Somewhere in the mid-to-late 2010s, L.A.'s barbecue scene began popping in a new way. Woody's and Phillips and Bludso's and JR's were established local classics. Now, a new generation discovered smoked meat. Instead of opening restaurants, they were cooking low and slow in their yards, selling over Instagram and putting an Angeleno spin on their spices. This hybrid style is especially prominent in East L.A., where Alan Cruz from A's BBQ dishes out his "Chicano Soul BBQ," stirring chilis into mac and cheese, glazing baby back ribs with tamarindo and rubbing cubes of pork belly with his personal al pastor spice blend. Cruz is not alone — compatriots Ragtop Fern's, Beatdown BBQ and East LA BBQ Company are painting with a similar palette — but his creative versions of everything from smoked cochinita pibil to chipotle barbecued beans are among the most intriguing and best-executed versions around.