Dining Latino is produced in collaboration with Juntos de Lebanon and Level Eleven.
Located at 607 Cumberland St., Lebanon, Black Diamond Restaurant is entering its third year of business, serving up traditional Nicaraguan and Dominican dishes.
Co-owners and couple Marlon Lopez Castro and Kirsy Castillo have lived in the city of Lebanon for more than two decades and have six children.
Lopez Castro works in construction with one of their three daughters, Lizabeth Montilla, and Castillo works at a meat processing plant.
One day, years ago, they were hanging out in their living room and dreaming when Lopez Castro suggested they should open a restaurant.
“He said, ‘I’m a dreamer.’ He’s always aspired to achieve his dreams, and he thinks that life ends when you stop dreaming,” said Julie Viera, translating Lopez Castro’s words from Spanish. “So, he has always had dreams — this just being one of them.”
Their family kept this dream in their proverbial back pocket until they were ready to pursue it. Lopez Castro searched for a space fitting for the restaurant and eventually stumbled upon 607 Cumberland St.
Lopez Castro’s background in construction helped him to make his family’s vision for the space — which they wanted to feel expansive — a reality.
Their family wanted to name the restaurant something meaningful to them that connected with the English-speaking community. They also considered the Spanish language as well as Nicaraguan and Dominican cultures.
“He works in construction. A lot of times, he’ll come home, and he’ll be pretty dirty. So, one day, she’s on the phone, and he gets home from work, and he is greeted by her being like, ‘Oh, you’re like a black diamond,’ because he was dirty from working,” Viera said.
During the name brainstorming process, Lopez Castro remembered their conversation and asked Castillo how to say “diamante negro” in English, and “black diamond” just felt right.
Lopez Castro and Castillo opened Black Diamond in mid-December 2023 and operate the restaurant along with their mothers and Montilla.
The co-owners told LebTown that their most popular dish varies daily, as customers often order based on what they see other customers ordering. They’ve also found nacatamal to be popular among the English-speaking community.
In addition to the traditional Nicaraguan and Dominican dishes on its menu, the restaurant makes dishes by request, which Viera has found to be common among the Latino restaurants in this series.
The restaurant is known for making nearly everything it offers customers from scratch, including its drinks. The restaurant does not sell alcohol but offers homemade, fountain, and bottled drinks, such as soda and juice.
Black Diamond is open Tuesday to Thursday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Friday to Sunday, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., with Sundays tending to be the busiest time due to the restaurant hosting events. Black Diamond is closed on Mondays and some holidays.
“Everything has its ups and downs. They’re hoping for better days, busier,” Viera said. “It’s the climate — the political climate and the weather — that are really keeping people afraid to come out, so whether it’s snow or I.C.E.”
The co-owners told LebTown that the restaurant, which has a maximum occupancy of 50, looks and feels better when families, groups, and businesses come and eat together, but now, they’ll place orders for more than a dozen people and take them to go.
Lopez Castro and Castillo thanked Black Diamond’s customers for their support, which makes the restaurant — a dream realized — possible.
Continuing to dream, Lopez Castro considers opening a second location in Harrisburg or Manheim, while Castillo – speaking with LebTown during a particularly frigid streak of weather – considers somewhere in Arizona or California as fitting for a second location.
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