AMY'S CAFÉ
(LAKE AND ALTADENA DRIVE)
900 E. Altadena Dr Altadena, CA 91003
(626) 798-4737
www.amyspatiocafe.com
Right in the spot that used to be the World's Least Interesting Chinese Take
Out Place, Amy's Patio Cafe opened up in January 2007, and the hopes of Altadenans
from Lincoln Ave to Sierra Madre Blvd. rose. The interior was quaint and not
intimidating, though still not quite as nice as I had hoped. The tables were
small and a bit crowded; I had to struggle to avoid the indoor tree from whispering
sweet nothings into my ear. The service was friendly and the wait was not
too bad - 10 minutes for Sunday brunch. Surprisingly, the food was excellent.
My crustini, a sourdough loaf topped with spinach, bacon, eggs, and parmesan,
was nothing short of buttery goodness. My friend seemed to enjoy her eggs
benedict and my roommate's salad was tasty and refreshing. The portions were
also very satisfying; I felt stuffed but not comatose.
BESSIE'S DAUGHTER'S SOULFUL TACOS
(LINCOLN CROSSING)
Tacos, salads
2234 Lincoln Ave. Altadena, CA
With her first restaurant, Kuhn is banking on a 50-year-old recipe concocted by her mother,
Bessie. Kuhn says her tacos are an American take on the Mexican classic.
Clara and I got some food to go from BDST last week. We got veggie tacos, chicken taco, and
Heggie's salad. All were very good and I recommend the place. I especially like the salad,
which has romaine lettuce, feta, walnuts, grapes, apples, and some other ingredients I've forgotten.
BULGARINI GELATO
(LAKE AND ALTADENA DRIVE, RITE AID PARKING
LOT)
749 E Altadena Dr. Altadena, CA 91001
(626) 441-2319
www.bulgarinigelato.com
The gelato here is delectable enough to warrant 5 stars EASILY, but it's the
odd, out of the way location that put a general damper on my experience. Luckily,
after a bit of tentative wandering, I spotted the red Bulgarini umbrella.
Success! But...WTF? Who knew that secret motherload of orgasmic gelato was
tucked away in butt freakin' Egypt! They allowed me to have 5 flavors in my
large cup. FIVE....! And even then I couldn't decide which to choose. The
lucky winners were: Pistachio - Roasty, toasty, crunchy pistachio HEAVEN.
Zabaglione - Just enough of a Marsala kick and incredibly velvety Chocolate
w/Orange - Super, duper, scrumptious, extra dark chocolate. I coulda done
w/o the orange, but they were out of plain choco. Hazelnut - Ground hazelnuts
studded throughout the creamiest base. Banana - This was like chomping into
the ripest, sweetest banana...uncanny! This is, by leaps and bounds, the best
gelato I've ever tasted. The ingredients are fresh; the flavors are rich but
clean-tasting, and each bite is creamy to the maximum. Despite an ambience
slightly more depressing than a geriatric hospital waiting room, Bulgarini
serves stuff that is just way too good for me to stay away.
COFFEE GALLERY
(LAKE AVE)
Coffeehouse, breakfast, live entertainment
2029 Lake Avenue
Altadena, CA 91001
626-398-7917
Website: http://www.coffeegallery.com
Where everybody knows your name. This is a hangout for local Altadenan's who want a great
cup of coffee, breakfast, a casual meeting room or come by later for dessert and live
entertainment in their 49 seat theater. Great live acts that the family can enjoy.
DUTCH OVEN BAKERY
(LAKE AVE)
2281 Lake Ave
Altadena, CA 91001
(626) 794-3555
I picked up a sweet, sunshiny Honey Muffin and my whole day changed! This "muffin"
is sooo delish, I was in honey heaven! So what is with these sweet muffins? They take
yummy muffins that are more like yellow cake, and soak them in honey so the outside is
sweet and sticky with a bit of that burnt flavor, and the inside is soft and moist. You
can get many flavors, pinneapple honey, strawberry honey, blueberry honey, so many sticky
choices! They also make other baked goods, but I was hooked on this muffin thing. I'm not
often in Alta dena, but next time I swing by I will DEFINITELY be stopping for the muffins!
