“Try to save a little more and help others.”
That’s what Roberto Carlos Lemus’ maternal mother, Filomena, always said to him.
Two decades ago, Lemus’ family opened a Latin restaurant called Pronto Grill in the San Fernando Valley. While the business only lasted for four years, seeing his family come together to put their home-cooked meals on sale, their passion for food and their willingness to help their community always stuck with him.
In 2024, Lemus and José Díaz Romero created the first-ever Latino Restaurant Week in Long Beach with their company, Affluent Hispanic Philanthropies — honoring what Lemus’ family did decades ago.
The pair were inspired by other restaurant weeks across Long Beach and, with a large local Latino population, they saw a need to highlight the contributions Hispanic businesses bring to the city.
“If something happens, [it’s the restaurant owners who] are the first ones to get hit. However, when something bad happens, the restaurant owners are the first ones donating food, doing some type of fundraiser to help whatever cause it is,” Lemus said. “So we thought, ‘Why not give back to this group that is already supporting their community?’”
The primary intention behind Latino Restaurant Week is to celebrate the rich cultural heritage and talent of Latino-owned restaurants and chefs, uplift the community and showcase culinary diversity.
Lemus mentions that Birria Tepechi, a business located on the west side of Long Beach (1440 Santa Fe Ave.), is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
“Those are the important stories that, in my opinion, it’s important to tell,” he said. “They’re going into their third or fourth generation, so that’s where Hispanic heritage is being highlighted through those different stories. Whether it’s a win or a struggle.”
Latino Restaurant Week also focuses on bringing visibility to Latino businesses, helping owners create content and giving them a spotlight to share their story.
“A lot of these [businesses] don’t have the budget for a social media director or a photographer,” Lemus said. “That’s the part where we can step in, bring in some of the supporters that we have behind us and give the support to the restaurant owners that deserve it.”
One of those businesses is Confidential Coffee, a cozy, community-centered coffee shop that offers Mexican-inspired drinks in the heart of downtown Long Beach (137 W. Sixth St.).
Denise Maldonado has owned Confidential Coffee for eight years and has been part of Latino Restaurant Week since its inception.
As a small business owner, Maldonado often wears many hats. Whether it’s managing the shop, marketing her business with social media or any number of other tasks.
Maldonado said Latino Restaurant Week has lent her a helping hand by bringing more eyes to her business with marketing, like the photoshoots they did for Confidential Coffee.
“It helps take things off my plate,” she said. “I feel like being part of this and having the resources I have, it’s helped me learn to take a step back and delegate more because there are people out there that want to help you and there are people out there that want to provide resources.”
During last year’s Latino Restaurant Week kick-off event, Maldonado had the opportunity to converse with local business owners in the community. Someone she met suggested that she should apply for Level Up LB, a program that offers an eight-week workshop alongside a $10,000 grant. Maldonado ended up getting into the trajectory-altering program.
“Talking to other people [who] are [in] the same boat as me, it makes me feel like, ‘Hey, I’m not all alone,’ [and] I feel like that has brought such a huge sense of community,” she said about meeting new business owners during the kick-off event.
Last year’s Latino Restaurant Week brought in 16 participating restaurants, supported 29 brands and organizations, drew coverage from 13 media outlets and generated over 1,000,000 impressions on social media. The kick-off event itself had 300 attendees, according to their 2025 impact report.
There are currently 18 restaurants participating in Latino Restaurant Week this year, according to Lemus, which include the following:
- #9Pho
- Birria Tepechi
- Confidential Coffee
- El Viejón Mariscos & Sushi
- Espíritu Parrillero
- Fuego at The Maya Long Beach
- Fuegos LA
- Honduras Kitchen
- La Chancla Mexican Grill
- La Nena Cantina
- Lima Cebichería Peruana
- Mashup Ice Cream
- Masa y Taza
- Meat & Vino Market
- Taco Shore
- Tarantella on 4th
- Telefèric Barcelona
- Zarapé Cocina & Cantina
One of the restaurants making its debut is Zarapé Cocina & Cantina, which features a Mexican and Mediterranean fusion.
Co-owners Stefano Mozher and Onésimo “Oni” Méndez opened the restaurant in Long Beach in February of this year, marking almost eight months since the duo first made their mark on the 562.
When Zarapé first opened, Lemus and Romero would come by and have dinner, and after the restaurant’s re-grand opening in July, Mozher says the two paid a special visit.
“They loved everything we do here and they felt this is something that Long Beach should know and so they came back here … [and] they were just blown away,” he said. “We were offered to be part of it and the answer was 100% yes.”
Mozher remembers the co-founders of Latino Restaurant Week insisting that their restaurant is unique to Long Beach’s culinary landscape.
Zarapé’s creates their hand-crafted margaritas and signature cocktails with fresh natural ingredients and a variety of unique flavors to choose from, such as the lavender coconut margarita or the El Duende (which has jalapeño, mango and cilantro).
Méndez and Mozher agree that the visibility from Latino Restaurant Week was one of many benefits of joining the event.
“It does showcase what Long Beach is all about. I think [the events give] the exposure for us to communicate with the community and locals that come in and enjoy the events,” Mozher said.
With Latino Restaurant Week just around the corner, local business owners talked about the importance of having the annual event in Long Beach, which they say gives them a platform to tell their story and showcase the variety they offer.
“[Latino Restaurant Week] is so super important because not only do we get that week, we get that spotlight, we get that representation, we get that voice that has been so hard for us to have,” Maldonado said.
Latino Restaurant Week will host its kick-off event on Oct. 1 from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Onni East Village Courtyard (333 E. Broadway Ave.) and its third edition of Latino Restaurant Week from Oct. 5 to 11.
For more information, check out the Latino Restaurant Week website and Instagram.
