Santa Fe Importers by Ed Milich
	Santa Fe Imports is located in an industrial area of Long Beach on Santa Fe Avenue, down the street from a good clutch and brake shop that I use for my racing motorcycles. It’s a classic, longstanding, working class lunch joint that fills a need for a good solid lunch in an area that is devoid of many reputable restaurants.  Santa Fe Imports more of a deli than a restaurant, and if you expect table service, you’re probably at the wrong place.  At lunchtime, the place quickly fills up with local workers, including longshoremen, truck drivers, laborers, firemen, policemen, and businessmen. Word has long since gotten around that this is the best lunch within miles. As you enter the building, you’ll want to take your place in either the hot or cold lunch lines. You’ll approach the hot lunch line first, where you’ll find a number of Italian-American specialties on the menu. There are a number of pastas, ravioli, chicken parmegean and similar dishes on the menu, and they are served exclusively in carry out tins and buried deep in marinara sauce and with fresh Italian bread. If you’re in the mood for a cold sandwich, you’ll want to skip up to the deli counter. I usually get a large turkey sandwich. I order mine “Italian style”, plus lettuce, which means with oil and vinegar dressing and marinated onions plus lettuce, too. The roast beef is also a favorite of mine. The Italian style bread used in the sandwiches and elsewhere is in fresh loaves. It’s not as chewy as some of the Italian breads that I grew up with, but it is unique to the deli. You’ll also see a variety of pasta, potato, mushroom, olive and other salads in the deli case. You can order a pint of one of these at the counter or selects from some pre-packed pints. The pasta and mushroom salad is a favorite of mine, and features properly al dente cooked pasta and carrots and mushrooms in Italian salad dressing. Santa Fe Imports also has the typical staples of an Italian grocery, so you can conveniently grab a few things if you need espresso, balsamic vinegar, bread sticks, gelato, or pasta to take home for later. You can chose to either eat elbow to elbow with the other patrons at the window inside Santa Fe Imports or just take your lunch on the road with you. It’s a good place to go if you’re in a hurry, and I often eat my sandwich and pasta salad lunch while driving to the motorcycle shop in Long Beach in my truck. Credit cards are a recent development at the checkout counter at Santa Fe. I used to make the mistake of not bringing any cash, and then having to go to a relatively seedy looking restaurant with a cash machine a few doors down to get cash to pay for my lunch. This added some hassle and a few dollars in transaction fees to my lunch. Luckily, the management at Santa Fe Imports has gotten with the times and the deli now accepts credit and debit cards. You can usually get out of Santa Fe for $7-10 with a sandwich, some pasta salad and a drink. It’s a great place to refuel between stints on the dock or long hours in the truck if you’re in the area. Gold Star.
		Santa Fe Importers 1401 Santa Fe Avenue Long Beach, California 90813 (562) 437-7775 www.santafeimporters.com