10 Immensely Delicious Things to Eat in Inglewood

Welcome back to Eater LA’s ongoing series about the best dishes to eat in various neighborhoods across Los Angeles. Today we’re in Inglewood, a city that might be better known for its iconic giant doughnut and Super Bowl hosting duties than for its for culinary prowess, but insiders know just where to find something great to eat. From Mexican seafood to Southern barbecue, here are Eater editors’ favorites in the neighborhood.

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Doro Wat at Emma Habesha Restaurant

Inglewood is a wonderland of foods from across the African culinary diaspora, with options spread far and wide. At Emma Habesha on La Brea, hand-painted flags from most of the continent are lined up across a colorful back wall, surrounded by patio seats open to the sky above. It’s a cozy setup that can be hard to spot from the street, but that’s okay; the place tends to fill up with regulars on weekends, and the delivery apps have been a help (though not without their fees, of course) during the ongoing pandemic. What helps even more is the quality of the restaurant’s food, which comes packaged as a tight menu of Ethiopian staples from stewed lamb and sauteed beef tibs to vegan agelgil fitfit, a collection of dips and dishes all served together with injera. If there’s one thing to eat, though, it’s the staple doro wat, slow-cooked chicken with lots of onions and berbere spices and enough injera to soak the whole thing up. Make for the back patio at lunch and there’s plenty of space to sit; for weekend dinners, expect a lively crowd as eager to eat that same doro wat as they are to hang out, chat, and spend the night away behind one of Inglewood’s many African restaurant gems. 726 North La Brea, Inglewood. —Farley Elliott

Lamb at Banadir Somali Restaurant

Somalia isn’t the first country Angelenos think of when considering East African restaurants. Unlike Ethiopian cuisine’s vegetarian-friendly dishes, Somali menus are built on saucy halal meats and huge portions, which means it’s best to land at Banadir Somali Restaurant with a group. It’s likely that one of the owners will be on site and offer a friendly handshake upon entry, before pointing at the menu board detailing the mainstays of the house. Though owner Hussein Mohamed might steer diners toward the popular goat, don’t miss the lamb. It’s marinated, then slow oven-roasted for three hours and served with a side of basmati rice, a delightful and simple salad, and basbaas, an electric-colored green sauce with basil, jalapeno, and cilantro. As you might expect, it packs heat to a beautiful, hearty dish. 137 W. Arbor Vitae, Unit C, Inglewood. —Mona Holmes

Cornbread at Serving Spoon

The Serving Spoon is a full-service diner serving Southern classics in a brightly lit and energetic room. From fried chicken and waffles to crisp, golden catfish, everything on the menu is carefully made and delicious. The best part is the complimentary cornbread that comes with every main course. Buttered, toasted, and served with a packet of honey, the cornbread boasts sweet Yankee flavors and beautifully caramelized edges. After 30 years in the business, the Serving Spoon is still serving up some of the tastiest Southern cooking in the Southland. 1403 Centinela Ave., Inglewood. —Cathy Chaplin

Jamaican oxtails at Karuba’s Yardy

Jamaican restaurants are aplenty in Inglewood, with the classic Lee’s or Blessed Tropical holding court along Prairie, or the more new-school Country Style on the other side of town. But Karuba’s Yardy Kitchen on Centinela might have the most polished, intense Jamaican cooking I’ve tasted in LA. The jerk chicken exudes a dark, focused sauce while the oxtails, tender to the bite and deeply beefy, are a pleasure to eat. The quality of the food, from the sauteed cabbage to the perfectly molded mound of rice and the golden-brown plantains, makes Karuba’s my favorite Jamaican restaurant in Inglewood. 1300 Centinela Avenue, Unit 103, Inglewood. —Matthew Kang

