DOWN BY THE SHORE : When in Long Beach, Second Street is Worth a Second Look

Second Street in Long Beach’s Belmont Shore is a world unto itself. The area is comprised of about a dozen mini-blocks sandwiched in between heavily populated Belmont Heights and the ultra-tony island of Naples.

Steady yourself for a stream of galleries, shops, pubs, beauty salons, coffeehouses and restaurants, but above all, a small-town neighborhood feel. Long Beach residents and folks from Cypress, Los Alamitos and Seal Beach frequent this street, and it’s usually bedlam on weekends.

12:30 to 1: My first stop is inevitably Adventures Unlimited, which bills itself as “a sports and outdoor bookstore.”

This is a small bookstore, but since it’s a specialty shop, the inventory feels rich. One wall is filled with sports books, from those with such obscure titles as “UConn’s Dream Season” (come again?) to bestsellers about Magic, Michael and Major League Baseball. Other sections are devoted to other subjects such as environmental awareness, say, or mountaineering.

I like to head for the travel section, which has a revolving rack of Lonely Planet Travel Guides (superb Australian guides to cheap travel practically anywhere), great maps and a whole case filled with works by top-drawer travel writers.

1 to 1:30: There are literally dozens of restaurants around here, places with such names as Super Mex, Hof’s Hut and Thai Charcoal Pit, an upscale Italian room called Caffe Gazelle and a stream of pastry-laden espresso bars (Polly’s, Midnite Espresso, French Riviera and Cafe des Amis, to name a few).

But I keep coming back to Shanghai Express, a skinny Chinese takeout with good, home-style dishes. This is a real mom-and-pop affair. Owners Jin and Mei Deng really are from Shanghai; Jin mans the range, while Mei, his wife, handles the front.

They serve great soups such as hot and sour, and good, simple fare ranging from fried pork chops and shrimp with Chinese vegetables to the governor’s chicken, which has huge hunks of spicy breaded chicken in an unctuous brown sauce. Low, low prices, too. Try the crispy homemade noodles, which are 50 cents a bag.

1:30 to 2: Dessert? But of course, especially if you pass Grandma’s Sugarplums, one of the most irresistible sweet shops on the planet.

We’re talking a tiny space here, and always long lines, even during off hours. You squeeze in past an enormous tray of chocolate turtles and a rotating refrigerator case filled with rich cheesecakes and mousses, worming your way in to the front register.

You name it, they’ve got it: glazed apricots, chocolate-covered pretzels, a wall full of jarred candies such as sour balls and red licorice, cookies, gingerbread and even a full-service soda fountain. Whew. I’m having a cappuccino or I’ll lose control.

2 to 2:30: Just next door to Grandma’s is the 2nd Street Beauty Store, a one-stop, all-purpose shop that offers hairstyling, lingerie, bath products, costume jewelry, a full line of professional skin- and hair-care products, various cosmetics and a myriad of gifts.

Owner Randi Harvey says, “Women are more beauty-conscious than ever, and products, thanks to high technology, work better than ever.” Men shouldn’t be self-conscious about coming in here. It may inspire a timely gift.

2:30 to 3: Across the street is Footloose, which has perhaps the most striking fashions on this street. It’s a high-end boutique, something like you might find on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood, filled with lines not usually found in department stores. “We only order three or four of any one piece,” says manager Elyse Ricci, “so you won’t see yourself walking down the street.” Footloose carries beautiful sterling silver jewelry as well.

3 to 3:30: No visit to this street would be complete without at least checking out Legends, perhaps the quintessential sports bar in Southern California.

It has six huge screens for watching sports, hundreds of autographed portraits of famous athletes hanging on the bar’s brick walls, huge schooners of beer, foot-high buckets of Buffalo wings and an exuberant, hard-partying crowd.

Want to make this the nine-hour tour? Nobody says you have to leave at 3:30.