{"id":90403,"date":"2026-11-05T06:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T14:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/?p=90403"},"modified":"2026-11-05T07:45:53","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T15:45:53","slug":"black-pork-west-long-beach-empanadas-clam-chowder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/eat-see-do-2\/eat\/black-pork-west-long-beach-empanadas-clam-chowder","title":{"rendered":"Black Pork, a hidden gem in West Long Beach, is serving comfort food from empanadas to clam chowder"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For Luis Mendiola, the kitchen is his happy place. It has been since he was a kid. The kitchen is warm and comfortable. The kitchen feeds him and keeps him safe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like being in the womb. You are always protected,\u201d Mendiola said in Spanish. And while Mendiola loves cooking in the kitchen, his wife, Veronica Lopez, enjoys serving customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together, they\u2019re running their dream restaurant in West Long Beach, Black Pork<\/a>. Lopez describes Black Pork as \u201ca multicultural, California-style\u201d restaurant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before meeting in California and settling in Long Beach together, Mendiola and Lopez learned to cook in various professional kitchens from Mexico to London, Louisiana to Oregon. Drawing from their experiences around the world, they put together a menu of comfort foods: empanadas, mac and cheese balls, clam chowder, Cubano sandwiches, hamburgers, barbecue ribs, porchetta, Korean barbecue and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to give people something different with our style,\u201d Lopez said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Veronica Lopez and Chef Luis Mediola own and operate Black Pork restaurant in West Long Beach. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The menu is a culmination of customer feedback over the last three years and what the couple just wants to make. Clam chowder holds a special place in Mendiola\u2019s heart because it was one of the first soups he learned how to make, so when customers asked for a soup, it was easy to decide which one. The clam chowder was only supposed to be on the menu for a couple of months, but customers loved it so much they kept it as a regular menu item. The soup, like almost all of their food, is made from scratch and has a hint of spice from the splash of Tabasco and white pepper that Mendiola adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a name like Black Pork, their pork dishes, of course, take center stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe pork belly skewers are decadent; crispy but tender, the smoky flavor is perfect. Chef Luis makes some mouth-watering Cubano pulled pork, too,\u201d Kate Maule, a long-time customer, said. \u201cI honestly won\u2019t order a Cubano sandwich anywhere else because it will never be made with the care Chef Luis takes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Inside Black Pork, a three-foot-tall black pig wearing a scarf and glasses greets customers as they walk through the door. A smaller pig wearing a bow tie stands on the counter next to the register. Illustrations of pigs line the left wall and figurines of pigs with wings sit on a shelf above the tables. Mendiola and Lopez’s nod to John Steinbeck’s Pigasus<\/a><\/em> \u2014 a symbol of aspiration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pig motif and the restaurant\u2019s name are a reflection of Mendiola\u2019s passion for cooking with pork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[Mendiola] loves to cook with the pork because he says that you can work with everything: the head, the tongue, the feet, everything. You can do whatever you want,\u201d Lopez said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cuban pork sandwich at Black Pork restaurant in West Long Beach. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the three years they\u2019ve been open, Lopez said Black Pork has gained a loyal following from customers in Long Beach and surrounding cities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don’t know why people come here, but I love that they do it,\u201d Lopez said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maule said it is the food and the warm hospitality of Lopez and Mendiola that make Black Pork one of her favorite restaurants and keeps her coming back at least once a month since they opened in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t just go for a good meal. You visit friends, too,\u201d Maule said. \u201cChef Luis and Veronica aren\u2019t just chefs; they\u2019re the best kind of people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Guava and spices (left) and peach ginger iced tea at Black Pork restaurant in West Long Beach. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

She appreciates how much care they put into every dish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can tell Chef Luis put himself into all of his smoked meats; you can tell Chef Veronica puts her last touches on everything before that plate gets put in front of you. I rarely get that feeling anywhere else,\u201d Maule said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christine Cabrera’s customers at PBS Pub<\/a> in Wrigley, kept raving about the empanadas at Black Pork. When Cabrera and her husband, who help run the pub, finally went to Black Pork a few months after the restaurant opened, they planned on ordering their food to-go. But they dined-in after meeting Lopez and Mendiola. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe hit it off with [Mendiola and Lopez], ordered appetizers, and left with full bellies and hearts,\u201d Cabrera said. Now, Cabrera and her husband are one of the many frequent customers at Black Pork and sell their empanadas at their pub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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