Leimert Park is famous and notorious for two entirely different scenes. The first is the vibrant African American community that surrounds the park with jazz clubs, dance studios, arts & crafts boutiques, and everything else that has prompted declarations of a “Black Renaissance.” The other is an association with a much more gruesome crime scene, because it was in this neighborhood where Elizabeth Short’s ( the Black Dahlia) body was discovered on an undeveloped lot back in 1947.

(This is the block but the houses weren’t there yet, so don’t bug the neighbors)
>(The Dahlia area is on the upper left, and Leimert Park is on the bottom center)

Usually that would be enough of a reason for me to go down there, but the tabloid stuff isn’t my angle here; this time, as they say, it’s personal.

Phillips is a no-frills joint that takes their BBQ really seriously, and you can tell their customers do to, as they have no problem driving great lengths to get here, nor do they mind waiting for the goods. They’ve got two other locations (one in Inglewood and another on Crenshaw that used to be Leo’s) but this is the original and often referred to as the best spot. Many folks rant and rave about their ribs, but I’m hooked on their chicken links. The skin or casing (or whatever the outside layer of a link is) has the snap of a hot dog, but the inside is tasty and tender. Their sauce (in mild, mixed, or hot) is spicy, smoky, and sweet, and I wish I could get a bottle of it for my fridge. I’ve talked to at least one other person beside myself that said he would drink the stuff! You could order them in sandwich or dinner form, but they’re both served in the same way - a in a tinfoil-lined basket with the bread on the side.

The service is efficient and courteous over at Phillips, though its been said that they’re a sort-of “Soup Nazi” vibe, and I can understand that. First off, as I said, they don’t mess around nor do the hungry clients, so they want you to have your shit together, just like just like the bank. The other funny thing is that the more you order, the less they give. Like, if you order a sandwich or a dinner you’ll get your bread, a fork, and a napkin. If you order a big tray of meat to bring home, they make sure to tell you, no plastic ware and no napkins will be coming with your meal, so you better have stuff at home! But who cares about all that stuff, really? The guy next to me just drive his bike here from Pacoima for his beef links, and having schlepped in from Valencia in the past, I could relate. Just look at this stuff!




You may be asking yourself how this “white-boy” knows about Phillips? It’s easy. While at Cal Arts I was lucky enough to have been taught and mentored by filmmaker Ben Caldwell, who in addition to having coming out of UCLA with Jamaa Fanaka (he took stills for the Blaxploitation classic, Penitentiary), is the father figure and proprietor of the KAOS Network - the home of Project Blowed. A weekly hip-hop workshop, Blowed and its resident artists (like Aceyalone, 2 Mex, Abstract Rude, Busdriver, etc.) have brought back a level of linguistic resistance not heard in Los Angeles since the Watts Prophets invented the game. One of Ben’s classes involved us shooting videos for the Blowed artists (we did a few for Aceyalone and for DJ Wolf, now of Breakestra Orchestra), and when we got hungry he suggested we go up the block.

(BELOW: The PHILLIPS parking lot is on the bottom center. We’re looking south on Leimert, and if you walk up the block, past the “mile 7″ marker, you will get to Project Blowed around the corner, right across the street from the park)

(BELOW: HERE IT IS ON GOOGLE MAPS)

(by the time we left they turned the sign on)