The 'most ambitious restaurant ever' in the Crenshaw District to close permanently
Post & Beam, a destination restaurant for California comfort food in Baldwin Hills for 13 years, will close permanently at the end of February.
Post & Beam has been led since 2019 by chef John Cleveland and his wife, Roni Cleveland, and its closure comes as construction on the Baldwin Hills-Crenshaw plaza moves forward, with plans to redevelop the 42-acre shopping center with new retail stores, restaurants, office buildings, hotel rooms, apartments and homes.
"This whole neighborhood is about to go under development," said John, who shared that Post & Beam received a notice from the mall that construction would begin this spring.
"When we took over the restaurant in 2019, they were planning on reconstructing it," he said. "The plan's always entailed Post & Beam being relocated and that current restaurant space not being there. So it's not a huge shock to us, as much as it may seem."
Roni, a South L.A. local who often greets guests at the host stand, said the pair are hopeful they'll be able to bring the restaurant back to the new development once construction is completed.
"It has not been easy operating after a pandemic. And you know, the fires kind of affected service too," said Roni. “It's sort of a relief in a way, but also very sad. There's already been many tears. We just told our staff last week, and we told our regulars, and it has definitely been an emotional thing.”
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"We've had so many memories there," John said. "I've been raising my family in that restaurant. It's just such a unique space in the city."
The restaurant will continue its catering operations, Roni said, including pop-ups and other events. John confirmed that he is working closely with Post & Beam co-founders Brad Johnson and Govind Armstrong on the restaurant's next iteration.
“This isn’t the end of Post & Beam, but we’re mourning the building,” Roni said.
Post & Beam was nominated for “Restaurant of the Year” at the 2020 James Beard Awards and has landed on restaurant critic Bill Addison’s annual ranked 101 Best Restaurants in L.A. list every year since 2021. Johnson and Armstrong opened the restaurant in 2012, bringing decades of experience between them: Johnson founded the legendary Roxbury nightclub and celebrity-favorite Georgia Restaurant in 1989 and 1993, respectively, while Armstrong, now the executive chef and director of operations for the Lobster in Santa Monica, launched a burger mini chain and restaurants in L.A. and Miami.
“The community was ripe for a signature restaurant,” said Johnson, revealing that initial conversations for the opening began in 2010, alongside basketball star Magic Johnson’s longtime business partner Ken Lombard and award-winning choreographer and dancer Debbie Allen, whose dance studio opened nearby in the Baldwin Hills-Crenshaw plaza around the same time.
“I knew that I wanted an African American chef,” Johnson said. “And when I approached Govind with the idea of Post & Beam, he loved it.”
The restaurant name refers to a type of construction commonly seen across historically Black South L.A. neighborhoods. “I wanted a tie-in to the community architecturally, and people like Paul Williams,” said Johnson, referring to the celebrated Black architect involved in the design and redesign of iconic L.A. buildings such as the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Shrine Auditorium and First African Methodist Episcopal Church.
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While nearby Black-owned institutions like Dulan’s on Crenshaw and Woody’s BBQ had a long-standing presence, Johnson and Armstrong felt that Baldwin Hills still lacked a quintessential neighborhood restaurant. The California soul food menu resonated with locals while appealing to all, featuring seasonal ingredients sometimes plucked from the garden.
It didn’t take long for Post & Beam — like its name alludes — to become a supporting structure for the surrounding community. In a 2013 review, late restaurant critic Jonanthan Gold called it “the most ambitious restaurant to ever open in the Crenshaw District.”
Following two years of mentorship under Armstrong, John — alongside Roni — took the reins in 2019. The move allowed Post & Beam to remain Black-owned, a meaningful action at a time when local minority-owned businesses were rapidly closing or changing hands.
“I wanted to commit to being a chef in South L.A.,” John told former Food editor Amy Scattergood. “Being able to hit it off with Brad and Govind at the right time was a blessing; it was a dream come true."
In 2020, Post & Beam successfully weathered COVID-19 by establishing a takeout and delivery business, launching special holiday menus and even creating a program to provide free meals to seniors in the neighborhood. That same year, the team won the L.A. Times Gold Award for demonstrating “culinary excellence and expanding the notion of what Southern California cooking might be.”
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In the 2020 Gold Award announcement, Food general manager Laurie Ochoa reflected on how much the restaurant meant to her and Gold, writing: “I like to picture evenings we spent at Post & Beam. Sustained by a rye Old-Fashioned, Jonathan would indulge my craving for the restaurant’s deviled eggs with smoked catfish. And if we’d brought friends, it was never a bad idea to order an extra plate of shrimp and grits for the table. We both felt that Post & Beam had become a vital part of Los Angeles and the national dining scene.”
In 2021, Post & Beam launched the Black Pot dinner series with chef Martin Draluck, formerly of Hatchell Hall, building intricate coursed meals inspired by historic Black culinary figures such as James Hemings and Hercules Posey, who were enslaved by Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, respectively.
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“I think of Post & Beam as one of the beating hearts of the city," columnist Jenn Harris wrote in the 2024 101 Best Restaurants guide. "A sort of central hub where the biscuits and the shrimp and grits possess a gravitational pull that directs people straight to the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw mall.”
"It's been a dream to have the freedom and creative flexibility and autonomy of running a place like Post & Beam, but it's absolutely a really huge weight to carry for one person," he said.
Regular business hours will be observed during the final month of service. On President's Day, Feb. 17, Post & Beam will reprise its Black Pot Supper Club series with chef Martin Draluck. Diners can also look forward to the return of popular specials such as spaghetti and turkey meatballs and the turkey burger. "I'm taking requests," John said.
The final Sunday brunch will take place on Feb. 23, and the last dinner service will be held on Feb. 27.
"Find me at the pizza station like old times," John said. "We're here for the hugs and the catfish."
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
