The Brief

More than 400,000 students attend traditional public and charter schools in Los Angeles Unified, the second-largest district in the nation. LAUSD runs the schools in several other cities in L.A. County, too, such as West Hollywood and South Gate.

The district is also the county’s second largest employer with more than 83,000 educators, administrators, substitutes and support staff on its payroll.

LAUSD doesn't fit neatly into "city" or "county" categories. Although it's enshrined in the L.A. City Charter, LAUSD operates independently of City Hall. That's why you elect school board members directly. That also makes L.A. the largest city in the country in which the mayor has no direct control over the school board.

What can the school board do?

School board members have a lot of power. Among other things, school board members:

• Hire, fire and evaluate the superintendent. While the school board sets policy, the superintendent manages day-to-day LAUSD operations. The board placed current superintendent Alberto Carvalho on paid administrative leave and appointed Andres Chait, a longtime administrator, acting superintendent in February.
• Pass an $18.8 billion budget and decide how it will be distributed.
• Work with parents and resolve disputes over schools, facilities and budgets.
• Vote on every charter school that hopes to open in L.A. (The board doesn’t oversee day-to-day operations for independent charters; these campuses are run by separate, nonprofit organizations with a separate board.)

You might recognize the board's work from:

• Early learning and care: Every 4-year-old in California is now eligible for free pre-kindergarten classes, or transitional kindergarten (also known as TK).
• Student cellphone ban: The board voted in June 2024 to ban student cellphone and social media use during the school day amid rising concerns about the impact of the technologies on youth mental health. The new restrictions took effect in February 2025, with students and educators reporting mixed results.
• Advocating for immigrant and LGBTQ+ students: In August, the school district announced a slew of additional protections for immigrant students, and had previously announced more protections for LGBTQ+ staff, and families of students, as a response to the policies of the second Trump administration.

How much money do school board members make? 

A committee appointed by local politicians sets the salary and benefits for LAUSD board members.

As of July 2025, LAUSD school board members receive:

• $52,000 if they have another source of employment income. 
• $130,000 if they do not have another source of employment income. 

These salaries increase 1% annually through July 2027.

Before 2017, the board’s pay was based on starting teacher salaries at the time, about $45,000 a year.

The Los Angeles Unified School District Board on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024.

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Mariana Dale

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When do I want to bring something to the board’s attention?

San Fernando Valley mom Roxann Nazario has spent years advocating for her children’s education and on behalf of others in the community.

She said the first person to talk to about your child’s education is their teacher, but if you don’t feel like your question or problem is being addressed, reach out to the principal and other school staff. Then try the regional superintendents — find your region here and the contact information for who’s in charge here.

“There's a chain of command and you have to work your way all the way up,” Nazario said.

To contact the board member who represents your local school or neighborhood (more on how to find them below), you’ll likely first speak to someone who works for their office.

While there’s no guarantee that a board member can or will solve the problem at your individual school, board members LAist has interviewed often pride themselves on listening to and intervening at the local level.

If your goal is to draw wider public attention to an issue — or success — at your child’s school, you might consider attending a board meeting.

The board also has several committees. These meetings are an opportunity to learn more about specific topics and weigh in on policy development, but major decisions must be voted on by the full board.

These are the 2025-2026 school year committees:

• Charter schools
• Children and families in early education 
• Curriculum and instruction 
• Greening and climate resilience 
• Procurement and facilities 
• Safety and school climate 
• Special education 
• Committee of the whole 
  
  • This includes all board members and often previews upcoming policy decisions 

There is an opportunity to speak directly to the board, and whoever may be watching the meeting, during public comment.

Nazario suggests you watch the livestream of a meeting or attend one in person to familiarize yourself with the order of business.

Speakers must pre-register and can comment by phone or in person. They are generally limited to two minutes.

“Don't be afraid to be emotional,” Nazario said. “Don't be afraid to stumble over your words. Like that just shows that you're human and you're not scripted… . You're a real parent just giving your story.”

While board members typically don’t answer questions or respond in the moment, they can dispatch members of their staff to meet with you about your comment. Speaking publicly can also help connect you to other parents, educators and journalists who may report on what you’ve shared.

Who is on the school board?

Board members are elected to four-year terms (with a maximum of three full terms), and represent different geographical areas.

You can also reach the entire board at boardmembers@lausd.net or by leaving a voicemail at (213) 443-4472.

