Located across the street from the stadium where the LA Galaxy play, R & R Soul Food in Carson is a strip mall gem open from breakfast to dinner daily. The thing to get here is the smothered chicken: plump legs and thighs with chicharron-crisp skin covered in a tidal wave of brown gravy. The sides hold their own, too, from sweet buttered corn to vinegar-lashed collard greens and candied yams sweet enough to dissolve fillings. Takeout is popular here, but we love eating in the cozy, well-worn dining room, too—order some sweet tea and admire the painting of the Last Supper on the wall redone with Black history icons.

photo credit: Jessie Clapp