This month, community restaurant Locol returned as a nonprofit with a new menu focused on comfort food and a renewed mission.
Locol opened in Watts at its current 103rd Street location in 2016 and later expanded. The brainchild of celebrity chefs Roy Choi and Daniel Patterson, and former LA Times Restaurant of the Year — offered healthier, more delicious fast food, as well as vocational skills and employment opportunities to underserved communities until all branches closed in 2018.
But this year, Patterson and his business partner at Alta Adams, Chef Keith Corbin, former kitchen manager at Locol, gave it new life through Alta Community, Your non-profit organization that operates and oversees Locol.
Now, they serve plates piled high with fried chicken, thick burgers and even oxtails drenched in gravy, all of which add splashes of color to the black-and-white dining room. Many of the dishes are inspired by those found in Alta, but are served in Watts at lower prices; most items cost between $10 and $25, but some, like the burgers, are as low as $3.
Locol's current menu is a mix of old and new. A new take on traditional fare inspired by that of its sister restaurant, Alta, offers fried chicken with macaroni and cheese, yams and cornbread, while Locol's original dishes, such as taco-like “foldies,” can once again be found.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Choi, though no longer involved in the business, remains an inspiration. Patterson said this feels like a continuation, or a relay race where the baton has been passed to them.
“It’s the same, just the dishes are different: same concept, same idea, we just work with different products,” Corbin said.
“Food is not the main goal of the company, it’s economic empowerment,” Patterson added. “Instead of having a door that opens and closes, what do we have to do to keep it open?”
Employment is at the heart of Locol's strategy. The new version has around 10 Watts employees, seven of them interns at Yo! Watts, a youth centre that coordinates job opportunities and training programmes.
Local chef and partner Daniel Patterson plants what will become an herb garden on the restaurant's patio. He's assisted by his son, Julian.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Once their employees have completed their degree, Corbin and Patterson hope to place them in permanent positions at restaurants elsewhere to improve their culinary skills. Eventually, they would like to partner with area schools to offer educational programs and presentations on nutrition.
But first, they will serve lunch and dinner.
“One of the things we ended up talking about was Hawkins [House of Burgers]“They’ve been there since the 1970s, and I ask myself: ‘What does it take for a place to become an institution that people can trust?’ Instinctively, we said traditional food.”
This sentiment was shared by almost everyone when the chefs asked residents what they wanted to see served in the space.
Lower rent costs, a counter-service model, and slight modifications to ingredients (such as using water in yams instead of the almond milk used at West Adams) allow for lower prices.
But for all the elements being mixed in, many of Watts’ dishes are unique, including beef sausages or ribs so tender they instantly curl into a U-shape upon removal from the grill. The chefs aren’t worried about their businesses cannibalizing each other; they are, in their eyes, entirely separate experiences. And while some Alta regulars have visited the newly reopened Locol, Patterson said, “it’s been 95% community-based.”
Locol’s long-standing staples, like taco-like “foldies,” are back, this time filled with beef cheek, smoked chicken and more.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
“That’s what we wanted,” Corbin added. “We wanted to give it to the community first and then let it spread.”
The process took much longer than anticipated; new permits and seeking prior approvals dragged on for months. As they weathered the process, they repaired equipment and held their breath. The approvals came days before a community barbecue meant to serve as Locol’s reintroduction to the community — and a test run in which Corbin and Patterson prepared 200 orders in three to four hours. It proved so popular that by the restaurant’s official reopening on Aug. 8, a slew of those diners were again waiting in line.
Funding proved difficult to secure, and Corbin and Patterson largely funded the project themselves. A contribution from Councilwoman Heather Hutt, outside of Locol's district, allowed the reopening after nearly all other local politicians and organizations folded, the chefs said.
Corbin lifts a rack of ribs (a new item) from the backyard smoker.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Over the years, Corbin and Patterson say they have seen Promises made and broken On the part of politicians, some Watts residents were left without basic resources or employment prospects. This has reinforced their mission to provide help on the ground, right from their kitchens.
“I grew up here, so I know how we’re treated here,” Corbin said. “I was raised with the mentality that if we don’t do it, who will? We can’t wait for someone else to do it… Nobody’s coming to throw us a life jacket.”
Locol is open at 1950 E. 103rd St., Los Angeles, noon to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.