District 1 Board Member Sherlett Hendy Newbill

• Includes Mid City, parts of South L.A. (map)
• Elected: 2024
• Term expires: 2028
• Call: 213-241-6382 (central office) 323-298-3411 (field office)
• Email: BoardDistrict1@lausd.net
• Social media: Instagram

District 2 Board Vice President Rocío Rivas

• Includes Downtown L.A., East L.A. (map)
• Elected: 2022
• Term expires: 2026
• Email: rocio.rivas@lausd.net
• Call: 213-241-6020
• Social media: Instagram, Facebook and X

District 3 Board President Scott Schmerelson

• Includes West San Fernando Valley, North Hollywood (map)
• Elected: 2016, 2020, 2024
• Final term expires: 2028
• Email: scott.schmerelson@lausd.net
• Call: (213) 241-8333
• Social media: Instagram and Facebook

District 4 Board Member Nick Melvoin

• Includes West Hollywood, some beach cities (map)
• Elected: 2017, 2022
• Term expires: 2026
• Email: nick.melvoin@lausd.net
• Call: 213-241-6387
• Social media: Instagram, Facebook and X

District 5 Board Member Karla Griego

• Includes parts of Northeast and Southwest L.A. (map)
• Elected: 2024
• Term expires: 2028
• Email: district5@lausd.net
• Call: 213-241-1000
• Social media: Instagram and Facebook

District 6 Board Member Kelly Gonez

• Includes East San Fernando Valley (map)
• Elected: 2017, 2022
• Term expires: 2026
• Email: kelly.gonez@lausd.net
• Call: 213-241-6388
• Social media: Instagram, Facebook and X

District 7 Board Member Tanya Ortiz Franklin

• Includes South LA, and parts of the South Bay (map)
• Elected: 2020, 2024
• Term expires: 2028
• Email: tanya.franklin@lausd.net
• Call: (213) 241-6385
• Social media: Instagram, Facebook and X

How can I attend a board meeting? 

Check the board’s calendar for the next regular, special and committee meetings.

The board meets in person in downtown Los Angeles at 333 S. Beaudry Ave.

The board also streams its meetings online, and offers American Sign Language and Spanish interpretation.

Community members can also request interpretation in other languages by contacting the Board Secretariat at secretariat@lausd.net or (213) 241-7002.

Parking in downtown L.A. can be an adventure. We made a map, below, of district-sanctioned and unofficial lots in the area.

What challenges does the district face?

• Balancing LAUSD’s budget: The board has adopted spending plans for the past two years that rely on billions of dollars in reserves to close the gap between expenses and revenue. School leaders say without change, the district could deplete its reserves within a few years. In February, a divided board approved the elimination of more than 650 jobs as part of a plan to cut spending. Decisions about more layoffs and school closures could be on the horizon.
• Continuing academic improvement: LAUSD students have achieved notable gains on California's standardized math and reading tests in recent years. Scores rose above pre-pandemic levels in the 2024-2025 school year, outpacing state growth, but the reality remains the majority of students do not meet benchmark scores for any subject. Among the most vocal parents are those of students with disabilities, who say schools failed to meet their children’s needs during distance learning.
• Shoring up enrollment: The district’s enrollment has declined for more than two decades. There are also fewer immigrant students attending L.A. schools in the wake of the Trump Administration’s widespread immigration arrests. California uses attendance to set school funding levels— over time fewer students means a smaller multiplier for state funding.
• School safety: How well LAUSD does or does not protect students is one of the most frequently cited topics during board meeting public comment sessions. On one side are parents who seek the restoration of school police to district campuses after the board cut that department's annual budget by $25 million (35%) in the summer of 2020. On the other side are students who want to see a greater investment in student and community-based safety programs.
• Chronic absenteeism: About 1-in-5 LAUSD students missed close to a month or more of school in the 2024-25 school year. While the rate of chronic absenteeism has declined from earlier pandemic highs, Black, Native American, Latino, and Pacific Islander students miss more school than their peers. A lack of transportation, access to health care, and feeling of safety could all play a role. Without consistent attendance, students lose valuable opportunities to learn, and the district loses funding that could bolster classrooms with additional resources.
• Mental health: In various surveys and reporting, many students say their mental health suffered far more than their transcripts during the pandemic, and schools have struggled to hire enough school counselors and social workers. The school board will have to figure out how to maintain and grow mental health support for students. 
• Green schools: The majority of LAUSD schools lack cool, shaded places for students to play and learn outdoors. The district has allocated tens of millions of dollars to cool campuses in recent years and estimates it could cost up to $3 billion and take decades, to reach its greening goals.

