I started Black Owned Food LA because I couldn’t find the list I was looking for.

I wanted to know where the Black-owned restaurants were — not just the two or three everybody names, but the food truck in Compton, the bakery in Leimert Park, the Ethiopian spot on Fairfax somebody’s aunt swears by. Nobody had put it all in one place. So I did.

What started as a directory turned into something bigger. Three years and 300+ restaurants later, BOFLA is a platform for the people behind the plates — the owners, the cooks, the families who’ve been feeding these neighborhoods for decades and the ones who just opened last month. I go to the restaurants. I talk to the owners. I tell you what makes the place worth your drive across town.

Because the truth is, a directory doesn’t keep a restaurant open. People do. Every time somebody drives to Inglewood for breakfast instead of ordering the usual, that’s the whole point.

I’m not a critic and I’m not here to rate anybody. I’m here to get you in the door.

Follow me to the eats in these LA streets: @blackownedfoodla.