Post & Beam
American restaurant · Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw ·
Pizza, soul food & Californian eats with a garden patio
Pizza, soul food & Californian eats with a garden patio
"This Los Angeles eatery combined California farm-to-fare freshness with Southern comfort food in a way that highlighted seasonal produce alongside classic, soulful flavors. The restaurant has since closed (February 2025)." - Shani Hillian
"A prominent Black-owned South LA restaurant that closed on February 27. The restaurant’s structure will soon be demolished and replaced with a new development of apartments, retail, and a grocery store from the Harridge Development Group, who purchased the property in 2021. Co-owners John and Roni Cleveland hope to continue to have a presence in the neighborhood after the restaurant shutters." - Rebecca Roland
"A restaurant Armstrong worked at earlier in his career that is noted in the text as "recently closed," cited as part of the sequence of jobs he held before taking his current executive role." - Mona Holmes
"Mona Holmes (editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest) highlights chef John Cleveland’s buttermilk biscuits as essential: they’re served with a generous side of whipped honey butter and "will gain immediate approval from any auntie or grandmother — even the ones who swear hers are the best." On one visit a table of ten descended on a platter so quickly she was left with "a crumbled half biscuit that remains my favorite in all of Los Angeles." The buttermilk waffle with fried chicken is also praised. Beyond the food, the Baldwin Hills restaurant is described as a community hub where separate tables often merge into one as longtime friends arrive and many are celebrating "a birthday, anniversary, or any life event." The restaurant is scheduled to close on February 27, a fact underscored as part of why the impending loss is "a big one for LA" and a reason to visit while it remains open." - Eater Staff
"A celebrated full-service South LA restaurant in the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza will close on Thursday, February 27; the restaurant’s structure is slated for demolition to make way for new apartments, retail, restaurants, and a grocery store near the corner of Martin Luther King and Crenshaw Boulevards. Chef and co-owner John Cleveland, who with his wife Roni took ownership in 2019, says the closing is bittersweet and stresses it is due to planned construction rather than business failure; he adds, “The construction was long planned, and we were always kept in the loop. We’ll still have a presence in the neighborhood as it evolves.” The Clevelands will continue to operate dinner and weekend brunch service through the last day and plan to program community events, including their longtime Black Pot Supper Club — a tasting-menu dinner focused on the history of African-American foodways that will hold its final event in the space on February 17 — plus a ticketed buffet, a social dating night, and a special Valentine’s Day menu. The restaurant has been a standout in Baldwin Hills, a historically Black neighborhood, offering items such as vegan crab cakes made from hearts of palm, pizzas crisped in a wood-fired pizza oven, roasted organic chicken, and side dishes that nod to soul-food classics — greens, black-eyed peas, macaroni and cheese — along with some of the city’s best brunch biscuits. The Clevelands were mentored by original owner Brad Johnson and chef Govind Armstrong; the spot opened in 2012 in the former Golden Bird and was praised by former Los Angeles Times critic S. Irene Virbila and later included by the late Jonathan Gold in his 101 Best Restaurants list. It was also a James Beard Awards semi-finalist for Outstanding Restaurant in 2022. During the pandemic the team adjusted service to stay open, and Cleveland notes that the landlord “were cooperative with us, especially at a time when landlords weren’t.” Harridge Development Group, which purchased the property in 2021, has been supportive, and while adjacent independent structures — including the Debbie Allen Dance Academy and Kim Prince’s Hotville Chicken — have closed, the broader Plaza site is set to be transformed by a large redevelopment (Stocker Street Creative: a 256,700-square-foot development with a movie studio and four soundstages) next to the Plaza’s forthcoming 900 apartments and condos, an office building, a hotel, and a Costco; many Crenshaw residents and activists oppose those developments, warning that ongoing gentrification could displace longstanding residents. After the closure the Clevelands will continue the restaurant’s catering arm and offer delivery during construction, and John Cleveland says they are not leaving the neighborhood and plans to partner with Armstrong again on his next venture: “Owning the restaurant has been a dream come true for me,” he says. “I came specifically to work under Armstrong and Johnson. Roni is from here. I wanted this neighborhood to be the foundation of my customer base and root myself in Baldwin Hills, and we’re grateful for their support.”" - Mona Holmes
