Compton

Charcoal-grilled chicken on East Compton Boulevard, sold by the half or whole bird with rice, whole beans, grilled onions, serranos, tortillas and salsa. The Infatuation's Compton guide says the chicken is not the safe order here but the right one. It is cash only, so bring some.

Daily, 9am to 7pm

A family soul food kitchen in the same West Compton Boulevard building as the museum, open since November 2016. It is named for Alma, who learned to cook from her mother Annie and her sister Betty Jean, both from Arkansas, and her daughter Corina runs the baking side after twenty years of catering. Oxtails, pork chops and fried chicken come with homemade cornbread, and the peach cobbler pancakes are the thing people order without being told to.

Wed to Sun, 11am to 5pm. Closed Monday and Tuesday

The first gastropub to open in Compton, pouring eight taps drawn from South LA breweries alongside pub food. It sits at the east end of Compton Boulevard, a few doors from Taqueria El Poblano. It is closed on Mondays and does not open before noon on any day.

Tue and Wed, 4pm to 9pm. Thu and Fri, 4pm to 10pm. Sat, noon to 9pm. Sun, 2:30pm to 8pm. Closed Monday

A free storefront museum on West Compton Boulevard holding the city's own art and its own account of itself, with shows that rotate rather than a fixed display. Admission costs nothing and the whole visit fits in half an hour. It keeps daytime hours only, Tuesday through Saturday.

Tue to Sat, 10am to 3pm. Closed Sunday and Monday

A burger stand on Rosecrans that has been here since 1984, under a sign tall enough to read from four blocks away. Cheeseburgers, chili cheese fries and pastrami sandwiches come out in styrofoam containers and the whole thing is built for the car window. It opens at seven in the morning and does not close until two, or three on Friday, which makes it the widest set of hours in this part of Compton.

Mon to Thu, 7am to 2am. Fri, 7am to 3am. Sat and Sun, 7am to 2am

Deanna and Geoffrey Martinez had been roasting and wholesaling in Compton since 2012 before they raised close to fifteen thousand dollars on Indiegogo and built out this Alameda Street storefront, which opened in 2018. They buy seasonal coffee from cooperatives and small independent growers and roast it on site. It is a café rather than a tasting exercise, and most of the trade is regulars.

Mon to Fri, 7am to 3pm. Sat and Sun, 8am to 4pm

A Tam's on North Alameda, part of the Southern California chain Kostas Vovos started in 1971 and his grandson Spiro runs now. The Compton signs carry more weight than the burgers alone would explain: Kendrick Lamar rapped about hanging out at Tam's, and a Tam's #21 sign stood on the Super Bowl LVI halftime stage. This one opens at six in the morning and closes at ten at night.

Daily, 6am to 10pm

Daniel Alonso came from Puebla and has been selling Tijuana-style tacos for eighteen years, and this East Compton Boulevard shop is the first of his. The asada goes over mesquite and comes on handmade corn tortillas with guacamole and a salsa de molcajete. It stays open to eleven most nights and to midnight on Friday and Saturday.

Mon to Thu, 10am to 11pm. Fri and Sat, 9am to midnight. Sun, 9am to 11pm