“Why did I choose the Dunbar? I just knew this was history right here,” says Brother London Carter, also known as Mayor of the Dunbar Hotel. Carter is proud to bear that title because of the near-century-old history the Dunbar Hotel embodies in its brick facade and timeless mezzanine.

In its heyday in the 1940s, Central Avenue was a bustling social hub, brimming with Black culture, street cars, and the burgeoning jazz scene in Los Angeles. Among the many establishments that unified the Black community, the Dunbar Hotel has withstood the test of time as a historic monument. It opened as Hotel Somerville in 1929 as a first-rate, 115-room hotel that welcomed Black entertainers, diplomats and businessmen. 

Carter was one of the first residents to move into the Dunbar when it was repurposed as senior housing in the mid-2010s. True to its entertaining roots, the ground floor houses the Delicious at the Dunbar restaurant, which offers a sit-down dining area and jazz performances during its weekly Sunday brunches. The southern, Angeleno-Mexican fusion restaurant is owned and operated by father-daughter duo Vidal and Adriana Cortes. The fusion dishes also reflect the cultural blend of Blacks and Latinos that has blossomed in the neighborhood.

“There hasn’t been a sit-down restaurant on Central for 30-plus years,” Adriana Cortes says, noting how the Historic South Central Los Angeles community had transformed into a food desert and fast-food destination in the decades since the 1940s Jazz Era. While the neighborhood has changed, the memories have not. Cortes points out that she has several patrons who recall their families enjoying the jazz scene at the Dunbar. “I still think there is something great about keeping that history,” she maintains.