A day in Pasadena: Where to find three choice meals
If life takes you to Pasadena, Calif., don’t assume you need to be back in L.A. for dinner, said Noy Thrupkaew in The Washington Post. Los Angeles County’s second-oldest city has no real culinary identity to go with its upscale boutiques and museum destinations, but you can eat well all day by staying eclectic, starting with a famed diner on what was once Route 66.
No matter the time of day, hungry Pasadenans turn to this noisy old-school diner for the breakfast burrito the kitchen first whipped up back in the ’70s. “It’s a mighty zeppelin of char and chew, full of home fries, breakfast meat (crispy fried bacon is particularly good), shredded cheddar, and scrambled egg.” Don’t try to eat it all at once: “The thing feels like it weighs a few pounds.” 640 S. Arroyo Parkway, (626) 793-0120
Make a lunch date in Old Pasadena to enjoy the Indonesian noodle soups and small plates that Surabayaborn chef Erwin Tjahyadi is serving. “The menu offers something for everyone”: zesty appetizers to share, a range of rice dishes, and soups built around the restaurant’s signature bone broths. Braised oxtails, served on the side, are “ideal for gnawing.” 67 N. Raymond Ave., (626) 795-5702
“Reservations are a must” at this “quintessentially Californian” restaurant, whose Cal-Italian fare features excellent local ingredients, artfully prepared. The “mustorder” wild-mushroom polenta “sings with woodsy richness,” and pastas are consistently stellar. Get there early, to avoid the crowds and to nab an order of porchetta—it’s “as fabulous as it is limited in quantity.” 37 E. Union St., (626) 795-5841