Hibachi at Home in Long Beach

Belmont Shore and Naples parking is the biggest variable in a Long Beach booking. Second Street and the canal blocks are permit-heavy and full by early evening; if you can hold a driveway space or a spot on your block for the chef, do it. Naples in particular often means a walk over a bridge or down a walk-street, which is fine — just tell us at booking so the chef brings the cart.

Coastal wind off the water is the other Long Beach factor. It rarely stops a party, but a grill placed in an exposed corner will fight it, so we look for a wall or fence to set against. Most Belmont Shore and Naples yards are small enough that the grill goes at one end and the table along the fence. The upside of the coastal air is that midday stays comfortable here most of the year, so lunch and afternoon bookings are a real option rather than a summer-only compromise. We need a flat area about the size of a king-size bed and about 10 ft of overhead clearance; low canal-side pergolas are worth photographing for us in advance.

Not sure your space works? Send a photo with your quote request and we will confirm the setup spot before your date.

We need a flat outdoor area about the size of a king-size bed and about 10 ft of overhead clearance. Best evening months in Long Beach: June through October; best lunch months: April through November.

July averages a high of 78°F against 63°F in January. No month here averages above 93°F, so Long Beach takes daytime bookings comfortably across most of the year. Rain is worth planning around in March, when about 23% of days see measurable rain — a 10×10 pop-up tent over the chef station saves the party, and guests can eat indoors. Evenings run longest in June (sunset around 8:05pm); start 90 minutes before sunset for the golden-hour show.

Travel: none for Long Beach — it sits inside our free 50-mile radius, so your quote carries no travel fee at all.

Averages from the Open-Meteo historical archive, 2019–2024.

Beef: USDA Choice Angus top sirloin. Choice is the grade above Select. We buy Angus program beef rather than whatever is cheapest that week.

Shrimp: BAP-certified. Best Aquaculture Practices — an independent certification covering the farm, the hatchery, the feed and the processing plant.

Salmon: Atlantic salmon fillet, skinless. Portioned fillet, not trim or belly offcuts.

Chicken: Boneless, skinless breast. Hatched, raised and harvested in the USA. Breast meat only — no thigh substitution.

Lobster tail: Wild-caught Caribbean spiny lobster. Our premium upgrade. Wild-caught, not farmed.

Sauces: House-made yum yum sauce and ginger dressing. Made by us, fresh every week — the ginger dressing from fresh onion, carrot, ginger, orange and lemon. Both contain egg; the ginger dressing also contains soy and wheat.

Allergies: Our standard soy sauce is not gluten free, so a gluten-free guest should have their own gluten-free soy and teriyaki on hand and we'll cook their portion with it; our ginger dressing is made with regular soy sauce, so their salad comes without it. We can't promise a nut- or sesame-free table — the gyoza are a commercial product and contain sesame, and our house-made sauces use store-bought ingredients. Both sauces contain egg. Tell us the allergy when you book and we'll check the labels in use for your date.

CSULB Graduations. May and June fill up fast — celebrate the grad at home with a chef show instead of a 90-minute restaurant wait.

Canal & Waterfront Dinners. Naples and Belmont Shore patios were made for teppanyaki at sunset. Neighbors will ask what smells so good.

Birthday Parties. Kids get the onion volcano and egg tricks; adults get restaurant-quality steak and shrimp without leaving the backyard.

Small Wedding Events. Rehearsal dinners and intimate receptions with live cooking as both catering and entertainment.

See how each celebration plays out: birthdays, pool parties, family reunions and more party ideas.

Naples Canal Homes. Narrow lots, water on one side, and a patio built for exactly this. Access is often a side gate or a walk over a bridge, so we stage from the street.

Belmont Shore Patios. Compact beach-block yards where the whole party is within ten feet of the grill — the show reads better up close than it does in a big yard.

Bixby Knolls & Los Altos Backyards. Mid-century lots with real grass and room to spread out. The classic Long Beach birthday setup.

From canal-front homes in Naples to craftsman backyards in Bixby Knolls, Long Beach knows how to host outdoors — and a private hibachi chef turns any patio into the best seat in the city. We bring the grill, the food, and the fire; you bring the people.

We cook across all of Long Beach and the surrounding harbor cities, with wind-smart setups for evenings when the sea breeze picks up.

I learned teppanyaki behind a fixed grill in a Benihana-style restaurant, where the room comes to you. In 2023 I took the same grill into a stranger's backyard for the first time, and it was here — ten people, a bachelorette party.

It went well in a way I had not earned yet. The group was warm, they helped without being asked, they laughed at the right moments, and at the end we all took a photo together.

That was three years and more than three hundred parties ago, and I still think about it, because it taught me the thing it took me another two years to be able to say out loud: the food is my job, but the party is theirs.

— Chef Bling, Real Hibachi · Read the full story