Next to me was a man I’d never met before, eating a burrito that smelled like heaven.

There we met the truck’s ownera man we later learned was named Roy Choi.

He was taking his new Kogi BBQ truck on its first weekend tour of Los Angeles.

Two photos showing a pork stew dish, and a portrait of restaurant owner Carolina Cho, in Los Angeles

From left: Gamjatang, a spicy pork stew, at Ham Ji Park; Caroline Cho, the owner of Dan Sung Sa.DYLAN + JENI

Gone now: Le Cercle, my twenties, sharing food with strangers, the Sizzler.

He had it built in a traditional architectural style, with imported blue tiles.

My grandmother, who turned 91 this year, has lived there since I was a kid.

Two restaurant interiors in LA’s Koreatown, including a wall with a mural and a quiet seating area

From left: A mural by the Oaxacan art collective Lapiztola at Guelaguetza restaurant; a seating nook at the Yellow House Café.DYLAN + JENI

“Every restaurant is busy,” Lopez said.

“People want to go out and eat, and I don’t blame them.”

“What more can I want, right?

Tall skinny plam trees against a clear blue sky

Palm trees line the streets of L.A.’s Koreatown.DYLAN + JENI

It’s not just me.

It was everyone in the whole world.”

“A Korean building serving up regional Mexican food is the essence of L.A.

Colorful artwork by artist Gala Porras-Kim at Commonwealth & Council gallery in Los Angeles

Works by artist Gala Porras-Kim at Commonwealth & Council.DYLAN + JENI

The wooden counters and walls are seasoned with friendly graffiti and decades of charcoal smoke and spilled soju.

It’s an enormous, eye-catching structure, splashy and modern next to the Byzantine Revival temple.

The promiscuous cultural mix is what gives Koreatown its particular energy.

Nighttime view of the neon signs at The Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles

The Wiltern Theatre, an Art Deco landmark built in 1931, on Wilshire Boulevard.DYLAN + JENI

The music pounds at nightclub volume from about 7 p.m.

It’s a classic dive with a nautical theme, as worn and comfortable as an old favorite sweatshirt.

And while the neighborhood has changed, the Bounty has stayed the same.

Two photos from Spl coffee in Los Angles, including a portrait of the owners and two iced coffee drinks in glasses

From left: Spl. Coffee owners Karen Lee and Jonathan Dizon; iced espresso drinks at the café.DYLAN + JENI

Koreatown is L.A. concentrate.

you might find magic and hardship on any night, on any street.

My friends and I lingered for hours, drinking Gimlets and Manhattans, then hopped over to thePrince.

At that time it was a fried-chicken-and-soju kind of place with a middle-aged Korean crowd.

Now it gets busy even on weeknights and attracts a diverse, youthful clientele.

I got a dirty martini instead.

We closed out the bar, and if we were younger, we might have stayed out even later.

It was a sharp reminder that Los Angeles is in the midst of a housing crisis.

The effects are obvious in Koreatown, where locals blocked the building of a shelter months before COVID.

Koreatown is L.A. concentrate.

you’re able to find magic and hardship on any night, on any street.

Commonwealth & Council was unaffected by the OB Bear fire, but the space had been burned before.

“Right next door is a seamstress with whom we’ve collaborated.

We know our neighbors.”

There’s a genre of coffee shop I’ve only ever seen in Korea and Koreatown.

A long list of desserts includes red-bean shaved ice and a variety of waffles.

It’s a sweet place with a strong, straight-from-the-motherland spirit.

If the Yellow House could have been lifted from Korea,Spl.

Coffee, just five blocks east, feels unmistakably homegrown.

is either made in-house or sourced from nearby vendors.

“It brings people together,” she said.

The world has changed in the past two years, but this community isn’t going anywhere.