Selva

Let's say your favorite neighborhood spot has great table bread, or plays the best music, or has a nice bartender who laughs at your terrible jokes. Whatever it is, you love that place and feel instantly at home whenever you're there. That's the sort of energy that Selva exudes. Not only is the food at this Colombian restaurant in Long Beach outstanding, it's a dinner spot that instantly puts you at ease with warm service, great drinks, and a sense that everyone in the room is as enchanted as you are.

The space where Selva is now used to be a fairly basic steakhouse with carpeting straight out of a hotel conference room. Not much has physically changed about the room since, but chef-owner Carlos Jurado added enough unique touches to give it personality. There's a long bar serving fruity cocktails backed by swirly black and white mural and TVs broadcasting 90s MTV skater videos. Stuffy booths in the main dining are livened up by dangling plants, Colombian knick-knacks, and psychedelic jungle paintings you'd see at an Ojai art fair. It's all a bit ad hoc, but like many great neighborhood spots, design probably isn't the priority. You're coming to Selva to eat smart and exciting takes on South American cooking, starting with a parade of small plates that should dot every corner of your table.

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

The menu at Selva is built for family-style dining. Small plates and shareable sides make up 80 percent of the menu, including pillowy, cheese-flavored buñuelos, juicy beef skewers with chewy arepas, and white rice and beans stewed with salty pork bits. It's nearly impossible to put together a bad meal here, so our only advice is to save room for Selva's piece de resistance: the smoked chicken. The skin is charred, glossy, and ultra-crispy, and the meat practically bursts with jus.

Selva isn't necessarily rewriting the rules of a great restaurant ––it's just a place that consistently hits on all cylinders. If you're lucky enough to call Selva your neighborhood spot, we envy you—and, most likely, will see you there soon.

Food Rundown

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

Pisco Mel

This cocktail is dangerously easy to drink and tastes like a tangy pisco sour with a dose of sweet pineapple. We'll take three, please.

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

La Frambuesa

When we see fruity cocktails on the beach in travel ads, we imagine they taste like this one. It's bright and tart from passion fruit liqueur and fresh raspberries, fragrant with vanilla, and has a strong boozy kick of tequila. It's balanced but packs a punch.

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

Buñuelos

You can order these yucca fritters, either sweet or savory, but its the savory ones that have us captivated like this past season of White Lotus. These salty cheese breads are flavorful but not dense, which explains why we can't help but pop them into our mouths before they sufficiently cool down.

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

Arroz Chaufa

This crispy Peruvian-style fried rice is not subtle. It's a flavor bomb loaded with a choice of chicken, pork belly, or big, buttery scallops tossed with scrambled egg and scallions. If you order the pork belly, it tips the dish into instant-nap levels of richness, but wow, is it delicious.

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

Pork Belly Chicharron

You won't crack a tooth gnawing on this chicharron—the fat melts in your mouth, and the meat is super tender. These little morsels of fried pork belly come with chewy little arepas to create a miniature symphony of texture and flavor. Take full advantage of the complimentary ají salsas on your table.

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

Chuzos

These beef skewers have a nice char outside and are extra juicy inside. They're also not too heavily seasoned, which makes them the perfect match with a salty, buttery arepa and a spoonful of spicy ají verde.

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

Ceviche

The ceviche at Selva is served in small portions but makes up for it with big flavor. The contrasting yellows and pinks are visually stunning, and the whole dish comes coated in an ají amarillo leche de tigre that's spicy, acidic, and super creamy.

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

Arroz & Frijoles

We need someone to teach us how to make rice this good in our beat-up rice cooker at home. It's fluffy, moist, soaks up the salty broth of the black beans seasoned with fatty pork bits.

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

Smoked Chicken

This dish is Selva's magnum opus and the main reason we can't stop thinking about this meal. The chef needs to do a TED talk on smoking poultry because this chicken is packed with flavor and contains zero bites of dry meat.

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

Pudin de Pan

This banana bread pudding is an ideal dessert: rich but not sickly sweet. The bread is chewy and nutty, with hot, semi-sweet chocolate sauce poured all over it. Get a little of the cinnamon whipped cream in each bite to balance the sauce, and you'll understand why we love this dessert so much.