EVEREST BURGER
(LAKE AVE)
Fast food, sandwiches, Mexican,
breakfast, pastrami, gyro (626) 797-8204 2314 LAKE AVE This was once a Tops,
like its predecessor this is a good spot for Hamburgers, Fries and Shakes
in Altadena. Right next to Eliot Middle School. Makes you wish you were 12
yrs old again. Burgers, Shakes, Broasted Chicked, Gyro, Burritos and Sandwiches.
FARM FRESH
(LINCOLN CROSSING)
2260 Lincoln Ave
Altadena, CA 91001
(626) 296-3900
Farm Fresh Ranch Market has the largest Mexican Bakery outside of Whitter and
Huntington Park . They also have a sushi bar, Chinese food take our, pizza, deli and
whole chickens. But this is also a full service market and the owners are working to
please our diverse community with varieties of soy milk, peppers, Japanese/Korean/Chinese
foods and more. There fresh fruit and vegetables, etc.
FOX'S
(LAKE AVE)
Breakfast and lunch only
2352 Lake Ave
(626) 797-9430
Unpretentious and a local tradition. Simply the best breakfast secret around.
It's a small family oriented no thrills breakfast and lunch restaurant. Breakfasts are
very reasonable and it's a great place to take the kids in the morning. There is a
coffee shop around back that makes drinks and a few tables there as well. Closed Monday
and gets pretty busy after 9:00 AM on the weekends.
NANCY'S PASTRIES/PASTRIES BY NANCY
(LAKE AND ALTADENA DRIVE, RITE AID PARKING LOT)
761 E Altadena Dr
Altadena, CA 91001
(626) 794-9839
Most of their business is wedding cakes, but I purchase birthday and other party cakes here.
This is *not* an eat-in bakery. They don't do slices, but they do have random small pastries.
If you love chocolate, you will love their cakes - they are dense and full of intense chocolate flavor.
You can choose three things - the cake, the frosting, and the filling. (They occasionally will have
small single serving pastries with this combo)
It is sort of a "secret" because it's not in a heavily trafficked location, but people come from all
over to get their cake - one lady comes in from Palmdale and several from Orange County.
O' HAPPY DAYS NATURAL FOOD STORE
(NORTH LAKE)
2283 Lake Ave
Altadena, CA 91001
(626) 797-0383
www.geocities.com/ohdonline/
Oh Happy Days reminds me of the rustic health food stores cum cafes located in Big Sur in the late 60s.
Oh Happy Days owner, John Hopkins, has lived in Altadena for many years and established the store in '77. His vegetarian hot lunches are delicious, but it's a limited menu usually focused on steamed yams and brown rice, with a variety of vegetable or bean stews.---Lori
for lunch i frequent oh happy days, on lake across from ralphs, just for the 70s vegetarian health food scene. it's kind of like cheers without the booze, a cast of real characters and great two dollar bean soups daily.---peter maunu
PANDA EXPRESS
(LOCATED IN LINCOLN CROSSING)
2180 Lincoln Avenue
Altadena, CA, 91001
(626) 296-8700
"Clean, fast and tasty. I often pick up
dinner and sometimes check out what is going on at Farm Fresh."
-Alice
PIZZA JOE'S
(LAKE)
2287 Lake Ave
Altadena, CA 91001-2414
(626) 797-1081
Alice and Randii tried it. "Friendly owners who are Armenian, running this long time establishment. Pizza was good, though Georgies (La Canada) is better."
Nancy Steele wrote: "Darwin likes Pizza Joe's. I've never eaten there."
QUIZNO'S
(LAKE)
Fast food, sandwiches
2470 Lake Ave
Altadena, CA 91001
(626) 797-2740
"Better IMHO than Subway. Good place to catch dinner when running to a Little League game in Farnworth park."
-unknown
PERRY'S JOINT
(ALMOST LOCATED IN ALTADENA!)
Hot dogs, ice
cream and more
2051 Lincoln Ave, Pasadena, CA
(626) 798-4700
"Perry's Joint
on Lincoln has delicious ice cream and they make their waffle cones "from
scratch." The owners are nice folks."
---Lori
"Perry's Joint, across the street
(from Vintage Café), has good hot dogs and ice cream. Clara eats there (veggie
dogs) several times a week after school."
---Nancy Steele