A Blow-Up Trump Doll Has Appeared in Front of Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles | Eater LA
"A large inflatable figure of President-elect Donald Trump was spotted in November 2024 in front of the Long Beach location of the restaurant, prompting a wave of social-media attention. Instagram account Epicurious Expeditions posted a video in late November showing the inflatable and a second video on December 3 that showed a 2022 inspector report from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health citing multiple health code violations, and then shared her own fried chicken and waffles recipe for anyone looking to replicate the famed dish at home. The restaurant is described as one of Southern California’s most notable and longest-running soul food institutions, a frequent stop for celebrities, politicians, and hip-hop artists, and a bona fide icon in Los Angeles’s Black community; it was used as a film location for HBO’s Insecure, and for some time there was a menu item named after former President Barack Obama — the Obama Special (three wings and a waffle) — which the restaurant’s website no longer lists. The social-media reaction included direct expressions of disappointment and hurt: “Ain’t gonna lie, this one hurts. I used to love [the restaurant],” shared one user, and another said, “Not [the restaurant], what’s next? That’s so disappointing.” Epicurious Expeditions, who spoke with Eater and asked not to use her real name, framed the backlash in personal and community terms: “[The restaurant] has been synonymous with Black LA culture,” she said, and added, “I grew up poor, and my mom would scrimp and save any time to take us to a restaurant that was a pillar of the Black community. For them to side with the man who supported the death penalty for the Central Park 5 and turn their back on us like this was really painful.” A businesswoman identifying herself as a partner in the chain, Diane Vara, responded on Instagram (a comment since deleted) with: “You can copy the recipe, but I guarantee the recipe won’t taste the same,” and later wrote: “Look forward to seeing the story. There have been various conversations surfacing the restaurants, its ownership, values, and political ideology. As the COO and Creative Director, it saddens me that all I see it further divide. [The restaurant] has been serving the community for what will be 50 years next year.” Vara also maintained that the inflatable was not associated with the restaurant and attributed it to an adjacent event: “The inflatable doll was brought from the LAGOP and URBT News, who hosted the watch party at the Jazz Lounge, which is located right next to [the restaurant].” Eater reached out to the restaurant for comment; the restaurant has disabled comments on most recent Instagram posts (posts on or before August 17 still have comments enabled). The chain’s recent history includes being founded by Herb Hudson (first location opened in 1975), bankruptcy-related proceedings in 2015 over millions in outstanding debt (at one point rapper Snoop Dogg offered to acquire the chain), a 2015 racial discrimination lawsuit that awarded a former employee $1.6 million, the opening of a new flagship on La Brea Avenue and Washington Boulevard in 2021, the closure of its longtime Olympic Boulevard restaurant in 2023, the 2022 shooting death of rapper PnB Rock at an Inglewood location, and the June 2024 closure of its longtime Pasadena outlet. Menu and cultural staples noted by coverage include fried chicken (the specialty), greens, mac and cheese, hot water cornbread, and red beans and rice." - Mona Holmes
