The contributions made by Black-owned restaurants and bars in Los Angeles are immeasurable. Institutions like Harold and Belle’s in Jefferson Park, Dulan’s on Crenshaw in Hyde Park and Lalibela in Carthay have a long-standing presence in neighborhoods across the city. These are places that hold deep meaning for their communities, creating neighborhood hubs for locals and sought-after destinations for everyone else.
These 14 restaurants and bars were featured in the most recent edition of The Times’ 101 Best Restaurants in L.A. written by critic Bill Addison and me. They were also pulled from our Hall of Fame, a collection of businesses whose importance exceeds any year’s list, as well as from the list of our favorite places to drink.
In writing about Post & Beam for the most recent 101 list, I described John and Roni Cleveland’s Baldwin Hill’s restaurant as one of the beating hearts of our city. The same could be said for many of the businesses featured here. A colleague, assistant food editor Danielle Dorsey, recently reported on the planned closure of Post & Beam. It’s a reminder of the fragility of our favorite restaurants, how vital their presence is in the city and how important it is to continue to support them.
This list is a great place to start. — Jenn Harris