Three Notable South LA Underground Food Heroes Team Up For New Restaurant

2019 could well be the year of All Flavor No Grease, at least if this first month is any indication. Not only has boisterous food truck owner Keith Garrett grown from two rigs into a standalone space at the 4th Street Market in Orange County, he’s now teaming up with some familiar South LA food faces to do a daytime cafe project in Westchester.

The new restaurant is to be called The Court Cafe, and signage is already up for the strip mall property. The restaurant is a collaboration with fellow former underground legends Taco Mell and Bleu Kitchen, who together (along with friends like Mr. Fries Man) go by the unofficial title of the “foodminati.”

The self-described “breakfast and lunch hangout” is not yet open, but its Instagram already carries over 6,000 followers. Garrett and company have even begun teasing out the menu items that will soon be available, from crab cake breakfast skillets to omelettes, waffles, jambalaya rolls, and breakfast burritos. Expect lots of big, cheesy, photo-ready dishes like lobster grilled cheese too.

While there’s no word on an opening date just yet and the Court’s social media pages don’t list an address, fans quickly spotted the storefront as the former Mama Joan’s Soul Food on Centinela Avenue, at the edges of Westchester, Ladera Heights, and Inglewood. The location is primed for a project like this, especially given the recent success of relative newcomer Hilltop Coffee in nearby View Park. Of course Inglewood’s food scene is also changing at a rapid rate, with more to come as stadium development pushes the area to new (and expensive) heights.

The Court Cafe. 5496 W. Centinela Ave., Los Angeles, CA.

• HBO’s Insecure Shines a Big Spotlight On Leimert Park’s Legendary Taco Spot [ELA]