Captions: Laemmle Playhouse 7 (top left), Vroman's Book Store (top right), Yahaira's (right)
Pasadena has many appealing places, restaurants and hotels. It’s home to the Rose Bowl, Julia Child, excellent architecture and Colorado Avenue, the former Route 66.
Fitting Pasadena's best in a single post is a challenge. To give you a sense of the place, I took an unscientific poll of our family. Here is the first of two posts on favorite places. For contact information, scroll to the end of the list.
1. Yahaira’s Restaurant. This intimate, casual restaurant’s menu has a delicious mix of Mexican and America breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Yahaira’s offers fresh food, for vegetarians and omnivores, at reasonable prices with excellent service. On Friday and Saturday nights, Peter Sellers, a local guitar player, adds to the experience with flamenco and American standards as background music.
2. Vroman’s Bookstore. Across the street from Yahaira’s is southern California’s oldest and largest bookstore. On it’s exterior, Vroman’s has one of the best equipped and most delightful outdoor newsstands I have ever seen. Inside is an excellent mix of national and California nonfiction and fiction in hardcover and paperback.
3. Laemmle Playhouse 7. This seven screen movie theater has Art Deco architecture and décor. It has a mix of mainstream and indie films. I had a pleasingly odd film experience here with our friends Joe and Cathy. We walked in from the Pasadena summer into the chilled world of upstate New York, when we came to see the movie Frozen River.
4. The Holiday Inn Express Pasadena and Courtyard Los Angeles/Pasadena. These are two favorite Pasadena hotels. The Holiday Inn Express is east of downtown Pasadena. The Courtyard is located, a few blocks north of Old Pasadena. At the Holiday Inn Express, I was particularly impressed with the hospitality and hard work of Annie Hsu and her team. At the Courtyard, we got a lot of help with special requests. In particular, several of the desk staff helped us, with intelligence and good-nature, to find a safe place to unload a car being shipped cross-country.
5. Cameron’s Seafood. This large restaurant serves delicious salads, steaks and seafood. Thirsty guests will enjoy the bathtub-sized Tanqueray martinis that appear, like a magical mirage, at the end of hot day.
Contact Information:
Yahaira’s Café: 698 E. Colorado Boulevard(Blvd), http://www.yahairascafe.com/ 626-844-3254
Vroman’s Bookstore: 695 E. Colorado Blvd, http://www.vromansbookstore.com/ 626-449-5320
Laemmle Playhouse 7: 673 E. Colorado Blvd, http://www.laemmle.com/ 626-844-6500
Holiday Inn Express Hotel~Suites Pasadena: 3500 E. Colorado Blvd. 626-792-1363
Courtyard Los Angeles Pasadena/Old Town: 180 N. Fair Oaks Ave. 626-403-7600
Cameron’s Seafood: 1978 E. Colorado, http://www.camerons4fish.com/ 626-793-3474
Fitting Pasadena's best in a single post is a challenge. To give you a sense of the place, I took an unscientific poll of our family. Here is the first of two posts on favorite places. For contact information, scroll to the end of the list.
1. Yahaira’s Restaurant. This intimate, casual restaurant’s menu has a delicious mix of Mexican and America breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Yahaira’s offers fresh food, for vegetarians and omnivores, at reasonable prices with excellent service. On Friday and Saturday nights, Peter Sellers, a local guitar player, adds to the experience with flamenco and American standards as background music.
2. Vroman’s Bookstore. Across the street from Yahaira’s is southern California’s oldest and largest bookstore. On it’s exterior, Vroman’s has one of the best equipped and most delightful outdoor newsstands I have ever seen. Inside is an excellent mix of national and California nonfiction and fiction in hardcover and paperback.
3. Laemmle Playhouse 7. This seven screen movie theater has Art Deco architecture and décor. It has a mix of mainstream and indie films. I had a pleasingly odd film experience here with our friends Joe and Cathy. We walked in from the Pasadena summer into the chilled world of upstate New York, when we came to see the movie Frozen River.
4. The Holiday Inn Express Pasadena and Courtyard Los Angeles/Pasadena. These are two favorite Pasadena hotels. The Holiday Inn Express is east of downtown Pasadena. The Courtyard is located, a few blocks north of Old Pasadena. At the Holiday Inn Express, I was particularly impressed with the hospitality and hard work of Annie Hsu and her team. At the Courtyard, we got a lot of help with special requests. In particular, several of the desk staff helped us, with intelligence and good-nature, to find a safe place to unload a car being shipped cross-country.
5. Cameron’s Seafood. This large restaurant serves delicious salads, steaks and seafood. Thirsty guests will enjoy the bathtub-sized Tanqueray martinis that appear, like a magical mirage, at the end of hot day.
Contact Information:
Yahaira’s Café: 698 E. Colorado Boulevard(Blvd), http://www.yahairascafe.com/ 626-844-3254
Vroman’s Bookstore: 695 E. Colorado Blvd, http://www.vromansbookstore.com/ 626-449-5320
Laemmle Playhouse 7: 673 E. Colorado Blvd, http://www.laemmle.com/ 626-844-6500
Holiday Inn Express Hotel~Suites Pasadena: 3500 E. Colorado Blvd. 626-792-1363
Courtyard Los Angeles Pasadena/Old Town: 180 N. Fair Oaks Ave. 626-403-7600
Cameron’s Seafood: 1978 E. Colorado, http://www.camerons4fish.com/ 626-793-3474
