The Brief

Many who visit Inglewood might only get a snapshot of the city. Maybe they caught a show at the Kia Forum (formally the Great Western) such as Prince’s legendary 30-day residence there in 2011 or took in a Rams game at nearby SoFi Stadium. But what if between spectator events and the occasional stop at Randy’s Donuts, you had no other exposure to the Wood?

That’d be a shame because the city has an enviable cultural legacy that spans the Showtime Lakers-era decades ago to its present-day status as a hub for young creatives as captured on the HBO series Insecure (The Dunes apartment, never forget):

This rich and plentiful history in a city where Black and Latino residents combined make up nearly 90% of the population is actualized in a food scene with different culinary flourishes.

This is Cheap Fast Eats Inglewood.

Wings 2 Go

Customers order inside Wings2go in Inglewood.

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We can’t take full credit for this find. That honor goes to former contributor Cesar Hernandez, who’s currently working as the assistant restaurant critic for the San Francisco Chronicle. While we miss Cesar's contributions, we thought what better way to honor him than to do a callback on one of our favorite picks of his.

What is it about the concept of a wing shop in L.A. that keeps it from carrying the same culinary importance as it does in other cities like Atlanta?

Wings 2 Go is a small but mighty wing shop that sits in a tiny strip mall along Crenshaw Boulevard, attracting wings fanatics from far and wide looking to get a fiery bite. The menu at Wings isn’t huge by most standards but it still manages to pack a punch when it comes to offering a variety of tastes and flavors. Opt for the six-piece ATL Special (hot with lemon pepper seasoning). We’ve developed a taste for lemon pepper-style wings since we heard about them from Donald Glover’s television series Atlanta. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, Google it.

Upon the first transformative bite of a wing, suddenly you’re Jordan after clinching his first NBA finals win in 1991, celebrating in ecstasy. The sticky, crunch-fried wing is drenched in the perfect amount of sauce and then sprinkled with galactic bits of salty-citrusy lemon pepper seasoning that will leave your lips tingling. If you’re looking to broaden your flavor horizons, there’s also a jerk BBQ, aji verde, and Cajun rub as sauce selections.

Whichever fiery selections you choose, wash it down with lemonade or sweet tea, or go for a hole-in-one with an Arnold Palmer to quench your thirst, as you’ll no doubt need it.

Wings 2 Go sits in a strip mall in Inglewood.

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Country Style Jamaican Restaurant

The goat curry at Country Style Jamaican Restaurant falls off the bone.

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Our love for Jamaican-style take-out restaurants is well documented, so it’s not surprising we have had a well-established place in our heart for a while now for the casual walk-up counter-establishment.

The welcoming and joyous atmosphere is infectious as you enter the walk-up counter inside. The walls are painted the same dark green of the Jamaican flag. Images of Black luminaries are featured next to maxims extolling a virtue-filled life.

To get the most meal for your buck, we recommend going with any one of the mini plate options. Our personal favorite is the curried goat. Stewed bone-in pieces of goat have been cooked in a dark yellow curry full of aromatic spices. The chunks of meat are spicy, juicy and fatty and fall off the bone onto a bed of rice and beans that’s also saturated in the curry flavoring.

Aromas hit you as soon as you enter Country Style Jamaican Restaurant.

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Carnitas El Artista

Carnitas El Artista uses nearly every part of the pig to make savory carnitas.

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While it might be easy to pledge one’s allegiance to the culinary wonder that is carnitas, how often do you take it upon yourself to dive deep into the different parts of the pig? Each contains its own unique textures that manage to delight with every helping.

Carnitas El Artista is where such dreams can come true as a result of the hard work of owner Gustavo Chavez and his family. The name El Artista came from Chavez’s grandfather who used to take the bus from Wilmington to visit the restaurant. The elder Chavez would be surprised when everyone around town knew his grandson and would joke that the younger Chavez was "El Artista” — or movie star.

Chavez and his family originate from Michoacán, the Mexican state known as the birthplace of carnitas, which are traditionally cooked in large copper pots called cazos.

Carnitas El Artista got its origins as a backyard business.

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Carnitas El Artista sells their offerings by the pound with the choice of different parts that include carnitas (pork shoulder), costillas (ribs), lengua (tongue), buche (stomach), cueritos (skin) or a mix of everything.

Chavez and his wife started their business in 2015 selling by the pound out of their backyard in nearby Hawthorne before moving into street vending and finally opening their restaurant in 2019.

While carnitas by the pound is a very good deal at $15 to $16, if you are looking to feed an army of family members on a Sunday afternoon, it might be a lot for a casual stop.

