Happy Hour Weekdays • 4PM to 6PMLearn More »
Boathouse on the Bay logo

Restaurateur

John Morris

From Legends and Mum's to Smooth's and Boathouse on the Bay, John's story runs through five decades of Long Beach restaurants, sports, civic life, and community traditions. This is the living record of that work—and of the people who built the city alongside him.

Search the archive
John Morris, owner of Boathouse on the Bay
John Morris, Boathouse on the BayLong Beach, CA

The public record

Search the archive

Interviews, podcasts, newspaper stories, television reports, and public records—organized so the history can be explored by era, format, and subject. Every published link was checked before it entered this collection.

Open any result for its full record and embedded media when the publisher supports it.

Showing 18 of 212 matching records

The founder's story

The city is the throughline.

Born in Widnes, England, John came to the United States at fifteen, served in the U.S. Air Force, and arrived in Long Beach in 1973. Sport, hospitality, and an instinct for bringing people together quickly became the shape of his life here.

In 1979, John and Los Angeles Rams lineman Dennis Harrah opened Legends on Second Street. Its screens, satellite feeds, memorabilia, and athlete-centered atmosphere are widely credited with helping define the modern sports bar. Mum's followed on Pine Avenue in 1988, then Smooth's, McKenna's on the Bay, and Boathouse on the Bay.

The restaurant story is only one layer. Belmont Shore Rugby, the Christmas Parade, the Grand Prix, holiday toy drives, children's charities, fireworks on the bay, and now the Long Beach Legends podcast all belong to the same larger project: making Long Beach feel like a community.

Five decades in Long Beach

The long view

A working chronology built from contemporary reporting, interviews, and public records. Where sources disagree, this preview uses the settled year rather than pretending the exact date is certain.

  1. 1973

    Long Beach becomes home

    After arriving in California, John chose Long Beach and began building the relationships that would define the next five decades.

  2. 1974

    Belmont Shore Rugby

    John helped establish Belmont Shore Rugby Club, beginning a lifelong connection to local sports and community life.

  3. 1979

    Legends opens on Second Street

    With Rams lineman Dennis Harrah, John opened Legends—widely credited with helping define the modern sports bar through big screens, satellite feeds, and sports memorabilia.

  4. 1982

    A parade for Belmont Shore

    John founded the Belmont Shore Christmas Parade to bring people to Second Street. It grew into a neighborhood institution.

  5. 1988

    Mum's opens on Pine Avenue

    Mum's became an early anchor of downtown Long Beach's revival—part restaurant, part gathering place, and later a home for live jazz upstairs at Cohiba.

  6. 2004

    Mum's becomes Smooth's

    The Pine Avenue restaurant entered a new chapter as Smooth's Sports Grille, carrying forward John's mix of food, sports, and Long Beach history.

  7. 2011

    The bay and a new civic chapter

    John joined McKenna's on the Bay. A 9/11 memorial fireworks event became the precursor to the annual Big Bang on the Bay.

  8. 2014

    Boathouse on the Bay

    Boathouse opened at Alamitos Bay Landing, bringing John's restaurant story to the waterfront and becoming the present-day home of his community work.

  9. 2024–26

    The story keeps moving

    From serving as Grand Marshal of the 40th Belmont Shore Christmas Parade to launching Long Beach Legends and Sea to Shining LBC, John remains an active voice for the city.

Editorial note

This archive includes celebration, criticism, business challenges, legal reporting, and regulatory records. The goal is a useful public history—not a highlight reel. Original publishers retain their copyrights.

Local approval preview

The present chapter

The story continues at Boathouse on the Bay.

Come for dinner on the waterfront, hear live music on the patio, and experience the restaurant John calls home today.

Reserve a tableVisit Boathouse