Top Soup Restaurant in Pasadena
Canoe House
805 Fair Oaks Ave, South Pasadena, CA 91030, United States
Ive walked past this restaurant several times and always ignored it. It reminded me of The Island chain which Im not fond of. But Dine in LA gave me an excuse to check them out and Im so glad I did. I tried the Lemongrass coconut soup, the short rib Loco Moco and Pineapple upside down cake. All of these items far exceeded my expectations. The soup was great, all the flavors of the lemongrass, coconut and crab came through. The loco Moco was so good!! Shredded short rib, fried egg, gravy and rice. My only complaint was there was far too much onion crisps, but I just removed what I didnt want so it wasnt a big deal. Pineapple upside down cake was good, served warmed up with a scoop of ice cream. In conclusion, I regret not giving this place a chance sooner. Its definitely far superior to islands and I will be back for sure.Update: I just ordered the loco Moco again and this time they gave me fried rice without asking. NOTE: it taste much better with steamed rice!!
Boiling Point Concept
18 W Green St, Pasadena, CA 91105, United States
This is a chain Taiwanese hot soup restaurant that serves various Asian inspired flavors. It’s best to dine on a cold day since the soup stays super hot from the burner. The portions were generous but the broth was lacking in flavor and the brown rice was mushy. The service was fast and efficient.
California Pizza Kitchen at Pasadena
99 N Los Robles Ave, Pasadena, CA 91101, United States
Great location for dining indoor and outdoor. Spacious dining area and a nice patio setting overlooking Pasadena City Hall.Food are just as good as the CPK in Arcadia where we normally dine. This location is right across the street from our church. It’s a perfect venue for us to catch up with church friends after the service.Lunch combos are perfect for such occasion. With either a pizza or pasta to go with a soup or salad provide the right amount of food and varieties to satisfy all cravings.I normally order an original BBQ chicken pizza to go with a Mediterranean salad. The pizza is a 7” size that would feed one person and the salad is a one person amount as well. The pasta selections include spaghetti or linguine with chicken or shrimp with extra charges. For $12.99 with such combo, it’s a good value for the money.For those of you prefer outdoor dining, this CPK has the perfect patio dining setup. With the fountain next to the outdoor area, dinner can enjoy the running water sound along with the view of the City Hall, making conversation with friends much more pleasant.The restaurant also validate for parking. No need to make reservation as this location has many tables.
Panera Bread
3521 E Foothill Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91107, United States
This is one of the better Panera locations that I've been to across the Los Angeles and Orange County areas. Why? The short version: it's clean here, has massive indoor space (38 indoor & 7 outdoor tables), the consistency/accuracy of food, management actually caring about how the store looks, as well as the timeliness of the orders coming out. Management and crew do an exceptionally good job here.A bit more detailed review. The most important factor to me: cleanliness. There are no strange/lingering odors. There is no trash/animal hair/crumbs/debris on the floor. It looks like it gets vacuumed every day or every other day at least. And they wipe down the tables on a regular interval throughout the day. I can't tell you how many Paneras I go to and the carpets/floors are just filthy. It looks like you could catch something just by picking up your pencil off of the floor in those other places.The next most important factor for me is the ability to get a table regardless of the time of day. Even though sqft of this Panera isn't crazy huge, they designed the layout of the seating area well. There are at least 38 indoor tables, 12 of which are cozy booth style, 1 of which is a large group/family style table that seats at least 12 people, approx 4-6 small group tables (seats 4 people, so you can really spread out), and the rest are individual/small tables. Plenty of options to. They have about 7 small tables outside.The other factors I mentioned above are not a big deal for me as I don't mind waiting to get my food and I'm not picky when it comes to mistakes. But from what I notice, orders get completed in a timely manner and I rarely see or hear complaints from p-offed people. As you can tell, I spend a lot of time here studying and notice things.I wish they would just close later (like 9:30/10pm). The place is consistently filled with people well up until the last minute of closing. But they are nice and let people finish their meals. Labor costs and the increased chances of homeless people loitering later in the night - are most likely the reasons why they cannot close later. But if they wanted to, and advertised later hours, they would become a hot spot. The only study/dining spot in Pasadena that would be open after 9PM (that is both safe and offers quality food options). This area generally has some homeless people wandering around, but the store is away from the main street so they could potentially avoid that same issue that plagues most Starbucks cafes here. All in all, they do a good job here.
