Martin Luzanilla drove trucks for 15 years before the COVID-19 pandemic took him off the road and put him behind a grill.
“I couldn’t find anything good to eat anywhere,” Luzanilla said during a phone interview. “You couldn’t get a good pancake anymore because it just didn’t taste authentic. So I just put together what I could and decided to start an eatery out of my driveway, and it blew up.”
Chef Luzanilla opened Mexihanas Hibachi Grill in Long Beach on Dec. 4, 2020, and quickly expanded from a ghost kitchen to a full-fledged eatery less than a year later in Oct. 2021. He specializes in quickly roasting vegetables and meats over a flat-top grill for Japanese-Mexican fusion dishes and considers it to be a hole-in-the-wall. However, word eventually got around, including to comedian and actor Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias.
“I actually met Fluffy from a direct message,” Luzanilla said. “He congratulated me for opening my restaurant, and for the billboard sign we had up right off the 405 Freeway, which caught his attention. He told me he’d like to come by and try out the food, and he hasn’t stopped coming by since. To have a person like Fluffy come into my establishment is like a dream come true.”
As the star started coming into the restaurant more frequently, the two developed a friendship, leading the comedian to ask Luzanilla to cook off-menu items like huevos con salchichas (hot dogs and eggs) and anything else he craved.
“Fluffy has his own shelf at our restaurant, and whatever he needs, it’s always there,” Luzanilla said. “We don’t have to scramble. It’s like a VIP shelf for him, and he appreciates it, and we appreciate it. Us being able to be so universal with the dishes that he asked us for is what got us the opportunity to collab with him and bring all of his secret menu items to life.”
The spam & pineapple fried rice is one of the new collaboration dishes between Chef Martin Luzanilla and Gabriel “Fluffy Iglesias, served at bEATS inside Yaamava’ Resort & Casino in Highland through Oct. 31. (Photo courtesy of Yaamava’ Resort & Casino)
The hibachi beef & cheese quesadillas are one of the new collaboration dishes between Chef Martin Luzanilla and Gabriel “Fluffy Iglesias, served at bEATS inside Yaamava’ Resort & Casino in Highland through Oct. 31. (Photo courtesy of Yaamava’ Resort & Casino)
The Fluffyrito is one of the new collaboration dishes between Chef Martin Luzanilla and Gabriel “Fluffy Iglesias, served at bEATS inside Yaamava’ Resort & Casino in Highland through Oct. 31. (Photo courtesy of Yaamava’ Resort & Casino)
The beef chow mein is one of the new collaboration dishes between Chef Martin Luzanilla and Gabriel “Fluffy Iglesias, served at bEATS inside Yaamava’ Resort & Casino in Highland through Oct. 31. (Photo courtesy of Yaamava’ Resort & Casino)
The carrot cake is one of the new collaboration dishes between Chef Martin Luzanilla and Gabriel “Fluffy Iglesias, served at bEATS inside Yaamava’ Resort & Casino in Highland through Oct. 31. (Photo courtesy of Yaamava’ Resort & Casino)
Chef Martin Luzanilla and Gabriel “Fluffy Iglesias collaborated on a limited-time menu at bEATS located inside Yaamava’ Resort & Casino in Highland. The special menu runs through Oct. 31. (Photo courtesy of Yaamava’ Resort & Casino)
Chef Martin Luzanilla and Gabriel “Fluffy Iglesias collaborated on a limited-time menu at bEATS located inside Yaamava’ Resort & Casino in Highland. The special menu runs through Oct. 31. (Photo courtesy of Yaamava’ Resort & Casino)
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The spam & pineapple fried rice is one of the new collaboration dishes between Chef Martin Luzanilla and Gabriel “Fluffy Iglesias, served at bEATS inside Yaamava’ Resort & Casino in Highland through Oct. 31. (Photo courtesy of Yaamava’ Resort & Casino)
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Some of the secret menu items that Luzanilla is referring to have only been tasted by Iglesias, but will now be available for a limited time at the Yaamava’ Resort & Casino in Highland. The property reached out to Iglesias about collaborating with a celebrity chef for a specialty menu, and he immediately suggested Luzanilla.
The chef and comedian have partnered with the property for a special menu exclusively at bEATs through Oct. 31. Guests can order dishes inspired by the meals Iglesias orders most often.
“Fluffy would come in and do a regular fried rice, which has the choice to add chicken, shrimp, or beef to go with the fried rice if they like, or a combination,” Luzanilla said. “One day Fluffy came through the door and was like, ‘Hey, I got this can of Spam. You want to bake it up and throw it in the fried rice?’ I told him sure, and I went next door to the pizza shop, grabbed a couple of cups of pineapple, threw them in with the diced-up Spam, and we made it happen.”
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Luzanilla added that Iglesias was blown away and that it became his favorite dish at his restaurant. Other tasty concoctions include the beef chow mein, topped with Mongolian beef and vegetables, and served over chop suey hibachi noodles. Then there is the Fluffyrito, a burrito stuffed with Spam fried rice, Mongolian beef, chop suey noodles, and vegetables.
The beef and cheese quesadilla is one of Iglesias’ other favorite orders at Luzanilla’s restaurant and is filled with gooey Chihuahua cheese and Mongolian beef inside a flour tortilla that’s crispy after a few flips on a flat-iron grill. For dessert, guests can enjoy the carrot cake, which weighs half a pound. Luzanilla said it was delicious enough to get Iglesias to give his favorite pastry, chocolate cake, a break.
“The fusion of the dishes that are Japanese and Mexican style works great together, and it’s easy and quick eats for all the players at the casino to have in their hand while they’re at the machine or blackjack table,” Luzanilla said. “The food is universal and is something everyone can enjoy.”
Dining and Cooking