Entertainment

Locol, Home of Revolutionary Fast Food

Published

10 years ago

July 26, 2016

Oaklanders have welcomed a new restaurant, Locol – Revolutionary Fast Food, located at 2214 Broadway near Grand Avenue.

Now In its second month, the restaurant offers healthy fast and affordable entrees for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The restaurant was listed last month at one of Food and Wine’s 2016 Restaurants of the Year.

Step into Locol, and guests are greeted by hip hop music, an energetic staff and a wall covered with a larger-than-life, black and white photo featuring an African American bicyclist.

Locol’s menu features green smoothies, BBQ turkey burgers, collard greens, ice cream sundaes, corn bread and more. The brain child of Roi Choy and Daniel Patterson, Locol was just an idea a year ago, and now the duo boasts two sites within six months, one in Watts in Los Angeles and the other in Oakland.

Choi recruited his friend Dan “Bam” Deocampo to run the two locations as the community liaison and regional manager.

“Offering the community whole, delicious and affordable foods has been our goal and also employing locals – to date about 30 employees,” said Deocampo.

“At our first Bay Area location in Oakland, we have hired locals of east and west Oakland with a focus in three areas; students and youth, low wage fast food workers who have been union busted out of work and the previously incarcerated, re-entry folks,” said Deocampo.

Locol has plans to open a location in West Oakland at 35th and Market this year, which will feature a café-style setting serving coffee and pastries. Another spot in East Oakland on East 14th Street is on the horizon.

Deocampo says the company’s ultimate goal is to tackle areas in East and West Oakland that are considered, “food deserts,” where communities are without grocery stores or fresh affordable foods.

“In our communities, we typically feed ourselves pre-packaged food, fast and affordable, and we don’t want to change that model, we just want to change what’s inside that model,” he said.

Growing up Watts in a working class family where his mother juggled three jobs Deocampo says he can relate to the modern lifestyle of fast foods. “My mother never had time to cook and understandably so, but instead of changing the culture of how we eat, we take the culture in which we eat and change the ingredients to green based, organic and farm raised meats.”

Deocampo, an Oakland resident for six years, considers himself an artist and community organizer who promotes change in the midst of gentrification, homelessness and joblessness. “Society tells us that you can’t raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, that prices can’t be affordable and food can’t be accessible,” he said. “Well, we are proving this theory is not true. We pay way above the current minimum wage, and our price points are very low.”

Deocampo says menu items in Oakland are all under $7 and $6 in Watts. “Our model empowers the community, and we plan to expand very quickly to Detroit, Atlanta, Ferguson, MO and Newark, New Jersey.”

For information visit www.WeLocol.com

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21st Annual Taste of Soul: California’s Largest Black Street Festival Comes Alive With Culture, Music and Connections

The 21st annual Taste of Soul Family Festival drew over 300,000 attendees to South Los Angeles for a massive celebration of Black culture, food, and music. Spanning the Crenshaw Boulevard corridor, the free event featured roughly 350 vendors, offering everything from Southern cuisine to professional health services and job recruitment opportunities. While headlining musical acts performed across three stages, the festival also served as a vital platform for small business entrepreneurs to reach a vast audience. Organizers are now addressing reports regarding several incidents that occurred during the festivities. Read more.

Published

5 hours ago

November 3, 2026

Post News Group

INSIDE Danny Bakewell Sr. (left) and Pamela Bakewell (right), longtime community leaders and organizers of the Taste of Soul Family Festival in Los Angeles.

The 21st annual Taste of Soul Family Festival brought hundreds of thousands to Crenshaw Boulevard in South Los Angeles on Oct. 17 for food, music and a celebration of Black culture. Visitors could shop with small businesses, enjoy live music performances, speak with health professionals and learn about job opportunities.

Presented by Bakewell Media and the Los Angeles Sentinel, the free festival stretched along the corridor from Stocker Street to Obama Boulevard. The Sentinel estimated attendance at more than 300,000. The day also marked founder Danny J. Bakewell Sr.’s 80th birthday.

“We call it a party with a purpose,” Pam Bakewell, the founder’s sister and a longtime festival organizer, told California Black Media (CBM).

The enticing aromas of barbecue, fried chicken and catfish filled the air as food vendors served up a tempting array of Southern favorites, including cobbler and other desserts. Vendors also offered clothing, jewelry, books and beauty products. About 350 vendors and sponsors participated, including approximately 80 food vendors, Bakewell said. Businesses came from across Southern California and as far away as Chicago and Atlanta.

“In one day, an entrepreneur has the opportunity to showcase their business to hundreds of thousands of people,” Danny J. Bakewell Jr., president of the Sentinel.

Chase offered vendors training in marketing and financial management, followed by a reception.

Experienced vendors also helped newcomers. Pam Bakewell cited Cobbler King, a longtime participant who shares lessons from his early festivals about preparing for crowds and building a business.

“We want everybody to be successful,” she said. “We can’t guarantee that, but we give you the crowd.”

Kaiser Permanente served as the festival’s main medical provider. St. John’s Community Health sponsored Children’s World, where children played games while families received preventive care and information about follow-up services.

St. John’s provided flu shots, fluoride treatments for children and clinic sign-ups for physical examinations. It also reported distributing more than 10,400 bags of diapers.

CBM hosted a booth as part of its California Black Health Journalism Project, a yearlong, solutions-oriented reporting initiative to advance health equity for Black Californians.

Dr. Deidra Beckles, who practices family and internal medicine, and Adriana Westby-Trent, Ph.D., a licensed clinical psychologist, held “Ask the Doc” conversations. Both are with Divinely Restored Health & Wellness. The booth drew steady traffic as they answered attendees’ health questions. Visitors received a “Your Wellness Matters” T-shirt.

The Sentinel promoted a developing jobs platform, inviting attendees to post resumes and connect with employers. Bakewell said about 350 people signed up along the boulevard.

Three stages offered music for different generations. The Bakewell Media Sounds of the Soul Stage featured Thelma Houston, Switch and headliner Midnight Star. Tony Cornelius, son of “Soul Train” creator Don Cornelius, introduced Midnight Star and appeared with eight veteran dancers from the television show.

The Radio Free KJLH Music Stage featured Lucky Daye, Alex Isley, Allen Stone and Terisa Griffin. On the Brenda Marsh-Mitchell Gospel Stage, MAJOR. served as host and performer. The lineup included Deitrick Haddon, local choirs and a youth performing arts ensemble.

During the festivities, ABC7 reported two stabbings and an hours long Los Angeles Police Department citywide tactical alert.

Pam Bakewell said police told organizers the incidents occurred outside the festival boundaries. She said organizers are reviewing safety measures with security personnel and police.