{"id":84325,"date":"2024-11-21T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=84325"},"modified":"2024-11-24T08:25:27","modified_gmt":"2024-11-24T16:25:27","slug":"mothers-kitchen-signal-hills-restaurant-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/food\/mothers-kitchen-signal-hills-restaurant-family","title":{"rendered":"Mother\u2019s Kitchen, Signal Hill\u2019s newest breakfast and lunch spot, is built around family"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s hard to think of a name more fitting than Mother\u2019s Kitchen for Ericka Isunza\u2019s newly opened restaurant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When she started her first business \u2014 a furniture store \u2014 with just a cash register, a dining table and four chairs, her goal was to make sure she had enough time for her family\u2019s needs. Nearly 15 years later, her kids are now so intertwined with her new business that the menu pays homage to them, breaking up the offerings into favorites from her four children, her grandson and other family and friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Son Habid Abdelkrim\u2019s favorite is the Bid\u2019s Burger for $21 (with Bid short for Habid), which comes served on a Hawaiian bread bun topped with a fried egg, avocado, bacon and cheddar cheese with a side of fries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n Link<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Isunza\u2019s oldest son Joseph\u2019s favorite dish is a ribeye steak served with two eggs cooked to your liking, along with a side of rice and beans for $25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other dishes feature recipes from Isunza\u2019s mom, aunts and her grandma, honoring her roots growing up in Durango, Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel blessed and I\u2019m grateful because I have good kids and they\u2019re with me in the project, the business and at the end of the day, that\u2019s for them, for their future,\u201d Isunza said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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French toast at Mother’s Kitchen in Signal Hill, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Isunza raised her kids primarily in Signal Hill, where Mother\u2019s Kitchen recently opened at 3382 Orange Ave., but they moved to Long Beach\u2019s Belmont Heights neighborhood six years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The restaurant is just around the corner from The Pink Romantic Home<\/a>, the furniture store Isunza opened at 1204 E Wardlow Rd. in 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Construction and permitting on Mother\u2019s Kitchen took over five years and included an unlicensed contractor disappearing with their money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was such a long process that son Abdelkrim started and completed a psychology degree at Cal State Long Beach during that five-year stretch. Now Abdelkrim runs the eatery\u2019s day-to-day operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s [been] an ongoing battle, but I\u2019m very grateful that we were able to open and serve good food to the community.\u201d Abdelkrim said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mother’s tostadas at Mother’s Kitchen in Signal Hill, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Chorizo with scrambled eggs at Mother’s Kitchen in Signal Hill, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After a grand opening at the beginning of November, Mother\u2019s Kitchen is now offering menu favorites like pozole, chilaquiles, tostadas and chorizo with a side of homestyle potatoes. The family plans to add menudo and tamales to the menu soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drink options include coffee, horchata, cucumber water and atole \u2014 a masa-based Mexican beverage served hot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Isunza was hiring a chef, she only had one test: rice. Chef Alfredo Gonzalez passed with flying colors and has now started putting his own stamp on the menu, recently suggesting pink tacos for Taco Tuesday.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For $6 every Tuesday, guests can get four tacos served on pink tortillas with your choice of filling: carne asada, pollo asado, cabeza and lengua.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The colorful idea fits perfectly with the aesthetic of Isunza\u2019s businesses. Mother\u2019s Kitchen<\/a> is filled with roses, pastels, chandeliers and even a giant pink Nutcracker. Her furniture store, The Pink Romantic Home<\/a>, has a similar vibe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growing up, Abdelkrim said he wasn\u2019t always thrilled to spend time in the store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chilaquiles at Mother’s Kitchen in Signal Hill, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Joe’s steak at Mother’s Kitchen in Signal Hill, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe roses and the pink stuff, you know, I\u2019m a boy. I wasn\u2019t accustomed to it. So, you know, there were times where I would get off basketball practice, come to the store and I\u2019m like, \u2018Man this is not for me,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cBut as time went on and I got older, I kind of understood that this is art. People appreciate how she puts stuff together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2022, The Pink Romantic Home expanded to a second location at Parkview Village near the intersection of East Carson Street and North Bellflower Boulevard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isunza\u2019s daughter Kariza manages both locations while also attending CSULB as a sophomore pursuing a business degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isunza said her daughter handles everything from merchandise to inventory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her son Hunter earns his paycheck there too, Isunza said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Isunza has driven the business\u2019 success with her eye for design, she said she\u2019s always open to new ideas from her kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her daughter suggested giving a bouquet of flowers to customers who spend over $100 at the store. It\u2019s been a hit with customers and is now a practice at Mother\u2019s Kitchen as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mother\u2019s Kitchen, 3382 Orange Ave., is open every day from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. On Pink Taco Tuesdays, the eatery stays open until 10 p.m.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With menu items named for her children and recipes passed down from her relatives, Ericka Isunza\u2019s restaurant is an homage to her loved ones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23521,"featured_media":84324,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[153,31926],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[32323],"class_list":["post-84325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food","tag-food","tag-restaurant","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84325"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84364,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84325\/revisions\/84364"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84325"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=84325"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=84325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}