Tacos de carnitas are the best option in that case. Opt for the mix containing all the different parts of the pork. That manages to pack all the flavor and texture of each aspect of the protein, providing for an extremely nuanced bite containing equal amounts of the sticky, fatty and chewy all combined. Serve the meat on a fresh tortilla with crisp-tasting salsa topped with thin shards of red onion for the proper amount of acidity that cuts the richness of the pork. It’s a showtime taco for the masses if there ever was one.

Carnitas El Artista's owner Gustavo Chavez and his son, Kevin (left).

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Woody’s Bar-B-Que

The "Inflation Fighter" (3x) lunch special at Woody’s Bar-B-Que.

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If you’ve spent any time in Inglewood, there’s a good chance you’ve seen the Woody’s Bar-B-Que location on Market Street. It's not uncommon for lines to wrap around the small business, spilling out into the moderately sized parking lot.

It’s never not a joyous occasion at Woody’s as you wait in line to place your order at the walk-up window where speakers overhead play booming deep cuts from 80’s and 90’s R&B or Madlib’s Shades of Blue, helping set the mood.

Our favorite aspect of Woody’s is their lunch special menu which feels like you are going back in time to when the restaurant opened in 1975. Items such as Inflation Fighter (Pork Rib Tips & 1/2 Chicken Link), Business Man’s Lunch (2 Ribs & 1/2 Chicken Link), and Lady’s Lunch (Chopped Beef & 1 Chicken Link) are a few of the standouts on the menu. All cost $8.95 (tax and tip excluded). With each dish, diners have their choice of signature sauce (mild, hot, or mixed) that resembles a BBQ sauce but somehow manages to feel more special because it’s homemade.

All plates come in a brown paper bag, giving the vibe of the school lunch that your mom used to pack. Along with the small entree, you’ll be served two slices of white bread packaged neatly in a small plastic bag and a small container of a side of your choice. Have your pick of potato salad, mac and cheese, macaroni salad, baked beans or cole slaw.

Patrons wait for their food outside of Woody’s Bar-B-Que.

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El Capitalino

Quesadilla fritas from El Capitalino MX food truck.

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If you ask anyone who grew up in a Latino household or in anyplace where tortillas are readily available, the quesadilla holds a special place in their hearts. An easy after-school snack or — maybe with the addition of meat and/or avocado — a filling lunch. Either properly crisped over a hot comal from the stove or microwaved for a short period of time, you can’t get a more homey feel than melted cheese between a flour tortilla.

An aside: what if the quesadillas from your youth were, in fact, a gateway into a large quesadilla universe that’s actually larger than what you might have originally considered? El Capitalino achieves just that. Owner Ivan Gomez, who also owns Birreira Gomez (a fleet of trucks specializing in birria de res, found throughout South Bay and the Westside), was inspired by how he saw quesadillas prepared during a trip to Mexico City and also by his mother and grandmother who grew up making the meal.

Each of the thick corn tortillas is made by hand, usually by Ivan’s mom, Norma Ramirez. She takes the raw masa and forms it into a flat disk, then stuffs it with cheese. The tortilla is then folded and fried in oil.

After it’s done cooking, the quesadilla is removed, pulled apart and packed with a filling of your choice, which could be chicken tinga, hongos (mushrooms), rajas con queso (roasted roasted poblano peppers with cheese), carne asada or chicharron prensado. Then it’s fried with salsa made from Guajillo chili and stuffed with lettuce and cream. No matter what the filling is, you'll get a unique griddled cheesiness accented by expertly-flavored fillings that make for one of the best-tasting quesadillas that we’ve ever experienced.

Norma Ramirez presses masa into a quesadilla inside of the El Capitalino MX food truck.

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Bellflower isn’t exactly known for its stand-up comedy culture. But that may be changing.

Since 2021, comedians like Tisha Campbell, Frankie Quiñones and Jo Koy have taken the stage at The Stand Up Comedy Club in downtown Bellflower.

“We knew that the Downeys, the Cerritos, the Lakewoods, the Long Beaches, the Norwalks, and Compton and Paramount would come,” said general manager and co-owner John Giries. “That was our bet, and it's been working.”

Jo Koy (left) and Finesse Mitchell (right) take the stage at The Stand Up Comedy Club in Bellflower.

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From a comedy magazine to a comedy club

Giries, a former stand-up comedian himself, grew up in Bellflower. He co-created and helped run The Stand Up Comedy Magazine in the mid-aughts, along with his late friend and fellow comedian Julian Vazquez. Names such as Maz Jobrani, Sebastian Maniscalco and Rachel Feinstein all graced its cover.

