Inglewood is easy to reduce to a list of buildings. SoFi Stadium. Intuit Dome. The Forum. Randy’s Donuts. But a better visit begins with understanding that all of those places arrived inside a city with a story that stretches much farther back than the newest stadium.
The City of Inglewood traces that story through the land around Centinela Adobe, built in 1834, to the settlement laid out from Centinela Ranch in 1888 and the city’s incorporation in 1908. In other words, Inglewood was a city long before modern sports architecture turned Prairie Avenue into one of Southern California’s biggest entertainment corridors.
Today, that contrast is exactly what makes the city interesting. Within one trip you can see a nineteenth-century adobe, a 1960s arena, one of Southern California’s most recognizable examples of roadside architecture and two of the newest sports venues in America. Start with our history of Inglewood before SoFi if you want the longer version.
For most visitors, the entertainment district will be the first stop. SoFi Stadium hosts the Rams, Chargers, stadium concerts and Super Bowl LXI in 2027. Intuit Dome is home to the Clippers and an increasingly packed concert calendar. Kia Forum—opened for its first event in 1967—remains the older anchor of the group. Our separate SoFi Stadium guide and Intuit Dome guide are built for event-day details.
BE THE CITY YOU CAME TO SEE.
Inglewood is more than the event on your ticket.
Then eat somewhere that tells you more about the city. The Los Angeles Times’ current Inglewood-area dining guide ranges from Dulan’s Soul Food Kitchen and The Serving Spoon to Banadir Somali Restaurant, Two Hommés, Coni’Seafood, Little Belize, Woody’s, Phillips Bar-B-Que and newer places near the stadium. The point is not to find a generic chain before kickoff. It is to use your meal as part of the trip.
Breakfast can mean The Serving Spoon, founded in 1983 and named a 2026 James Beard America’s Classics winner. Barbecue can mean Woody’s on Market Street or Phillips on Centinela. For a burger, Brolly Hut gives you old-school roadside Inglewood while StormBurger represents a newer local burger operation. For tacos and Mexican food, the field stretches from Perro Exquisite Taco near SoFi to Coni’Seafood and neighborhood institutions elsewhere in the city. See our best tacos in Inglewood for the focused version.
Make time for Market Street too. City planning policy specifically identifies part of Market Street as an area with historic fabric and meaning, while today the corridor still connects food, downtown Inglewood and pieces of the city’s older commercial identity. Our Market Street guide is designed as a walk-and-look companion rather than a stadium detour.
And before leaving town, look up. Randy’s giant rooftop doughnut has been doing exactly that since the original Manchester Boulevard location opened in the 1950s. The building has become one of the most recognizable pieces of programmatic roadside architecture in Los Angeles.
That is the Be Inglewood version of a visitor guide: see the new buildings, absolutely. But spend enough time here to notice the city that was already standing around them.