Buster's Beach House, 168 Marina Drive, Long Beach, CA. (562) 598-9431 bustersbeachhouse.com

Long Beach, California--There is no lack of great dining in the International City. It's everywhere you look. The 6th largest city in California is known for its variety of cuisine, view restaurants, and many non-chain offerings.

One of the great, laid back California beach restaurants, Buster's Beach House, located in San Diego and Long Beach, features a traditional dining room, but they also have great seating in the Longboard Bar, cocktail bar  where the drinks are good, live bands perform, and a huge pizza served on a platter the size of a surfboard (and shaped like one) awaits.

Do you want something hot & tasty? This is it. There's nearly every food group on one platter and in a single serving. Calories? Who needs them?

The pizza on surfboard comes in several options--Hawaiian, Mediterranean, BBQ Chicken, Four Cheese, and many more.  We ordered some special "works"  pizzas for a birthday party and they came with everything imaginable-- pepperoni, sausage, Canadian bacon, chopped red onion, chicken, artichoke hearts, olives, mushrooms, plenty of cheese and topped with BBQ sauce.

There's a pizza that rivals it for size at Zubie's Dry Dock in Huntington Beach. But that pizza doesn't have all these fantastic ingredients and the flavor is great, but not as great as Buster's!

The luncheon menu has soups, salads, fish, burgers, noodles & pasta, appetizers, etc.

Breakfast offers traditional hot breakfasts made for surfer appetites. Hot of the griddle goodies include chorizo & eggs, Balboa Island Breakfast and Eggs Benedict.  Santa Cruz Skillet is bacon, sausage & onion scrambled with two eggs and topped with cheddar cheese, tomatoes, green onions and sour cream. This combo is served over Buster's potatoes and offered with a choice of breads or tortillas.

Dinner includes anything from the Pizza Board, Wok Seared Scallops, Grilled Swordfish, Balinese Baby Back Ribs, Coconut Shrimp Tempura, Deluxe Cheeseburger, and a beautiful Santa Barbara Sunset dish of shrimp scampi, capers, butter & garlic over angel hair pasta.

Buster's Beach House has two locations--Long Beach and San Diego. It is owned by Aloha Restaurants that also own two Jolly Roger restaurants in Dana Point Harbor and Oceanside, and Monterey Bay Canners restaurants located in Aiea, Hawaii, Oceanside and Sacramento.