After Vazquez’s passing in 2020, Giries decided to put the magazine on hold indefinitely and launch a comedy club.

The Stand Up Comedy Club in Bellflower.

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Giries’ family was an investor in Hambone’s BBQ Smokehouse on Belmont Street, next door to the Bellflower Theatre, downtown. He recalled seeing that theater for the first time and how it felt like something out of a movie…

“It was one of those moments like "Field of Dreams" where Kevin Costner saw the baseball diamond being built in the cornfield,” Giries said. “And I kind of looked at it and said, ‘you know, I can see it.’”

Tisha Campbell takes the stage at The Stand Up Comedy Club in Bellflower.

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After doing gut renovations and waiting through the first year of the pandemic, Giries and his wife and co-owner, Scarlett, opened the club in June 2021.

The roughly 2,400-square-foot space space seats 140 and has a full bar with a steakhouse feel. Photos and memorabilia of Robin Williams, Richard Pryor and Phyllis Diller pay tribute to some of comedy’s legends.

Why Bellflower, not Hollywood

Giries had always planned to have famous comedians perform here. He chose Bellflower because it didn’t have the competition of legacy clubs such as the Improv, The Comedy Store or the Laugh Factory. It was also a closer alternative for locals who didn’t want to brave Hollywood traffic and pay for valet parking.

Interior of The Stand Up Comedy Club in Bellflower.

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Interior and stage of The Stand Up Comedy Club in Bellflower.

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“[Bellflower] fit the criteria of what we wanted to do. It's not in the desert. You're not by the beach and it's easy to get to if you live in a five to 10 mile radius,” Giries said.

“So never L.A. Never thought about it once.”

Landing the headliners

For the first three years of opening the club, Giries focused on getting big-name acts. He had already made connections with notable performers through his magazine, and was able to enlist help from talent bookers including Richard Barrett, who was the entertainment director for The Comedy and Magic Club in Hermosa Beach. Giries credits Barrett as “one of the best bookers in L.A.”

Since then, Deon Cole, Sheryl Underwood, Paul Reiser, Billy Gardell, Chaunté Wayans and others have taken the stage.

That list is growing.

Stormy Daniels visited the club in July on her "Unicorns in the Kitchen" storytelling and comedy tour. Last week, Jamie Foxx produced and hosted a comedy special featuring Donald Ray “Speedy” Caldwell. All four shows were sold out.

Giries recognizes that the club is still young, but is proud of what they’ve accomplished since opening five years ago.

“No one remembers, ‘Hey, they've been here for 30 years,'" Giries said. “They just remember, ‘Man, that club was kind of cool. They really took care of us. That was really funny stuff there.’”

Reading, writing, and drilling down on the craft — that’s the focus this weekend at the 2nd Annual Los Feliz Writers Festival. Various free workshops are happening at multiple venues across the neighborhood such as Barnsdall Art Park, Fred 62, and the Vermont Triangle.

A tradition of writers

Festival founder Sammy Ginsberg has a passion for small literary festivals. She fell in love with them while studying abroad in the United Kingdom, and once she moved back to Los Angeles, her love continued.

Sammy Ginsberg (right) poses for a picture at a Los Feliz Writers with L.A. Poet Laureate Brian-Sonia Wallace (left).

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Last year she set about hosting one in her own neighborhood, Los Feliz.

“There's a tradition of writers and artists being in Los Feliz. Joan Didion lived in Los Feliz for a bit. Charles Bukowski went to Jumbo's [Clown Room],” Ginsberg said.

Last year’s inaugural festival had six events and about 100 people. This year, there are 1,000 RSVPs for its 13 events.

Local Feliz

Writers living in Los Feliz are leading all of the workshops. Like William J. Meyer, who’s published his fantasy and sci-fi writing as podcasts. His workshop is at the diner Fred 62 this afternoon, focused on how to write with audio in mind.

Attendees at a Los Feliz Writers Festival event.

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“It's about taking that writing and making it fun for an audio recording. Tone, voice, and things like that,” said Ginsberg.

Willa Lane is a writer and tarot reader. She’ll perform tarot readings today at her workshop in Barnsdall Art Park, using the cards and their symbolism as writing prompts.

Willa Lane sits in front of a table with her tarot cards.

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“Sylvia Plath had a deck of tarot cards that she used. So a lot of artists and creatives have been using tarot to inform their work at some level,” Lane said.

Today’s events culminate in a live reading of a zine put together by Los Feliz Writers for the festival. The Barnsdall Art Park event will feature a mix of short stories, a screenplay, an audio play, and more.