What if my child attends a charter school?

The LAUSD board’s influence on charter schools varies and in many cases, charters have boards separate from the district.

Affiliated charter schools are those operated by the district and the LAUSD board’s decisions influence their operations in a similar way to a traditional public school.

Independent charter schools are run by a separate, nonprofit organization. And day-to-day operations are overseen by a separate board, often appointed by the school’s founders or nonprofit leaders.

They might decide on everything from curriculum to hiring and student discipline.

“ The district doesn't generally have any control over any of those local decisions, provided that those decisions are not unlawful or discriminatory,” said Ricardo Soto, chief advocacy officer and general counsel for the California Charter Schools Association.

Charter school operators oversee a much smaller staff and student body than many public school districts.

“It's much more accessible for parents or for guardians of children to attend those board meetings and to get involved," Soto said. “Charter schools are really dependent on their school communities for anything to happen.”

Find out who is on the board, when they meet and how to contact them on your school’s website or by asking your child’s teacher.

Garbed in purple and holding signs that read “Fair contracts now!” and “Here to serve, not to starve,” thousands of state workers rallied at government buildings across California Wednesday to protest what they describe as unfair labor practices by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration.

SEIU Local 1000’s first strike in its 44-year history unfolded in several cities including Sacramento, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The union — which represents about 100,000 workers, nearly half the state workforce — has been in contentious labor talks with the Newsom administration since its latest contract expired in late June.

Its members want a better raise than Newsom has offered as well as more flexibility to work from home. Newsom just a year ago demanded wage reductions from the union to help shore up a budget crisis. State workers have accepted pay cuts in three of the eight years Newsmom led the state.

“The budget is balanced on state employees’ backs,” said Local 1000 President Anica Walls. “It’s just showing how frustrated employees are with the lack of prioritizing us as people who really help California remain the fourth largest economy in the world,” she said.

Angela Musallam, a spokesperson for the California Department of Human Resources, which handles labor negotiations on behalf of the administration, said the department “remains focused on achieving a fair and responsible agreement and continues to be available at the bargaining table.” Both parties are scheduled to resume mediation talks on Oct. 30

In anticipation of the strike, operations at some state departments have been modified or limited, including at DMV offices and parks. Outside the Elihu M. Harris State Office Building in downtown Oakland, workers marched outside chanting “No contract, no peace.” They played drums, snacked on muffins and Little Caesar pizzas and cheered as cars honked along Clay Street in solidarity.

Amy Dickinson, an information technology associate at California Department of Industrial Relations’ Office of Information Systems, said she was striking “because the state has decided that we are not worth even bargaining with.”

“They have done nothing but say ‘no’ all this time. They won’t even give any counteroffers — that’s not bargaining, that’s a maximalist position,” said the San Leandro resident.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Lateefah Simon, who represents the East Bay Area,, spoke to the crowd in Oakland before joining them briefly in marching.

“Nothing happens without the workers,” said Simon. “For anyone to say that you don’t deserve wage justice, they haven’t looked at the rates of rent … at grocery prices.”

“There is enough for everything that you’re asking for. But the floor is respect.”

Unions, including Local 1000, traditionally are Newsom’s allies. They contributed to his campaigns and helped him defeat Republican opponents. But the Local 1000 strike is the second state worker walkout to occur on his watch. Previously, the California Association of Professional Scientists held a three-day strike in 2023.

Besides pay boosts, Local 1000 members are pushing for higher state contributions for healthcare coverage, and changes to Newsom’s four-day-a-week in-office mandate, which they argue costs workers and taxpayers money and increases traffic and pollution.

In Sacramento, Don Chaddock, a longtime analyst for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, wore a Santa costume and held a sign reading “Newsom + CalHR = Naughty List.” Chaddock, who volunteers as Santa during the holidays for rural schools in his foothills area, said he is frustrated by the state’s in-office policy, which has him commuting to a suburb south of Sacramento.

“I don't mind in-person if we’re actually doing something in-person,” he said. “Right now, I drive to Elk Grove to sit in a cubicle.”

