Tips for Dining, Eating, and Food Shopping in the Greater Los Angeles Area (including Orange & Ventura Counties and SW San Bernardino County)
Start New ThreadAny ideas for a nice dinner in Pasadena? I prefer entrees under $25. Anything other than Mexican or Asian would be great.
By flowergirl
on Feb 3, 2009 11:30 AM
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I'm going to Azeen's Afgan on Union for the first time tonight. It's gotten some stellar reviews.
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Cafe Verde
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I keep prodding people toward Central Park, across from the REAL Central Park on Fair Oaks, just far enough away from Old Town to be calm and un-mobbed. American, mostly under $25. Flatiron steak and sand dabs highly recommended; ate there one night with two salad-eating friends who were delighted with their stuff as well. Smart, friendly wait staff, good enough wine selection. Neither world-changing nor mind-blowing, just good solid fare.
Green Street gets a lot of good press, but I don't really care for it as a dinner spot - much better for lunch. Just about any place else in your price range (which is ours as well) is either some kind of Latino, some kind of Asian, or a burger joint.
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I agree, Central Park would fit the OP's request.
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Cafe Verde is good, but I would opt to go to Malbec as my first choice.
http://www.malbeccuisine.com/
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A solid choice, to be sure.
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Madeleines Restaurant & Wine Bistro on Green St. Fine dining in very nice room (think stately manor). Best atmosphere and food of those recommended so far*. I believe a majority of entrees are under $25. + they're participating in DineLA thru Fri this week.
http://www.madeleinesrestaurant.com/Home_Page.php
http://www.dinela.com/restaurantweek/...
*Though other recommendations good also, esp Malbec for beef.
Central Park - if you want to stay well under $25 (almost all entrees)
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Madeleine's is Pasadena's most underrated restaurant. It has everything - competent menu, great wine list, good servers, and most of all a grown up, rather romantic room. Not cheap, but for less than Parkway Grill or Derek's you get more.
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La Grande Orange is great.
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La Grande Orange has a lovely room - the old deco-era train station, nicely refurbished - and good service. It is noisy as hell, but then it's all concrete and tile and there's a heavy bar scene in the next room. What we've had has been OK, not outstanding; my burger, for instance, was perfectly cooked but lacking any real beefiness, and the bun melted well before the halfway point. The menu is quite limited - several different categories, but only a few choices within each one - and it is about two notches more expensive than Central Park, which is directly one block west. It's still certainly worth a visit.
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If you like small plates - Bar Celona in Old Town serves pretty decent tapas. The mussel and clams dish was $13 - it was buttery and rich and served with toasted garlic bread - yum. I suggest Pop Champagne and Dessert Bar too - I haven't tried it yet but menu looks pretty good.
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