All Flavor, No Grease is a food truck I follow on Instagram. Owner Keith Garrett successfully used social media to build his business selling tacos, burritos, and quesadillas from a driveway on 108th street. Again through social media, he teamed up with Calvin Johnson and Jermelle Henderson. Together these three chefs opened Court Cafe and call themselves the Foodminati.
Court Cafe is located in a strip mall on Inglewood Ave just west of La Tijera Blvd. Parking was available at the time we visited and I suspect that was because we arrived when they opened. Despite the small size of the restaurant, they employ servers. The theme is Southern breakfast with items such as fried chicken and waffles and shrimp and grits.
Calvin Johnson goes by Chef Grubby, is the owner of The Bleu Kitchen. He also owns and operates Little Bleu Truck. He too has heavily leveraged Instagram as his way to get the word out. The other partner is Jermelle Henderson, owner of Taco Mell in Lakewood. In the process of creating a menu, the three chefs jointly decided to offer a Southern breakfast establishment.
Included with the Southern theme are a few of the chef’s popular items like Henderson’s signature breakfast burrito and Garrett’s ocho burrito which comes with lobster, chicken sausage, shrimp, bell peppers, spinach, eggs, etouffee sauce, and smoked gouda cheese sauce.
I invited a friend to experience Court Cafe and we ordered a few different items. My heart was set on Lobster and Grits and our server apologized and said that they weren’t able to obtain lobster. Instead, I selected a close substitute, Shrimp and Grits.
The shrimp were fried southern style with a crunchy seasoned batter and were placed outside of the bowl of grits. Gouda cheese was mixed into the grits which made them extremely creamy. Because the shrimp was not placed in the grits, the exterior remained crunchy.
The Taco Omelette was piled high with additional ground chicken sausage, pico de gallo, cheese and a dollop of guacamole. The ground chicken sausage had southern seasonings and nicely elevated this dish. The home fries were mixed in with red and green peppers and weren’t greasy.
Of the three, dishes, my favorite was the Chicken and Waffles. The wings were extremely plump and juicy inside and the crunchy batter had a delicious Southern seasoning. The waffle seemed to have a hint of cinnamon and that too was delicious. I particularly enjoyed the peach cobbler whipped butter that came with it.
Our server Emoni deserves a mention. She was warm, friendly and actually quite funny. She took good care of us making sure that I received the right water (ice, lemon?). She gave us her recommendations on the food and I’d have to say she was spot on.
Warning. This place is currently extremely popular. If you visit, make sure you arrive early. Lines form quickly and sometimes the wait is over an hour.
Court Cafe, 5496 W Centinela Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90045; 310.431.4969
Instagram: @thecourtcafe_inc