State workers represented by SEIU Local 1000 strike outside the CalHR building in Sacramento on Oct. 21, 2026.

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Fred Greaves

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Rebecca Bean, another employee who is against the return-to-office mandate, put it even more bluntly: “We’re not asking for stupid sh—.”

Bean commutes three hours a day by public transportation to Oakland as an analyst at the industrial relations’ office. She said the policy has made it more difficult to take care of her ailing mother who is in her seventies.

“Every time she has an emergency, I have to run all the way home. She won’t go to any medical appointments without me,” Bean said. Before the policy took effect in July, Bean scheduled appointments at the end or beginning of the day and was out only a few hours.

“Whereas here I have to schedule at least four hours to do something,” she said.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

This story first appeared on Long Beach Post.

After 32 years in uniform and a career punctuated by declining murders, spiking traffic deaths and challenges retaining officers, Long Beach Police Chief Wally Hebeish announced Wednesday that he will retire in December.

Hebeish, who began his career in 1994 with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and joined the Long Beach Police Department a year later, stepped into the limelight in 2021 when he replaced then-Chief Robert Luna, who went on to become the LA County Sheriff.

Hebeish declined a request to comment on Wednesday. In a characteristically terse and formal statement, he thanked the department that he described leading through “some of the most challenging times we have faced in modern law enforcement.”

In a separate statement sent by department spokesperson Allison Gallagher, Hebeish said he had been “contemplating and planning my retirement for some time,” and wanted to see through the department’s newest round of academy cadets and a tough budget year before leaving. “It’s been a rewarding [five] years as Chief and I’m proud of everything the Department has accomplished,” the statement said.

A spokesperson for Mayor Rex Richardson did not respond to a request for comment. In a social media post Wednesday, Richardson praised Hebeish, saying his legacy is one of “leadership, progress, and a deep commitment to our community and the men and women who serve it.”

“Wally Hebeish has always been a public servant focused on keeping people safe and a person of high integrity,” said Rep. Robert Garcia, who served as mayor when Hebeish first became chief. “Long Beach has been lucky to have had him as Chief, and I’m thankful to have worked with him.”

City Manager Tom Modica said the outgoing chief led the department through a “transformative period in modern policing” and did so with “integrity, compassion and an unwavering commitment” to the public. “We thank Chief Hebeish for his decades of public service and wish him the best in his retirement,” Modica said. “As we begin the search for our next Chief of Police, we will build on the strong foundation he leaves behind.”

Modica said the city plans to hire a recruitment firm in the next two weeks to begin a national search he hopes to finish by early next year. Candidates will be screened through the city’s human resources department and undergo interviews with a community panel, a technical panel and city department directors. The final choice will ultimately be made by Modica.

The city manager will also be creating a “community input process;” the city will announce something in the next couple of weeks.

Gerrit DeJongh of the Long Beach Police Officers Association said the union wants a chief with experience at a department of similar size who is “level-headed and fair-minded.”

The union supports a nationwide search, he said, but believes the department has “phenomenal internal candidates as well.” “If the city manager wants to have a discussion or wants the [union’s] opinion on it, I’d be happy to offer it,” DeJongh added.

Born in Cairo and raised in North Long Beach, Hebeish became the city’s first Arab American and Muslim to lead the department. After joining in 1995, he worked in criminal intelligence, investigations, patrol and internal affairs, and later served as chief of staff, deputy chief of the Support and Patrol bureaus and assistant chief, a post he took in 2019.

He became acting chief in 2021 while Luna, then the chief, recovered after being struck by a truck while crossing a street. Hebeish was appointed to the top job in December of that year.

Commanding a department of 800 sworn officers and another 1,200 employees, Hebeish took over the post amid intense pressure on police departments nationwide following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Meanwhile, the instability of the pandemic led to a spike in murders around the country. Like many departments, Long Beach grappled with new expectations of its police leaders and a need to rebuild public trust against challenges to retain officers.

In Long Beach, it was a balancing act with some success. Hebeish touts a citywide decline in murders, particularly fatal shootings, during his tenure. He said the city saw year-over-year reductions in shootings and, in 2025, its first recorded year without an officer-involved shooting.

He credited a High Crime Focus Team, created in 2024, which directs patrols to the places where violent crime, illegal firearms and quality-of-life complaints occur most often, with helping to reduce gun violence. He also lobbied for funding for a Real Time Crime Center, established a program for drones that back up police, launched a public online crime dashboard and instituted a yearly accountability report.

