There’s a lot of changes afoot in Inglewood lately.
Grocery store Food 4 Less closed earlier this year, and a new Sprouts store is expected to open later this summer. On top of that, at least three new restaurants — Chick-fil-A, Raising Cane’s and Applebee’s IHOP — have either been approved or sprang up in the last 60 days.
Despite the changing food landscape, there’s still local options in the City of Champions.
We already gave you local chicken spots. Now, we want community members to know there are still local places to shop for their meats and veggies.
So, here’s a guide for local grocery stores in Inglewood:
Kelso Ranch Market
Don’t be fooled by its size at 601 W. Kelso St., the Kelso Ranch Market’s aisles are packed with canned beans, rice, seasonings and spices, snacks and drinks. Many customers order meat from the butcher in the back of the shop.
“They have all kinds of meats, they have the pork rinds people come and get. And then they got fresh salsa, the green, the red and the hot,” said Edmund England, who’s lived down the street from the market for 35 years and works on maintaining homes in the neighborhood.
“They have different fruits and vegetables, they got Mexican candy in there if you like Mexican candy,” he said.
Locals can shop at Kelso Ranch Market Monday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
La Pasadita Meat Market and Restaurant
At La Pasadita Meat Market and Restaurant, go past the grocery aisles, behind the butcher’s counter and there’s an employee passageway to a kitchen and dining room.
The Pasadita’s market and restaurant at 601 W. Arbor Vitae St. have been serving Inglewood locals simultaneously for five years.
On an average day, locals will see staff sort vegetables and set packs of tostadas on the grocery shelves, while others prepare its restaurant for service. Locals can shop for groceries to make a home-cooked meals or enjoy a meal out at the restaurant.
“This is La Pasadita, we have a bakery, a kitchen and a meat market. … We have different plates on the menu. It’s very tasty Mexican food,” Mitzy Rivera, who’s worked at La Pasadita for three years, said in Spanish.
“Everything here is prime, and the best quality. I recommend this place,” Rivera said in Spanish.
Locals can shop at La Pasadita Meat Market and Restaurant Monday through Sunday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Mi Mercadito
Mi Mercadito employees provide a sort of guide for customers entering the store at 10500 S. Prairie Ave.
Locals greet a woman at the smoothie counter for their morning cups of coffee. She adds however much sugar and milk customers want before directing them to the bakery counter to pay, where they can also purchase sweet bread, cakes and cookies.
After the first three counters, aisles lined by shelves of chips, sodas and tortillas guide customers to Mi Mercadito’s meat market.
“The people are very friendly with those who work here,” Ana Cristiana Felix, who’s worked at the market’s bakery for two years, said in Spanish.
“It’s not a tiresome environment,” Felix said. “It’s a nice environment with the people who work here.”
Locals can shop from Monday through Sunday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
