More of a community center than a cafe, Watts Coffee House’s origins can be traced all the way back to 1965, when a group of local teens converted an abandoned building into Watts Happening Coffee House - a community arts space that later became an epicenter for Black artists, activists, and residents. Today, owner and chef Desiree Edwards, a Los Angeles native, uses that space to serve soul food like Cajun fried lobster tail, shrimp poboys, and buttermilk biscuits smothered in turkey sausage gravy.