City officials and the department also point to its largest academy class on record, the opening of a new police academy, creation of a Neighborhood Safety Bike Team and expansion of its team that handles nonemergency calls.

DeJongh is especially proud of the department’s Wellness Division and its Community Services Bureau, which Hebeish helped lead while assistant chief. The program, he explained, watches for traumatic officer-involved incidents and refers them to counseling. It came about shortly after a string of officer suicides rocked the department.

“I cannot help but to think or believe that the experiences and the trauma they experienced on this job played into their decision to take their own lives,” he said. “You can only help but wonder, you know, could we even save just one of them if we had something like this in place at the time?”

But Hebeish leaves a department that has long suffered high vacancy rates, which has slowed response times. An August 2024 analysis of city data by the Post found 155 vacancies, about one in five officers. For all but the highest-priority calls, officers were taking more than 20 minutes longer to respond than they had three years earlier, the analysis found.

While dealing with a shortage of officers, the department announced it would stop responding to many minor noninjury crashes to focus on priority calls. Questions remain over how the department has handled traffic safety enforcement, as the city recorded 53 fatal traffic collisions in 2025 — the most in over a decade and surpassing the city’s homicide count that year.

Fatalities continue to climb into 2026, reaching more than 40 traffic deaths as of mid-October.

Public trust in the city police department continues to be an issue, as well, as criticisms are regularly slung at the department during city council meetings over the department’s handling of homelessness and the federal immigration raids that have continued throughout Long Beach over the past year.

The city’s Office of Police Oversight, established in 2022, has also urged the department to improve how it deals with the families of those killed by police and witnesses to shootings, following the 2024 killing of Brandon Boyd. The oversight commission has previously questioned whether internal investigations are handled in a timely manner and asked the department to review policies for when officers respond to domestic violence calls.

Countries are not doing enough to cut emissions that cause climate change, according to a new report from United Nations scientists. And the United States is a big part of the problem.

The U.S. sticks out as the only major economy where planet-warming pollution increased dramatically last year, the report notes.

Among the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases, the U.S. was tied last year with Russia for the most emissions per capita. China emits significantly more total greenhouse gases each year than the U.S., but has more than four times the population.

Overall, global emissions were basically the same last year as they were the previous year.

U.S. emissions grew because of increased electricity demand, as well as Trump administration policies that support the burning of fossil fuels. The Trump administration has ordered coal-fired power plants in the U.S. to stay open longer than planned, rolled back fuel-efficiency standards for vehicles and ended tax credits for solar and wind projects.

Those policies have made the U.S. an outlier when it comes to escalating greenhouse gas emissions, says Inger Andersen, the executive director of the U.N. Environment Programme.

"Right now, everybody is scrambling a little bit regarding energy security," Andersen says, pointing to global oil and gas disruptions stemming from the wars in Ukraine and Iran.

Despite the geopolitical upheaval, "several G20 members have shown sustained emissions reduction," she notes.

That includes the European Union, which has invested heavily in energy-efficient appliances and renewable electricity sources such as wind and solar, partly in reaction to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The U.S. is pulling out of U.N. climate work

The Trump administration has withdrawn from the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, and is working to remove the U.S. from all U.N. climate work, arguing the international system imposes unfair burdens on Americans. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency now says greenhouse gases do not pose a threat to human health and welfare, reversing its previous position.

The new report includes a statement from the U.S. government, saying the U.S. "does not endorse or agree with its analysis or conclusions, and has not provided comments to this report." The U.S. State Department did not respond to NPR's questions.

The new report, which is compiled annually by an international group of scientists, comes less than a month before global climate talks kick off in Turkey. World leaders will gather to discuss how to speed investments in clean energy and how to pay for the costs of dealing with climate change. The Trump administration will not participate in those talks.

Still, whether or not American leaders formally participate in international climate efforts, the effects of America's reliance on oil, gas and coal are being felt around the world, the U.N. warns. Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, trapping extra heat that warms the entire planet. The effects of all that pollution are felt globally.

The Earth is about 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius) warmer on average than it was in the mid-1800s, according to the World Meteorological Organization. That warming is driving widespread disasters, from deadly heat waves and floods to more intense storms and wildfires.

