Tucked away under a broken blue canopy is a big silver cazo with a large logo of a mischievous cartoon devil, and standing over it with a spider skimmer is Gabriel Gutierrez, the chef and owner of Alitas el Diablito, or “the devil’s wings.”
It’s a humid August night in West Compton, and Gutierrez is wearing an apron, a Corona hat that's always off-kilter, and a devilish grin. The sauces of Alitas El Diablito is what makes them stand out and tonight Gutierrez is making some of his biggest hits.
There is the rich and powerful Mole Wing, dipped in a velvety sweet sauce made from mole poblano. There’s the scorching hot Aguachile Wing. It’s a slightly green wet drum with aguachile sauce, made of serrano chiles and lime traditionally served with shrimp. And then there’s the devil himself, an A la Diabla wing. This is a dark red wing slathered in a secret chipotle sauce recipe passed down from his Jaliscense mother, and his biggest hit.
But tonight is not El Diablito’s lucky night.