The next big thing in restaurants? Small and steady growth

Shops that aren't trying to be instantly Instagram-famous might be part of a correction after 20 years of excess

- KAREN STABINER

THE SKY IS falling.

Ask anyone who owns a restaurant — except Richie Lopez, owner of the three-month-old Pontu in Ocean Park, where he serves Peruvian chicken, sides and cold drinks from a takeout window and at a tiny patio out back, midday to 6:30, seven days a week. The 30-seat interior isn’t ready for dinner service yet, and he’s waiting on a beer and wine license, but he shrugs off any notion of bad timing, even as established places falter citywide.

“Opening a restaurant is like having a baby,” he said. “There’s never a right time. You just do it.”

Across town in West Adams, Alfonso “Poncho” Martinez runs the eight-month-old Lugya’h at Maydan Market, a space he shares with six other restaurants. For more than 10 years he served tlayudas — a large toasted corn tortilla with toppings — to long lines at an outdoor stall, earning a James Beard outstanding chef nomination in the process, long enough for him to hone his definition of success.

He gestures at the small operation he runs with his partner, Odilia Romero. Right here will do just fine. The Michelin Guide, which has added Lugya’h to its roster, seems to agree.