Amid all the shifting uncertainties and changing priorities of the past pandemic year for greater LA’s restaurant industry, one glowing (and unexpected) bright spot has emerged: Pasadena. The standalone city northeast of Downtown, at the edge of the broad San Gabriel Valley, has quietly become one of the busiest dining scenes anywhere in Southern California.
After years spent crowding its main retail drag with chain restaurants and watching as big openings clustered in Downtown LA, Venice, and even East Hollywood instead, Pasadena has begun to attract its own star talent and is even seeing long-awaited places edge closer to opening — just as the county moves into the least restrictive dining tier in the state, too. Read more...