Smothered fried chicken at Dulan’s Soul Food Kitchen

For decades, Terry and Greg Dulan have dominated the region’s soul food scene. The brothers inherited the same restaurant aptitude from their restaurateur father Adolf — who died in 2017 — and established three longstanding Dulan’s locations throughout South LA. There’s ample patio seating at Dulan’s on Century Boulevard, the Crenshaw dining room is currently going through a remodel, and indoor seating just opened at Dulan’s Soul Food Kitchen on Manchester Boulevard. Of course there’s a line, but it’s clear why people regularly stand in a queue. There are soulful staples throughout, but the smothered fried chicken will always satisfy. Request extra gravy and napkins as this dish is what Dulan’s excels at, and you’ll want some to cover everything. Come with a group so you can sample every side, like the red beans, black-eyed peas, cabbage, corn and okra, mac and cheese, string beans, mashed potatoes, or collards. If dining solo, there will be leftovers that taste just as delicious the day after. The generous portions are by design — the Dulan brothers want you to return for a heaping serving of their soul food. 202 East Manchester Boulevard, Inglewood. —Mona Holmes

Drunken shrimp at Coni’Seafood

The camarones borrachos, or drunken shrimp, at Connie Cossio’s Inglewood mariscos spot seduces with a garlicky punch followed by a slow, lingering burn. With his deft understanding of flavors and ingredients, Sinaloan chef Sergio Peñuelas transforms shrimp, fresh garlic, cilantro, crushed red pepper, and a generous pour of tequila into something otherworldly. The head-on camarones soak up the seasonings like a dream. The best part is the fiery red sauce beneath the shrimp that pairs like a dream with rice. 3544 West Imperial Highway, Inglewood. —Cathy Chaplin

Snapper escovitch at Country Style Jamaican Restaurant

The bustling, rowdy kitchen of Country Style, tucked into a La Brea Avenue strip mall, might be shrouded from customers, with pots banging, cooks shouting orders, and music up to 11. But the energy is infectious even to those who order at the counter to take their food to go in Styrofoam takeout packages. The red snapper escovitch comes with a solid 20-minute wait, but it’s worth it for the fried fish loaded on top with vinegary, just-cooked red peppers and onions, and a side of buttery, gently sauteed cabbage, fried plantains, on a generous bed of white rice. The only things missing are sunset views and the sounds of waves crashing on the beach. 630 North La Brea Avenue, Suite 111, Inglewood. —Matthew Kang

Smoked meat at Woody’s Bar-B-Que

Woody’s Bar-B-Que remains one of the true stalwarts in greater South LA smoked-meat cooking. The restaurant closes in on a robust 45 years of selling ribs, hot links, and loads of chicken across four locations, beginning with the original off Slauson. The Inglewood location off Market is small but mighty, turning out lunch through dinner plates packed to the brim with heavily-sauced meats and Southern sides like cornbread and greens. Don’t skip the extra-sweet desserts. 475 South Market Street, Inglewood. —Farley Elliott

7-Up pound cake at Sweet Red Peach

It can feel a bit shocking to visit Sweet Red Peach for the first time, with the $5 billion SoFi Stadium’s silver canopy looming directly across the street. The Prairie Avenue bakery had front-row seats and watched for four years as SoFi Stadium broke ground and eventually opened in 2020. All the while, Sweet Red Peach owner Karolyn Plummer kept cranking out scratch-made cobblers, cakes, cupcakes, and cookies. She also has one item that’s a rare find in Los Angeles: 7-Up cake. Just imagine a pound cake made with a can of 7-Up, sugar, eggs, and ample amounts of butter. The 7-Up adds a pleasant moisture and stickiness to the cake, which Plummer frosts in a gorgeous glaze. 1035 South Prairie Avenue, Inglewood. —Mona Holmes

Linguine with clams at Sunday Gravy

There are many delicious pastas at Sunday Gravy, like the meatballs and the short rib ragu and the brussels sprouts, the latter fried and laden with lemon aioli and sprinkled with salty pecorino Romano. But the linguine with clams is my favorite, made using the excellent fresh pasta from Inglewood’s own Florentyna’s, a wholesale and online direct pasta producer. There are enough plump clams to spread throughout the plate, with a lemony wine sauce to bring the noodles and clams together. This is the kind of pasta you should probably share given the richness of the dish, but one that you might just be happier keeping all to yourself, especially at the sub-$20 price. 1122 Centinela Avenue, Inglewood. —Matthew Kang