I fly out of John Wayne a lot. But if there’s a Long Beach flight for about the same price, I’m going to Long Beach. LGB is my airport of choice because the security line is almost always a breeze. But perhaps just as important is that the concession stands at LGB are actually good and priced reasonably.
My current standby is the airport stand of the Taco Beach Cantina mini-chain, particularly if I happen to be there for a morning flight. Their breakfast burritos are just the thing I need—a comforting mass hefty enough to be considered checked baggage, filled with egg, cheese, salsa, potatoes, and meat swaddled between a warm, soft tortilla. For the same price, I could choose bacon or standard sausage, but I always opt for the first-class experience of the chorizo. Its spiciness is one reason, but the fact that the red-tinged crumbles of pork fills in every available nook and cranny of space is exactly what I want, which in turn makes me more amenable when the flight attendants tell me to do the same with the overhead compartment.
Taco Beach Cantina at Long Beach Airport, 4100 Donald Douglas Dr., Long Beach, (562) 496-2752
Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.