From Cebu With Love: The Story Behind Rico's Lechon

Ask those in the know where to get the best Cebu lechon and the name Rico’s Lechon is bound to come up.

After all, this chain has been around for nearly three decades with outposts in both Manila and Cebu, and even counts prominent celebrities and politicians as its regulars. Not only that, it touts itself as one of the very first places to come up with a spicy version of lechon. They've got pretty killer lechon baka too.

But the road to becoming one of the top players in the lechon scene wasn’t an easy one.

Also read: 10 Places Where You Can Get the Best Lechon in Carcar

The story behind Rico's Lechon

From cockfighting rings to the Presidential palace

The story of Rico’s Lechon starts with its namesake, Enrico “Rico” Dionson.

Originally a bet caller in cockfighting arenas, Dionson initially entered the lechon business as one of his side hustles, since he needed an additional source of income. Many considered it to be an odd decision, considering that Dionson had no roasting experience at all and also didn’t have a family recipe to fall back on.

At first, Dionson struggled to find the right blend of herbs and spices for his lechon. His first batch of lechon was said to be too salty, with one customer even pointing out that all he needed to add was water to get the taste of the sea.

Eventually though, he found his perfect formula of lemongrass, tomatoes, leeks, vinegar, and calamansi.

Rico’s Lechon big break came in 1998, just one year after Dionson started the business. One of his friends suggested that he bring over some of his lechon to the house of the newly elected president, Joseph “Erap” Estrada. Erap ended up loving Rico’s Lechon so much that he asked Dionson to bring over 50 of his lechon from Cebu to Malacanang for his birthday party.

 And with that, Rico’s Lechon quickly became a favorite among celebrities and politicians in the country. It also led to the opening of various restaurants in Cebu and the addition of other lechon-related items such as lechon sisig and their signature spicy lechon—born out of Dionson’s love for spicy food.

Also read: It's Time You Try This Underrated Cebu Lechon

The road to Manila

George Pua, meanwhile, fell in love with Rico’s Lechon during a 2013 food trip to Cebu. Pua, the restauranter behind concepts like K-Pub BBQ, Ogawa, and Modern Chinese, is now the owner of the Rico’s Lechon name.

Pua shares that he originally did not have any interest in putting up a lechon business in Manila, but Rico’s Lechon changed his mind. “After eating all the different lechon in Cebu, [Rico’s Lechon] really had this distinct taste. Once you get used to eating Rico’s Lechon, you’ll never go back to sarsa,” he says. “‘Tong Cebu lechon na ito, umaapaw ng umami.”

It took a while for Pua to convince Dionson to hand him over the keys though—four years to be exact.

“It wasn’t until 2017 that [Dionson] called me up and asked if I wanted to buy Rico’s Lechon,” says Pua. This was after multiple lunches and dinners together and a reintroduction by a mutual friend–the same friend who introduced Dionson to Erap.

So with Pua now having a hundred percent of shares in the Rico’s Lechon brand, he decided to get to work bringing it to Manila. Pua first took over Cebu operations, just to learn the ropes and see what they needed to do in order to make the leap to Manila.

Rico’s Lechon first Manila outpost opened in Bonifacio Global City in 2018—but not without its challenges. The first being that Pua had no real experience running a lechon business. But Dionson reassured him that all of his experienced employees would be willing to help him make the transition, and even flew in some of them from Cebu to Manila to help run the restaurant.

The second challenge was trying to find a steady supply of native pigs for the restaurants. With native pigs being more expensive and harder to come by, it took a while for them to find a reliable supplier. That eventually changed after they opened, with suppliers choosing to come to them instead.

Expansion and beyond

Rico’s Lechon now has over 10 branches all over Manila and Cebu, and now has plans of expanding in areas like Pampanga. Pua says it’s just a matter of finding the right place for their commissary. “We are seriously looking in Pampanga—San Fernando, Angeles, Subic. In order for you to be able to maximize the commissary, you need at least three stores nearby, otherwise sayang lahat ng trabaho.”

Aside from expanding in areas outside of Manila and Cebu, Pua says they’re also looking to experiment in the turo-turo scene. They’re planning to open one such concept soon in a major transportation hub in Metro Manila, serving classic ulam like sisig, munggo, and of course, lechon belly to commuters in a fast and efficient way.

Ultimately, Pua sees the Rico’s Lechon brand sticking around for a while.

“Lechon will always be lechon. It will be the pride and joy of every party. Other food you can do without. Lechon for Filipinos, it’s part of our heritage, our culture. Kung walang lechon hindi yan party.”