Audioguía The Chicharrón Chronicles // Historic Filipinotown WEST

Welcome to The Chicharrón Chronicles Walking Tours of Los Angeles Historic Filipinotown, a poly-cultural audio adventure that explores the overlaps and convergences between folks of Filipinx and Latinx descent through (drumroll, please) the metaphor of fried pork skin.

On these tours, the history and personality of the neighborhood will come to life through audio content from a community story-gathering project by Public Matters and Pilipino Workers Center, photos from the Historic Filipinotown Neighborhood Media Archive, spoken word poetry by local talent, and contributions from a culture and food writer who is an expert on being Mexican.

While we can trace a common lineage to Spanish colonization, Filipinx-Latinx connections and cross-pollination have since found fertile ground on American soil and the rowdy streets of Los Angeles. In the landscape of Historic Filipinotown, Filipinx and Latinx history, culture, shared struggles, and everyday life intertwine. Food, language, and labor mingle. The result is a dynamic collection of stories, recollections, and creative output from locals connected to this place–the people who know it best.

The content is so rich, it couldn’t be contained in a single tour. So, we birthed three: EAST, WEST and CENTRAL. Take your pick. If you’re feeling ambitious (or indecisive), do them all. All tours are self-guided. You set your own pace, stopping and snacking as needed.

We encourage you to explore the neighborhood’s hidden gems, which are often hiding in plain sight. Let’s be neighborly and say hi to folks who are here. Whenever possible, please support local businesses and organizations so that we can nurture and preserve the treasures that make Historic Filipinotown so special. 

CONGRATULATIONS! You’ve chosen The Chicharrón Chronicles: Historic Filipinotown-WEST Tour. You’re in for a treat. We start at a bar. It’s not open until 6pm so you can pin it for later, maybe after the kids are tucked in or under supervision of a responsible adult/aspiring adult who’s not you. The tour is otherwise all-ages, the terrain relatively easy-going (flat). It includes some of the sites that landed Historic Filipinotown as #5 on Time Out’s List of World’s Coolest Neighborhoods. No spoilers here. Sprinkled throughout are stories that remind us that places don’t materialize out of thin air; character takes time.

Our tour will begin and end at Genever.

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