---
title: "World Cup visitors are lining up for a taste of California: In-N-Out, Erewhon, Trader Joe's"
description: "Between matches at SoFi Stadium, many of the international fans who have descended on Los Angeles for the World Cup are chasing a very particular souvenir: a burger from In-N-Out, an eye-wateringly priced smoothie from Erewhon, or a haul from Trader Joe's. California's homegrown food institutions have become tourist attractions in their own right."
category: "Los Angeles"
category_url: https://herald.la/category/los-angeles
author: "Mei-Lin Tang"
published: 2026-07-11T13:50:00.000Z
updated: 2026-07-11T13:50:00.000Z
canonical: https://herald.la/article/world-cup-visitors-are-lining-up-for-a-taste-of-california-in-n-out-erewhon-trad
tags: ["world-cup", "food", "in-n-out", "los-angeles", "california"]
---
# World Cup visitors are lining up for a taste of California: In-N-Out, Erewhon, Trader Joe's

Between matches at SoFi Stadium, many of the international fans who have descended on Los Angeles for the World Cup are chasing a very particular souvenir: a burger from In-N-Out, an eye-wateringly priced smoothie from Erewhon, or a haul from Trader Joe's. California's homegrown food institutions have become tourist attractions in their own right.

For many first-time visitors to Los Angeles this summer, the World Cup is only half the itinerary. The other half is edible.

## The burger first

As international fans pour into Southern California for matches at SoFi Stadium, a familiar name keeps topping their to-do lists: In-N-Out. The California burger chain, a regional institution since 1948 that has stayed stubbornly close to its home turf, has become a bucket-list stop for tourists, [the Los Angeles Times reported](https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2026-07-11/world-cup-fans-flock-to-in-n-out-erewhon-for-taste-of-california). The location near LAX is a particularly popular first stop, letting arriving visitors get a taste of California almost before they have left the airport.

## The wellness detour

For a different flavor of Los Angeles, some visitors head to Erewhon, the luxury grocery-and-smoothie chain that has become shorthand for the city's wellness culture. It is as much a spectacle as a store: famous for its celebrity-branded smoothies and premium prices, it offers tourists a window into a particular, very LA intersection of health obsession and conspicuous spending, [the Los Angeles Times reported](https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2026-07-11/world-cup-fans-flock-to-in-n-out-erewhon-for-taste-of-california). Sticker shock is part of the experience.

## The grocery-store pilgrimage

Then there is Trader Joe's, the cult-favorite grocery chain that inspires a devotion most supermarkets can only envy. Its quirky products and low prices have long made it a destination for out-of-towners, and World Cup visitors are no exception, folding a grocery run into their sightseeing. For fans from countries where the store does not exist, the aisles themselves are the attraction.

## Why it resonates

There is something telling in the phenomenon. The places locals treat as background, the burger stand, the health-food market, the neighborhood grocer, look different to visitors, who see in them a distilled, tangible version of California life. The World Cup has brought the world to Los Angeles, and while the marquee draw is the soccer, a good deal of the joy is being found in a paper In-N-Out tray. It is a reminder that a city's identity often lives less in its landmarks than in the everyday things its residents stop noticing.