Why Venice’s The Win~Dow was always destined for Long Beach
The Win~Dow, Venice’s smash burger concept birthed in 2019 in a parking lot, has officially opened its first Long Beach location in Belmont Shore in the former Archibald’s space, adding to the loved neighborhood’s renaissance and its growing need for more accessible, affordable options.
Wait—The Win~Dow has Long Beach roots? Kinda.
Jeff Goodman, currently the CEO of American Gonzo Food Corp, had a previous title whose company attached to it Long Beach folk will know quite well: He was the COO of King’s Seafood Company, parent company of King’s Fish House, the 555, Water Grill, and more.
“I left King’s in 2012,” Goodman said before he returned back to his roots on the East Coast to help run the massive Starr Restaurants group. “And I came back in 2016, developing a relationship with [chef and restaurateur] Paul Hibler. After we worked on the existing American Gonzo concepts for a while, I returned to Long Beach in my head. And I say this humbly: like many places in Southern California, it’s a town that is a little underserved for great and reasonably priced restaurants.”
For Goodman, the memories of King’s Fish House on Pine and the 555 in Downtown had always remained both vibrant and fulfilling: Discussions of King’s packed at night, adding a sense of vibrancy and old-school gathering-’round-the-table paired with memories of many telling Goodman that the 555 was their favorite celebratory meal, Goodman had always had his eyes on Long Beach.
Come the pandemic, he would explore—by foot, no less—places throughout the city wondering how American Gonzo Food Corp could potentially fit in.
Then a real estate agent showed him the former Archibald’s in Belmont Shore—and Goodman was determined and officially convinced: “This will be the next space for The Win~Dow.”
The Win~Dow’s genesis stems from community
“Paul [Hibler] has lived in Venice for decades. Bruce [Horwitz, co-owner of American Beauty] has lived in Venice for decades. I bought a house in Venice,” Goodman said. “When we opened American Beauty—which some have tried to paint as this overly elevated thing when it’s not—all we really wanted to do was something cool for the neighborhood.”
Venice has seen what some consider to be the largest transformation of a city in Los Angeles: Once the artist enclave, on the edge of safety and comfort for visitors and voyeurs alike, a city happily flying its freak flag, Venice has become saturated with brands and restaurants that try to buck that ideal in the name of a safer, better city.
Venice locals like Hibler, like Horowitz, like Goodman wanted Venice to evolve—without losing its spirit.
“And even though, for a steakhouse, American Beauty is approachable, next-generation in our eyes,” Goodman said, “we still promised our neighbors that we would do something special for lunch, something for them.”
And hence, the $3.95 (now $4.25, which was “impossible to not change—we tried to keep it at $3.95 but just couldn’t,” Goodman said) was birthed in 2019, offering the company an immediate score among locals. It also presented the group with something they wouldn’t even know they needed: With the space’s colorful plastic chairs, which are included at the Belmont Shore location, and an expansive parking lot, With the space’s colorful plastic chairs, which are included at the Belmont Shore location, and an expansive parking lot, the temporary closure of American Beauty during COVID led to the true growth of The Win~Dow.
It has led to its second location in Silver Lake, its third here in Long Beach, and more to come in Southern California in 2024.