“ I wanted to represent different voices in the neighborhood and different backgrounds and I really think that this does,” Ginsberg said.

A literary event for every neighborhood

The festival continues through tomorrow with an open mic at the Vermont Triangle, a panel and performances from writers of color, and a mixer for activists and writers.

Ginsberg wants to continue the literary tradition in Los Feliz — for all kinds of writers, emerging or established.

“Live, work, or play. It's L.A., that's the energy. Like, we want you to be part of this,” Ginsberg said.

She said the wider vision is to help and inspire other neighborhoods to build their own literary events.

"There’s 99 neighborhood councils in Los Angeles. That’s like 99 writers' festivals and 99 poet laureates," Ginsberg said. "That is magical."

Even in the era of YouTube tutorials and AI assistants, learning weekend warrior skills — like how to fix a leaky faucet or the brakes on your kid’s bike — is sometimes better IRL.

On Saturday, Aug. 29, a community of DIYers will come together at a Skillshare Fair to teach and learn about things like clothing repair and alterations, how to use power tools, gardening techniques and more. The event is organized by the Los Angeles Tool Library in Koreatown and the Democratic Socialists of America, Los Angeles.

Vi Hoang-Creton, an event coordinator with the Los Angeles Tool Library, said the benefits of hosting events like this are manifold. It’s great to keep stuff out of the landfill, but it’s also a place to make friends and build community — and save money.

“I mean who doesn’t want to save money, as the economy gets worse and worse, people are trying to lean on each other,” Hoang-Creton said.

The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory may run the second-longest study of  individually identifiable mammals in the world, but they’re not afraid of trying something new.

The lab is launching a bracket-style competition, Fat Marmot Week, for people all over the world to vote for their favorite chunky ground squirrel.

The UCLA researchers who work there have faced a loss of federal funding in recent years, so they’re now pursuing creative fundraising efforts, including a (G-rated) OnlyFans account for marmot content called OnlyMarms and a meme coin created by supporters of the project.

Where the idea came from

Dan Blumstein, a UCLA ecology and evolutionary biology professor who came up with OnlyMarms, said he’s wanted to do a Fat Marmot Week ever since the success of Fat Bear Week, in which the public votes on grizzly bears bulking up for the winter in Alaska. But it took two of his graduate researchers, Katie Adler and Emily Renkey, along with another volunteer who helps with logistics, to see it to fruition.

“ Science isn't just writing the papers, it's also the communication side of things,” said Adler, who’s also the lab’s field team leader.

Like bears, marmots prepare for the winter by fattening up, with some more than doubling in weight from about 5.5 pounds to as much as 13. But unlike bears, marmots are true hibernators. For months, their body temperature drops very low, and they breathe and have a heartbeat about once a minute. (Blumstein described a hibernating marmot as “sort of a fuzzy stone.”)

These two specimens are called Dawn and Dan's Hat.

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 Adler, who's on her third year of marmot field observations, said the individual marmots are consistent enough that she can "see what they're doing a little bit and then know exactly who it is."

“I think it’s fun to think of this from an outside perspective – why do we like marmots and how can we share that with other people?” Renkey said.

About the marmots

The marmots are all given names to help tell them apart based on markings the researchers dye on their fur.

Their names range from Dawn, who is reportedly a “a very special boy who enjoys the taste of rocks,” to a “proud mama” named 1 and a “girl boss” with no mate named Open Kite.

“Our parties are quite boring to other people because all we do is talk about the marmots,” Blumstein said. “It's a soap opera.”

Funding troubles

Faced with federal funding cuts, Blumstein realized he had to get creative, starting with the OnlyMarms account.

But he said he wasn’t expecting the “extraordinary” response – the $OnlyMarms meme coin has made more than $100,000 in transaction fees, though it’s still short of the $225,000 to $300,000 they need to fundraise to bring in more graduate student research.

Blumstein said while all funding is welcome, including the OnlyMarms subscriptions, it’s much easier for them to accept direct donations for tax purposes. The money will go to support researchers like Renkey and Adler’s contributions to the nearly 65 years of marmot research at the lab.

The tournament

Eight competitors will face off — five females and three males. There’ll also be a “true” winner announced at the end based on the lab’s measurements on which marmot gained the most weight this spring and summer.

The first round of voting will be Monday, Aug. 24, followed by the semifinals on Wednesday, Aug. 26, and the final showdown on Friday, Aug. 28. Voting runs from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PDT.

“Everyone should vote. It's very exciting,” Renkey said. “They're huge this summer.”