"All countries, especially the big emitters, must do more," says U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. "Every fraction of a degree matters."

The Earth is on track for 5 degrees Fahrenheit of warming this century

Right now, the planet is on track for upwards of 5 degrees Fahrenheit (2.8 degrees Celsius) of warming this century, which would cause catastrophic impacts, such as massive sea level rise and the mass extinction of plants and animals, the report warns.

The U.N. Paris Climate agreement sets a goal of limiting warming to well below 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius), in the hopes of avoiding such cataclysms.

This is the first year the annual report has acknowledged that even lower targets are now out of reach. However, it finds it is still possible to keep warming below 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, if global greenhouse gas emissions fall by about 25% in the next decade.

But countries are currently lagging far behind that goal.

Under the Paris agreement, about two thirds of countries have submitted formal, up-to-date plans for cutting their greenhouse gas emissions. If they all follow through on those plans, it would reduce emissions by about 15% in the next decade — far less than the 25% needed.

Copyright 2026 NPR

At Chopin Noodle House in Monterey Park's Atlantic Times Square, the dining room is small. But there's still room for a baby grand piano.

If you’re lucky, you might catch owner Zi Yang playing for customers as they work through bowls of Lanzhou beef noodle soup. A few feet away, cooks pull a fresh batch of noodles by hand, made to each diner’s preferred thickness.

The traditional beef noodle soup at Chopin Noodle House in Monterey Park comes with clear broth, chili oil, sliced beef, leeks, and cilantro.

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Gab Chabrán

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LAist

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Noodles are pulled by hand to order at Chopin Noodle House.

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Gab Chabrán

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Pianists turned chefs 

Yang and his wife, Mimi Song, are both former piano teachers who met through music.

After moving from China to the U.S., they hoped to make a living teaching piano, but it didn’t pay the bills. So they turned to another love: noodles.

Co-founders Mimi Song (left) and Zi Yang, both former piano teachers, have grown Chopin Noodle House to five locations.

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The couple opened the first Chopin Noodle House in Catonsville, Maryland, in 2023. They later expanded to Southern California, starting in Chino, and opened in Monterey Park in March. The chain now has five locations in Maryland, Virginia and Southern California.

When I visited, Yang stepped out from behind the counter, sat down at the baby grand and played Frédéric Chopin’s Waltz in C-sharp minor, its soft, rolling melody filling the small dining room. A group of diners in the corner looked up from their bowls of noodles, watched and cheered when he finished.

The restaurant name comes from the Polish composer. “We both love Chopin,” Yang said.

The Lanzhou connection

Yang is from Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province in northwest China, and the birthplace of the signature beef noodle soup.

“I was born in Lanzhou, a city along China’s ancient Silk Road,” he writes on the restaurant’s website. “Every morning, the streets fill with the scent of beef broth and the rhythm of pulled noodles slapping the counter.”

“Maybe 80% of the people eat it for breakfast or lunch,” he told me.

Before opening the restaurant, he returned to China for a crash course in its creation.

“I went back to learn how to pull the noodles and how to make the very delicious beef noodle soup,” he said.

The piano started as a practical idea.

“We saw that restaurant life would be so boring, so we decided to put a piano in our restaurant. So sometimes if there’s no customer, we can practice the piano,” Yang said.

What’s in the bowl

The most popular order is the traditional beef noodle soup ($14.99). It's made from beef bones and beef shank.

Diners choose from eight noodle styles, from extra-thin to extra-wide, plus knife-sliced and gluten-free rice noodles. The bowl follows what the restaurant calls Lanzhou’s five signature elements: clear beef broth, white radish, red chili oil, green cilantro and leek, as well as golden hand-pulled noodles topped with thinly sliced beef.

For sipping alongside the noodles, order the eight treasures tea, known in Lanzhou as san pao tai. It’s served in a lidded bowl called a gaiwan and brewed with green tea, dried red dates, goji berries, longan, raisins, rose petals, chrysanthemum and rock sugar. You use the lid to keep the fruit and leaves in place as you drink. It’s naturally sweet, a nice counterpoint to the chili oil.

An open bench

Anyone who visits is welcome to play the piano. Yang said they’ve had everyone from kids learning to play to professional musicians, including members of the San Gabriel Valley Symphony.

Some of the players are so good that Yang admits he’s now a little shy about taking his turn.

“I’m afraid to play because they are so good,” he said.