“Kuya Lord’s Filipino feast is food of power, finesse and delight” – Bill Addison, LA Times
About The
Restaurant
Kuya Lord is an elevated fast casual restaurant concept by Chef Lord Maynard Llera featuring regional Filipino dishes that he grew up eating in Lucena City, Quezon Province, Philippines. While the food harkens back to his childhood, Chef Maynard applies his classical techniques in enhancing and reinventing traditional Filipino dishes.
The monicker Kuya Lord is derived from the Tagalog word for “older brother” combined with the chef’s name “Lord Maynard.” This was also the name of the garage pop-up which developed quite a substantial following, prompting the chef to use the same brand for this Los Angeles location.
A few seats for sit-down dining are available, but mostly accepting take-out and advance order catering.
Before the pandemic hit in 2019, Llera launched his Kuya Lord pop-ups that brought his spin on Southern Tagalog cuisine to wine bars, breweries, food events, and private dining rooms. Through those pop-ups, he was able to showcase all of his three restaurant concepts: fine dining, fast casual and street food.
When COVID-19 struck and Californians were made to stay home, Kuya took the opportunity to do some research and development, and cultivate recipes for his upcoming projects. He then converted his La Cañada Flintridge house garage and backyard into a full kitchen and grill.
For the first few months, Kuya Lord and his wife Gigi, cooked Filipino food for friends, relatives and people who have been long time followers, and through word of mouth, more people inquired about his food.
That was how Kuya Lord came to be as people started picking up food on a weekly basis and the most favorite was the gigantic portions of various dishes served family style.
This snowballed into being featured in many articles written about Kuya Lord's food. That was how he developed his brand.
With the world opening up once again, he has decided to give this concept a permanent home at a 28-seater space in their East Hollywood location.
About the Chef
Awarded as 2024 Best Chef in California by the James Beard Foundation
Born and raised in the Philippines, Chef Maynard migrated to the United States in 2004 to pursue his passion for restaurant business management, with the ultimate dream of owning his own restaurant. After graduating from the esteemed Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, he relocated to Los Angeles, where his career flourished and eventually made a name for himself in the culinary scene.
For the past 21 years in the culinary industry, he gained invaluable experience and honed his skills in some of the West Coast’s most celebrated kitchens, working with renowned chefs such as Neal Fraser, Nyesha Arrington, Walter Manzke, and Ori Menashe, serving as sous chef at the iconic BESTIA.
Chef Maynard later became the Culinary Director for the h.wood Group, spearheading its culinary programs and creating standout restaurant concepts across the U.S. In 2019, he stepped away from the corporate culinary world to focus on his personal vision. He started hosting occasional pop-ups around Los Angeles. Then came the pandemic in 2020 and he converted his house garage into a full-on kitchen to start R&D for his new restaurant. It became a destination pop-up and rapidly gained popularity through word-of-mouth and food write-ups.
In 2022, Chef Maynard realized his long-held dream of opening his own restaurant, Kuya Lord, in Melrose Hills, where he showcases his deep passion for Filipino cuisine and his commitment to sharing the flavors of his heritage. Since he opened Kuya Lord in 2022, it made a serious mark in the food scene after gaining numerous accolades and recognition as one of the best restaurants not only in Los Angeles, but in America, bestowed upon by Bon Appetite, Timeout, LA Magazine, The Infatuation, LAist, among others. It has also been included in Los Angeles Times’ 101 Best Restaurants for 3 consecutive years now. Los Angeles Times food critic Bill Addison describes it as “Filipino feast as food of power, finesse, and delight.” He also added, “Llera stepped into the arena as a gripping new expressionist of Filipino cooking - a talent whose time had arrived.”
In June of 2024, Chef Maynard won the James Beard Award for Best Chef in California. This prestigious accolade reflects his exceptional talent, dedication, and the profound impact of his work not only in the culinary industry, but also in the Filipino community. He is truly elevating Filipino cuisine on a global scale.
About the Food
"Maynard focuses on using high quality ingredients and thoughtful cooking processes to make Filipino food shine. His Lucenachon, a Filipino-style porchetta, is a 4-day process of infusing Filipino flavors of garlic and lemongrass into a juicy and tender pork belly roast, with the crispiest, crackling skin. For his pancit chami, Maynard builds layers of sweet and spicy flavors, with every timely integration of his 20+ ingredients"
- Patrick Manalo, Paper Plate Zine Issue No. 1
"Pancit Chami is a signature dish of Lucena City, and with thick noodles and a starchy, gravy-like sauce, it’s fairly different from other types of pancit. Kuya Lord’s version is among the best we’ve ever had, period. It comes with either blue prawns or lechon kawali, but choosing one is a huge problem, because both are equally fantastic. "
- Brant Cox, The Infatuation
"Kuya Lord’s Filipino feast is food of power, finesse and delight." "Every dish is masterful."
- Bill Addision, Los Angeles Times
Sourced from premium food purveyors
Located in California that offers the best locally-grown produce available—our kitchen has access to the freshest vegetables, fruits, and herbs. We support our local farmers to ensure that our customers are always consuming the best of the season. Our meat, seafood, and spices are sourced only from premium food purveyors all over the world to provide our guests with the best experience possible every time they dine with us, or even at the comfort of their home, if they opted to have our food to-go or delivered.