The Los Angeles Chicken And Waffles Restaurant Barack Obama Made A Stop For

Barack Obama has never been shy about what kind of food he enjoys, including where he likes to get it. We know, for example, that Obama's favorite pizza place in Chicago is the Italian Fiesta Pizzeria in Hyde Park, and that his family's go-to spot for Mexican food in Washington, D.C. is chef José Andrés' Oyamel, located in Penn Quarter. We know that when he's in Honolulu, Obama usually gets his favorite hometown meal — a plate lunch — at either Rainbow Drive-In or Zippy's. During his first term as president, we also learned that he's a fan of an absolutely iconic Los Angeles restaurant known for its soul food, as well as its place in the community.

In 2011, while campaigning in LA for his second term, Obama made an unscheduled stop at Roscoe's House of Chicken 'N Waffles along West Pico Boulevard. Along with greeting diners and posing for photos, he ordered the Country Boy, a combo platter with three wings and the customer's choice between two waffles, potato salad, or fries. In 2012, the restaurant chain commemorated his visit by renaming the menu item to Obama's Special, although it's been reverted to its original name since around 2023.

That specific location ended operations as a restaurant in early 2023 and is now the headquarters of the Roscoe's Motivation for Change Foundation, the local chain's public service arm. While the spot along West Pico may no longer be offering the Country Boy, it's happily serving up community empowerment programs in the area.

Presidents visiting restaurants doesn't usually merit headlines, but Barack Obama's stop at Roscoe's House of Chicken 'N Waffles all those years ago was significant because of the historical context. He was the first Black U.S. president, visiting a business whose main product is deeply ingrained in African American culture. While the exact origins of most dishes are hazy, we do know that the combination of fried chicken and waffles was popularized by African American cooks in the 1800s, many of whom were plantation workers and escaped slaves.

In the early 1900s, a massive wave of migration among Black Americans led to the development of historically Black locales in the North and Midwest, spreading their culinary traditions across the United States. One of these locales was Harlem, and in the 1930s, the fried chicken and waffles at the historic Wells Supper Club became a local favorite. Herb Hudson, a Harlem native and the founder of Roscoe's, brought his own take on the beloved dish to Los Angeles in 1975. Over the decades, Roscoe's has grown as an institution — as a gathering place for the Black community in LA, a proudly Black-owned business, and, of course, as a restaurant with excellent chicken and waffles.

Obama's visit to Roscoe's in 2011 was symbolic of how far African Americans have come over the course of the United States' complicated history. The idea that a Black man could become president and enjoy a dish that today is as much a soul food staple as catfish at a popular Black-owned restaurant used to be a fantasy. That moment becoming reality meant the world to many people.