Greg Dulan’s, Dulan’s on Crenshaw, has the type of Southern Soul Food typically only served by Black grandmothers during Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s the type of soul-huggingly reliably delicious food that resembles the cooking of your mother after you had a bad day. It is the type of food that requires the restaurant to have beds for when “the -itis” inevitably hits you seconds after you finish your plate of savory goodness. It’s the type of food that food comas dream about, and that you never want to finish. It’s real classic Southern Soul food, and it’s some of the best on the West coast.

Dulan’s on Crenshaw, located in the heart of two conjoining Black neighborhoods in South La, Leimert Park and Baldwin Hills, has been serving its customers for over 40 years.

On my most recent trip to Dulan’s on Crenshaw, I had the opportunity to order an assortment of some of their most popular items.  

I ordered the piping hot gooey mac & cheese, with a layer of crispy cheese golden and crackling, coupled with thick macaroni shells with plenty of extra space creamy cheesy goodness to seep inside of. Personally, while I think nothing can beat my mom’s or grandmother’s mac and cheese this was a close second. The owner, Greg Dulan, prides himself on never skimming out on customers, ensuring each plate gets at least 2 or 3 heapings of the savory pasta dish. They even top it with a few flakes of parsley, to help customers like myself, convince ourselves  we’re eating something ‘a little healthy’. 

In this aforementioned vain of ‘healthiness’ I got a heaping side of vinegary tangy collard greens. Cut into large pieces, in the fashion, the dark leafy vegetable is boiled down into its richest form. They are slightly bitter, but cut down by vinegar and salt yet still hold a smokey, fatty in the best way, deep, rich, and savory flavor. This explosively flavorful side pairs excellently with the rest of the bold sides.

Finally, the Black Eyed Peas, reduced to a nice creamy stew over white rice, was my final side. Normally, I’m not a fan of Black Eyed Peas, regardless of the luck granting properties some think they have. Typically, they are too hard to enjoy or too soft to not equate them to baby food, but Dulan’s on Crenshaw does them just right. Just on the side of done, perfectly balancing salty seasonings and paired with rice, their Black Eyed Peas are a soft palate cleanser to the other more intense savory, unagi, and sweet flavors in Soul Food. They also add a good transition from the rich sides to the flavor packed main.

Speaking of mains, I ordered two dishes myself, because gluttony hates to see me coming. I had the tenderly juicy yet crispy chicken fried and airy fried fish. 

The chicken, coated both in seasonings directly on the chicken, and infused with seasoning in the batter is done to perfection. It is salty with light undertones to spicy, but not dense or heavy because of this. The chicken is seemingly deep-fried twice for an extra sharp snap of goodness with each bite yet it doesn’t lose any of its moistness, nor is the batter overwhelmingly tough. Rather, with each bite you expect a clean snap as you bite through only for your tastebuds to be washed over by warm juices and an array of flavor. 

If fried chicken isn’t your thing, Dulan’s on Crenshaw’s light and ​​unagi fried fish might be. The fish is lighter than the fried chicken (which if you're not as big as me, might be the move). It is fresh, not tied down to the usually fishy or muddy taste some fish can be. It still has a delicately crispy snap when first broken into without being oily or greasy. It's tenderly flaky, melting in your mouth and leaving only a little explosion of buttery richness. Compared to other more intense savory flavors, it is a real palate, but during a meal with so much going on that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Finally to end the meal, (and because no Soul fool meal is complete without a sweet OR and because one healthy thing means two desserts in my book), I ordered the buttery sweet yams and pillow like cornbread. 

There are a few ways to make cornbread, a savory corn-foward bite, a sugar infused bread, or some combination of the two. Some like to debate which version is best, more original, or the undefeated victor of cornbread. I like to eat cornbread. And to me, the Dulan’s on Crenshaw cornbread is a healthy mix of both sweet and savory. While the actual bread seems to be a pillow corn-foward iteration, it has a sweet butter glaze on top which presents the soft baked goods as the best of both worlds. 

Finally, the candied yams,paired with sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pumpkin spice are just sweet enough to cut through the normally mild earthy flavors of yams. They are baked until an orangey gold color, buttery warm, and soft enough for the lightest pressure to break a piece off. While the rest of the meal was savory, unagi, salty, and intense the yams capped the dinner off with nice sweet goodness, almost like a kiss from your grandmother herself.

While my experience at Dulan’s at Crenshaw has always been good, if you still don’t believe it is one of the best Southern Soul food restaurants in Los Angeles I’d recommend you go try it and see if you can prove me wrong!