{"id":489946,"date":"2026-10-09T03:24:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T03:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/489946\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T03:24:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T03:24:15","slug":"brick-by-brick-la-chancla-honors-the-strength-and-love-of-mexican-mothers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/489946\/","title":{"rendered":"Brick by brick: La Chancla honors the strength and love of Mexican mothers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Twenty-five years ago, Ismael Miramontes\u2019 family sold food right outside of their driveway in Guadalajara, Mexico.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t a restaurant, far from it. Just two small tables and a simmering pot of pozole in front of the family\u2019s home.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At 8 years old, Miramontes remembers running food for the family. He loved the prep work, the customer service and leaving people happy. Food was always in the back of Miramontes\u2019 mind. Today, that\u2019s where it happily remains.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Living in his grandma\u2019s house in Mexico, Miramontes recalls the delicious home-cooked meals made by his grandma and mother. He remembers his mom bringing people over to cook for them, making sure the family was together and always having food at home in case someone showed up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"The founder and chef of the family-owned restaurant La Chancla Mexican Grill, Ismael Miramontes, (left) and Poleth Pardo (right) work together to create a variety of orders on Sept. 20, 2026. (Samuel Chacko | Signal Tribune)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you grow up, the first meals that you have are your mom\u2019s. It\u2019s hard to replace that feeling or comfort that it gives you. Nothing can replace a home-cooked meal or a mom\u2019s meal,\u201d he said. \u201cI guess for me, food is just a bridge to connect a family. It\u2019s not the dish itself, it\u2019s the kitchen. The food is the glue that brings the family together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miramontes moved to the United States at 12 years old, graduated from Cal State Long Beach with a bachelor\u2019s degree in management operations in 2013 and worked various corporate jobs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2018, he took a leap of faith and became the first in his family to formally venture into the restaurant business.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did the traditional path you\u2019re supposed to follow; go to school, university, graduate, start working for a company. I tried it. Good benefits, good money, good learning, a lot of learning. The only issue was I felt like a little screw in a big machine,\u201d he said. \u201cI felt like I wanted to be in a place where I could have a bigger impact and I always wanted to start up a food business.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

That leap of faith resulted in La Chancla Mexican Grill: a family-owned restaurant that showcases traditional Guadalajaran flavors in a cozy and colorful setting. La Chancla officially opened its doors on Feb. 6, 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"La Chancla Mexican Grill offers a wide variety of food options such as tacos, burritos, nachos, fajitas and enchiladas. (Samuel Chacko | Signal Tribune)<\/p>\n

When La Chancla originated, Miramontes saw a void within the local Mexican eatery scene. There was the quick filling cuisine of food carts and trucks \u2014 elote, tamales and street tacos \u2014 as well as refined dining restaurants, but nothing in between. He decided to focus on fast-casual, homie-food, with guisado-style tacos and homemade tortillas.<\/p>\n

La Chancla offers 14 different tacos, including mole, tinga and queso birria variations<\/a>. What makes them unique is their slow, carefully stewed meats, which become braised and saucy inside cazuelas (pots).<\/p>\n

Inside the restaurant, the eye is drawn to a huge chalkboard with all the menu items, brightly-colored banners hanging in the air (papel picado), clay pots (cazuelas), wood-finished tables and a huge La Chancla painting.<\/p>\n

\"\"La Chancla Mexican Grill has two huge menu displays that have the specials and the variety of food they offer. (Samuel Chacko | Signal Tribune)<\/p>\n

To spice things up, Miramontes placed 2,000 red and brown bricks adorning the interior walls of the restaurant. Miramontes said he wanted La Chancla to have a warm and cozy vibe, like a little casita (house) in Mexico. He also added wooden pallets he found outside his shop to add to the rustic ambience.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you build something with your hands, you fall in love with it a little more,\u201d he said. \u201cI felt like if it was gonna be my first baby, I had to physically build it, so I can feel it and make it mine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Miramontes was conceptualizing the menu, he kept coming back to Mexican mothers \u2014 he fondly remembers his mom making tortillas at home.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In both name and flavors, Miramontes wanted his restaurant to remind people of their Mexican mother. He was thinking of calling the business \u201cTacos Madres\u201d or \u201cMama\u2019s Tacos,\u201d but it wasn\u2019t catchy enough. That\u2019s when La Chancla popped into his head.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Miramontes asked his friends on Instagram what La Chancla reminded them of and they unanimously responded with \u201cmy mom.\u201d<\/p>\n

While La Chancla has a negative connotation, referring to the sandal Mexican mothers use to punish misbehaving children, Miramontes wants to flip that connotation on its head.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI want the name to remind [people] of the love the moms have, the sternness \u2026\u00a0 the passion they have when it comes to their food, the kitchen and raising their family,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The business started with just Miramontes and his mother, Rosal\u00eda Guti\u00e9rrez. Working in a family-owned restaurant is a tall task in itself \u2014 have you ever tried ordering your mom around the kitchen?<\/p>\n

Miramontes and his mother split the jobs at La Chancla: she runs the catering side while he runs the restaurant.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Founder and chef of the family-owned restaurant La Chancla Mexican Grill, Ismael Miramontes, cuts meats and a variety of items as his team works on a catering order on Sept. 20, 2026. (Samuel Chacko | Signal Tribune)<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day is different, man. Some days we love each other and some days we don\u2019t want to see each other for Thanksgiving,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When La Chancla first opened, Miramontes said a man came in by himself and ordered a three-taco combo with rice and beans. It was a slow day, but he noticed the man taking a bite of his food and pausing. The man began crying.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Miramontes asked if everything was alright and the man responded, \u201cThese beans taste just like my grandma\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that it\u2019s beans, nothing out of this world, nothing crazy, nothing fancy, just beans. The fact we\u2019re able to make someone bring those memories, it reminded me of why we do what we do and why we keep doing it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe live in a world with Instagram and crazy pictures and crazy foods. That\u2019s not my family. We\u2019re a simple, hardworking family that just wants to share where we come from.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Initially, Miramontes wanted the business to just last through COVID. Then, he wanted to get to the second year \u2026 and then at the five-year mark \u2014 after all, restaurants usually don\u2019t make it past five years \u2014 the business still survived. Making it to the present day was inconceivable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Poleth Pardo, a long-time employee of La Chancla Mexican Grill and Ismael Ismael Miramontes, work together to create an assortment of food for a catering order on Sept. 20, 2026. (Samuel Chacko | Signal Tribune)<\/p>\n

With La Chancla now in its seventh year, its lasting success leaves Miramontes proud. Proud of his team, of his family and the dream that made it past his family\u2019s driveway.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to do it alone, you can\u2019t do it [alone], so I\u2019ve been lucky enough to have a good team. People that have been struggling with us, good times and bad, the help of family as well. They\u2019re still there, [I\u2019m] just proud that this little hole in the wall still has the love in Long Beach,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

La Chancla Mexican Grill is one of many restaurants across the city to partner with Latino Restaurant Week<\/a>, happening Oct. 5 to Oct. 11. The restaurant is located at 990 Cherry Ave. Unit 102. They are open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.<\/p>\n

Check out lachanclamexicangrill.com<\/a> for more information about their story and menu.<\/p>\n

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