Urbane Cafe
218 S Lake Ave, Pasadena, CA 91101, United States
*Warning: wall of text ahead* ;-)This was my second visit. I continue to be impressed with their salads. Unlike the boring bowls of Sysco® Standard Sadness™ at so many other restaurants where salads are a neglected afterthought, containing little more than iceberg lettuce, shredded American cheese, some cold, rubbery overcooked meat, and if youre lucky, a cherry tomato or two, this places salads have real variety, flavor & quality.I liked the electro-indie background music, and the atmosphere was bright & clean, with a hip, sort of industrial feel. Can you tell Im a millennial? (Okay, technically Im GenX, but thats neither here nor there).The staff that night was friendly & courteous, if not energetic, but having worked in foodservice myself, I know what its like late on a Friday evening closing shift after the dinner rush, so I cant really fault the employees for that.Perhaps the manager might consider a scheduling change to give each of the closers a meal break after the evening rush. I know the cost wouldnt be inconsequential, but the positive impact on customer relations, employee morale, and the efficiency & quality of all the labor youre paying for later in the evening when everythings being cleaned up are factors worth considering. I speak from experience, since years ago I used to be a barista.One area for improvement that led me to rate my experience four stars instead of five, was that the restroom needed some attention. It was far from gas-station-level gross (just missing paper towels and there was some paper trash on the floor) but perhaps more frequent restroom checks, and the use of a timer with snooze feature to ensure that they actually happen on time would be useful in keeping the restroom stocked and tidy.Overall pretty good, but some specific room for improvement.
Banana Blossom Bistro (Pasadena)
1060 E Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91106, United States
Wow. The chef owner was so incredibly gracious - I could have been a guest of honor at her home. She came out to greet me and personally hand me the order, she went back to give me her familys famous chili oil and scratch made peanut sauce. The banh mi wasOMG good - packaged perfectly, my custom notes executed to perfection, the bread crispy - not soggy despite the uber fresh veggies...Just perfection - from ordering, helpfulness, food - concept, ingredients, execution, to the ultimate in hospitality & warmth.Michelin star in their future! ???
Garden Cafe at Norton Simon Museum
411 W Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91105, United States
One of my favorite Los Angeles museums with art on par with the better European museums.Norton Simon has a huge art collection, about two-thirds of which is in basement storage.
Top other services in Pasadena:
Mazze Banquet and Restaurant
927 E Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91106, United States
A Gem of a Restaurant and banquet hall that recently opened on East Colorado St in Pasadena. Lovely Decor and mood, attentive wait staff, tasty and fresh dining options. We had the Tri-color hummus plate, the Greek salad, and the Chicken shish kabob. Every item was delicious and flavorful and the owners really treat you as If you are a part of their family. We cant wait to come back and try their Eggplant parmesan and Mazze burger! A must try if you are ever in Pasadena!
Kwan Kitchen
777 S Arroyo Pkwy Unit 101, Pasadena, CA 91105, United States
New thai restaurant popped up in the Pasadena area. Its a small neighborhood Thai restaurant.Came here for a late lunch. The server was very friendly w lots of smiles. Food came out promptly. Tom yum soup was delicious! Nicely flavored with plump shrimp! Crab fried rice was tasty. I think it needed a tad more seasoning, but its still very tasty.
Urban Pocha
61 S Fair Oaks Ave #130, Pasadena, CA 91105, United States
My niece wanted some Korean food so we came here after Little Tokyo. They were packed but we came at a good time to be seated right away in a table next to the front counter. Our waitress came to see what we wanted after about 5 minutes. Everything looked really good on the menu so we ordered drinks and asked for another minute to decide what to eat.. and when she went to walk away I saw a “Oh, I'll give you a minute” face… uh oh.. Another lady brought the drinks about 5-10 minutes later ?? ..about 20 minutes after THAT (she walked by our table every minute or so that whole time without checking in) the waitress Young K. came to ask if we were ready to order our food so we ordered food and 1 more drink.My niece got her food in about 15-20 minutes.. literally 30 minutes after THAT.. mine and my wife's food still hadn't shown up so we asked what was up. She went to check, came back and said, “it'll be done in about 2 minutes.. do you still want it?” ? ..so bout 5-10 minutes after that our food finally came. The other drink never came so cancelled that.. but employees were taking shots at the table next to us so at least they were enjoying themselves. Food was delicious. Small portions but tasted good. Was super thirsty the whole time. Finally realized they gave a jug of water to all the other tables but ours.All and all.. by far the worst restaurant service of my life.. I wasn't even mad because it was so laughably horrendous.. it actually seemed purposefully bad. My niece had a good time tho cuz they played Super Shy twice while we were there. Best of luck