A long-time staple in Long Beach recently expanded into Los Alamitos. The popular Potholder Café, with three locations in Long Beach, has taken over the restaurant space on Katella Avenue, across from the racecourse.
A long-time staple in Long Beach recently expanded into Los Alamitos. The popular Potholder Café, with three locations in Long Beach, has taken over the restaurant space on Katella Avenue, across from the racecourse.
The former Classic Burger is now the newest Potholder and is being run by a couple of Los Alamitos products. Joe Croce, a Los Al resident is making his first venture into the restaurant business, by partnering with Kevin Pittsey, who owns the original three Long Beach locations.
Both Croce and Pittsey, are Los Al High graduates during the ‘80s. Croce has been operating other businesses, but this is his first venture into restaurants. He said he has benefitted from the 30 years of experience that Pittsey brings to the business.
“I’m learning a lot from Kevin,” Croce said.
He is also getting help from a third partner in the Los Al location. Veronica Gutierrez, a manager with the chain for the past seven years, is helping run the daily operations of the Los Al location. Potholder has made a name for itself in Long Beach as a popular breakfast location. They refer to themselves as “fast casual” food.
The restaurant offers a wide variety of Mexican food, burgers, sandwiches and salads as well.
Croce had lived in the Los Alamitos area most of his life. He was a member of the Los Alamitos Youth Baseball, Bronco World Series championship team. The restaurant is decorated with some memorabilia from the team.
The new Potholder is located at 5008 Katella Ave. The phone number is 562-431-1165. They can be found on line thepotholdercafe.com and social media sites.
