After Michael's: What's New at the Table Along Naples' Stretch of Second Street

Last spring, neighbors watching 5620 E. 2nd St. noticed potted plants outside and U-Haul trucks unloading furniture. Within days, people were trading rumors about opening day. Michael's on Naples had been dark since it closed in September 2025, and the Press-Telegram reported that Naples residents had been watching the space ever since.

There was a second story on that block, though, and it was already months old by then. When Michael's closed, it split in two. The building went to Bacari. The people, and most of what they used to set a table, went next door to 5616.

How one restaurant ended up at two addresses

Bacari Restaurant Group bought the Michael's location in 2025, shortly before Michael's served its last meal. In a January profile, Longbeachize writer Brian Addison argued that the closure came from the sale, not from a shortage of diners. He added that the loss people felt most was the staff, especially general manager Massimo Aronne and Chef Eric Samaniego.

Aronne weighed his options after the closure. According to that profile, he considered a nine-room bed-and-breakfast on the Italian coast and a different Long Beach space. By Thanksgiving he had decided to take over the former Michael's Market, the small Italian deli and grocer next door that he had managed himself.

Bacari's group planned a fresh build-out at 5620 and had no use for the old restaurant's contents, so the furnishings went next door. Longbeachize lists what moved over:

• The chairs and tables
• The stemware and cutlery
• The plates
• The chandeliers

That transfer explains why Naples' newest Italian restaurant feels familiar to anyone who ate at Michael's.

5616 E. 2nd St.: Massimo's Naples

Massimo's Naples announced its public opening for Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. By early September, Longbeachize's running list of 2026 openings showed it as open.

The room is long and narrow, with about twenty seats, and Addison describes it as "adorned by grey with little explosions of color." The pieces from Michael's got some work before they went back into service. "We smoothed out the marble tables, brightened up the chandeliers, fixed the booths," Aronne told Longbeachize. He also installed a soundproofing wall along the west side of the restaurant.

The one thing that couldn't be saved was the wood-fired oven, which was damaged beyond repair. Its replacement came from Giuseppe Crisa of Forno Classico, a Santa Barbara company that makes ovens by hand. This one took a month to build. The pizzaiolo working it is Julio Van Schuerbeck, who made the pizzas at Michael's on Naples.

Van Schuerbeck isn't the only familiar face. Longbeachize reports that Aronne hand-picked every server, busser and kitchen staffer. Some of them left jobs they had taken after Michael's closed so they could come back and work for him.

Aronne cooks too. The menu draws on his childhood in Liguria and his years at Michael's, and Longbeachize sums it up as "Clean. Traditional. Seasonal." Dishes named in the coverage include:

• Polipo e patate: octopus and potatoes with Castelvetrano olives and garlic confit
• Eggplant: thin rounds roasted until caramelized, layered with house-made mozzarella and tomato sauce
• Pizzas: classic red-sauce, pesto and white pies
• Pasta e patate: torciglioni caserecci, smoked mozzarella and potato, baked in the oven

The wine list is all Italian, with Grillo, Fiano, Etna Rosso and blends from Verbicaro. If you sit at the table directly in front of the oven, Van Schuerbeck will probably talk to you while he works, as Addison describes.

Aronne told Longbeachize he still isn't comfortable having a restaurant named after himself. His wife, his staff and his regulars talked him into it.

5620 E. 2nd St.: Bacari

Bacari took the original address and started from scratch. This is the group's first Long Beach location. Its public opening was advertised for June 1, 2026, and co-founder Robert Kronfli described it as newly opened on a SoCal Restaurant Show episode dated June 22.

The concept is Venetian-inspired small plates with Mediterranean influences. Chef Lior Hillel runs the kitchen, and the bar pours wine, beer and cocktails. Robert Kronfli owns the group with his brother Danny and Hillel. The Long Beach page on Bacari's website lists hours and online ordering for 5620 2nd St.

Before opening, Kronfli talked openly with the Press-Telegram about following a beloved restaurant. "I know that everybody really loved Michael's and there's an emotional attachment there, so we're very cognizant and aware of that and we just want to make sure that we're going to do right by the neighborhood," he said. He added that the group hopes "to become a fixture in the neighborhood just like Michael's was."

So Naples now has two restaurants side by side where Michael's used to be. One is a small Italian room run by the people who worked at Michael's, using its tables. The other is a Venetian small-plates restaurant from a group with several Southern California locations, in a space that was fully rebuilt.

Around the corner and across the bay

The change on 2nd Street is part of a larger year for Naples dining.

Marlena, 5854 E. Naples Plaza. In July, Longbeachize featured Marlena's summer menu. The restaurant describes its food as California cooking shaped by Mediterranean and Levantine traditions, with seasonal ingredients and wood-fired dishes. Robert Smith is an owner. Marlena's website lists separate hours for the café, the restaurant and bar, and brunch, and takes reservations. That makes it one of the few places in Naples covering morning coffee, a weekend brunch and a dinner reservation from the same kitchen.

Nantucket, 6380 E. Pacific Coast Hwy., Suite A. At Marina Pacifica, the former Jade space has a new tenant lined up. In June, Longbeachize reported that Lavae McClinnahan, owner of the Redondo Beach jazz supper club Montauk, plans an East Coast-inspired seafood-and-steak restaurant called Nantucket there, with live music. The article names Todd Nishimoto as executive chef. As of Longbeachize's September 3 roundup, Nantucket was still on the coming-soon list with no opening date.

A little west, in Belmont Shore, two openings this summer bookend the walk along 2nd Street. On June 22, Nick's Restaurant Group opened South of Nick's at 5354 E. 2nd St. The restaurant serves California-style Mexican food in the historic former Coast Bank building, and reservations are on OpenTable. Owner Nick Nickoloff told the ribbon-cutting crowd that his grandparents had their first date in Belmont Shore at Hoefly's, the restaurant that is now Nick's on Second. Three days earlier, on June 19, CoffeeDrunk quietly opened in the former Aroma di Roma space at 4708 E. 2nd St. Its signature drink is the "Instigator," an iced shaken espresso with maple, brown sugar and a splash of milk.

Where things stand this fall

For out-of-town guests who remember Michael's on Naples, the closest thing to the old restaurant is now at 5616, a single storefront west of where it used to be. You'll find the same marble tables, the same chandeliers, and Julio Van Schuerbeck at a new oven.

Kimberly Kelly has followed Naples and the rest of the coast for decades, including changes like this year's turnover on 2nd Street. If you'd like to talk about this part of Long Beach, from where to eat to what's happening on the block, Kimberly Kelly would be glad to hear from you. Let's Connect.