???
Oh, and music kinda sucked! Was ok for like 1 in 10 songs, but kinda ghetto half the time, and the other half, ugh!!! Awful! Seems to be possibly 1 of those biker guys acting as the DJ? Or else he just dresses like them to try and fit in…
The older male bartender didn’t seem like an actual bad person, but he was sooooo slow and not at all welcoming, friendly, or attentive. Didn’t know anything on the menu AT ALL, took forever to take my order, then after I ordered, I watched as he walked around aimlessly and took another 12 minutes of draft beer orders before he remembered to get around to mine. Worst though, was that I had to watch him serve drinks and touch things all night long without ever washing his hands ONCE!!! In 2 – 3 hours! Not even once!!! He would handle cash, then go straight into touching ingredients and throw them into drinks! Absolutely horrific!!!
Then the bill came and we were overcharged for what we ordered straight off the menu, but was so over this place, I wasn’t even up for complaining about it… Just wanted to leave. Whole place was a total shit show.
Very disappointing. Hoped to have an amazing place not too far from home, but this bar obviously does not even care or want to be anything better than a gross, dirty dive. Super unfortunate, and a total waste of Jon Taffer’s money.
Oh, and then upon walking to our car, we had to deal with a weirdo patron who came out to smoke weed next to our car! So gross!!!

The previous owner had the bar shipped from a bar in Anchorage, Alaska. It’s solid Phillipine Mahogany, and he always kept it in beautiful, high-​gloss shape. Wish they would keep it nicer. Overall we liked the eclectic 420 crowd. The DJ played good old school 90’s rap. When the karaōke started we had to leave to feed my cat…

It’s definitely a dive. seems like a lot of locals love this place. We came at noon and there were quite a few tipsy people.
Good selection of beers and liquor. Lots of big flat screens for sports watching. Service was pretty good. We actually specifically came for the tacos which got really good reviews. They were a bit small but not bad. I would recommend ordering more than 2. I still felt hungry after 2.

Came in on a Saturday day based on the taco reviews. I tried 4 different tacos (chicken, asada, ground beef, and shredded beef), and I couldn’t tell the three beef ones from one another to be honest, but they were good. The brown one was good, and the browner one was pretty good, but the best one was the bumpier brown one. Not bad at $ 1.95 each. Good service from the blonde.
Dark, old, divey, with a pool table and tiny bathroom, the 3.5 star place is very «my dad» which isn’t a bad thing. Nothing foo-​foo, except someone played four Abba songs in a row on the jukebox! Guy smoking right at the door was the only thing that sucked, really. Reminded me of ³⁶⁄₃₆ (Long Beach) or Boondocks (Los Alamitos) but bigger and a cool red light along the stools, and of C’est Ci Bön (Westminster) with it’s 54-​ish crowd on the verge of AARP.

I was unwinding here last night. Had me a couple of beers. This place always popping with people and music. The staff at night is friendly and cool peeps. Im a night person so im out and about after 9pm. Its safe around the area. Everyone is looking out for everyone. Its nice.

So I decided to give this place a second chance and the same bartender is here! I’ve been waiting for 10 min at my table and she walked by me 3 times already! Not a hello or I’ll be right with you!!! Completely ignored this whole time! Never coming back again!!!

Theeeee bestest Shredded Beef Tacos, Chicken Tacos, CHILI VERDE tacos. U will have tasted. The service is family so no matter what u order to drink or eat it’ll be at their best. Environment is on point no trouble and when there is a little it is stopped in a heart beat u wouldn’t even notice it getting started. Also their breakfast if on point …
Bill, Chad, Mark, Mikey, James, Albert, Albert, Priscilla on point … Sorry I know morning shift but after breakfast food coma lol Lona makes her beautiful appearance so if ur lucky u can also say to her !! Enjoy … Breakfast or Taco Dinner u WILL BE BACK trust me …

I became a regular customer because Lona herself provides us the best service in town. She’s the only bartender in the morning on weekend yet she prioritize her customers’ needs.
The bar food is soooo extremely good particularly their Chile Verde tacos. We always order a to-​go even after we filled-​up our bellies.
Im just glad that the guy that was fired in bar rescue and was rehired is not working in the morning shift, otherwise it will change my rating as he is a little obnoxious.

No! Went by because our friends are Ina bar rescue mission. They check out all the local bars that have made it in the show. Unfortunately the 2 we wanted to check out was closed and his was our next option.
Hold in the wall, quite ghetto, and since I didn’t watch the episode, I have no idea what it looked like before but to me it didn’t look like a done up place like they feature on bar rescue. My understanding is that they were on the show about 4 yrs ago but still. Kind of a dump if you ask me. Upside is the drinks are fairly price, smoking is convenient, and they have a pool table and a golf game. Also for kareoke lovers, unlike me, they had it going on on Saturday. Place was pretty empty, people can’t sing and chicks were drinking beer in the parking area and got the boot lol. Won’t be back but at least we stopped in for our friends

Just forget it! My wife and I visited this place after seeing it on Bar Rescue… highly disappointed. If you’re not a local (which I AM a local), then be prepared to be ignored by the staff. Service was horrible! We love a good dive bar, but there are way too. many in Long Beach to have to deal with this place. Check around

The place gets 4 stars, & a bonus star for their bartenders.
The schooners of imported beer Im sure are the cheapest in the county, let alone the city.
Not tipping well is out of the question, the drinks come stiff already.
The bar food is bar food, so that’s cool; the sandwiches are pretty good.
Lona’s is next to a gas station, a Hole Mole, & the frwy… the location is beyond great.
Kareoke thurs-weekend…pool league Wednesdays
Bartenders: Mark & Coach
Give them all your money