orangetravelcat

We'll be staying the Huntington (formerly the Ritz Carlton) in Pasadena in August. Can you recommend any restaurants within walking distance of the hotel?

socaltraveler

This hotel is set firmly in an expensive residential neighborhood - walking to a restaurant will take quite a long time. I understand that the hotel has several dining options; if you have a car, I suggest you plan on driving to dinner.

Jean

Ditto. Unless your idea of walking distance is a mile or so. FYI, it will be very hot in Pasadena in August.

ncounty

It's my favorite place to stay. Do try and do a walking tour around the immediate neighborhood though; the homes are gorgeous. I walk all the way up to Peet's(?) for coffee in the morning just for exercise but it is about a mile. Definitely plan to drive for dinner.

lcuy

We stayed at the Marriott Courtyard for the Padena GTG. It was very nice and definitely walking distance to all the restaurants.

Not quite like the Ritz though!

TTess

We've stayed in this hotel several times, particularly this past football season. You can't walk to anything to dine but why do you want to? Their food is fabulous! Kid you not, if you're only there for a couple of nights, just dine there. Downtown Pasadena offers very, very nice restaurant selections but you'll have to drive.

maitaitom

Nothing is within walking distance, but here are some of my favorite Pasadena and South Pasadena restaurants.

In Old Town Pasadena, a good place to dine outside on the patio is:
Cafe Santorini
70 W Union St
Pasadena, CA 91103
(626) 564-4200
Mediterranean menu. Good lamb dishes.

Café Bizou is a good choice.
91 N Raymond Ave, Pasadena - (626) 792-9923
Good food (steak au poivre is my favorite) and only two dollar corkage. It can be noisy, but it is a fun place.

I also like Bistro de la Gare in South Pasadena. A little more expensive, but good food. Tres French.
921 Meridian Avenue
South Pasadena, CA 91030
626-799-8828

For terrific Thai food:
Saladang Song
383 S Fair Oaks Ave, Pasadena, (626) 793-5200

Sister restaurant Saladang Song is at
363 S. Fair Oaks, Pasadena
(626) 793-8123

A couple of my new favorites are an Afghan restaurant
Azeen's Afghani Restaurant110 E Union St.
Pasadena
(626) 683-3310

and

Mojitos Restaurant & Rum Bar
69 N Raymond Ave
Pasadena, CA 91103
(626) 796-2520

kevin109

Don't forget Maison Akira on Green street.it's quite a bit of walk though. Old town is the closest concentration of restauratns, but still far (1.5 miles).

I like il fornaio inside the square on north side of colorado, alsosushi roku for japanese. Whatever you do, don't eat at Mi Piace. Very very overrated and overpriced.

socaltraveler

Maitai's suggestions are excellent; he and I apparently like to eat at the same places. From the Ritz, you are equi-distant to Old Town Pasadena or the charming center of South Pasadena. It is only 5-7 minutes driving to either, but truly a long, hot walk in August.

orangetravelcat

I'm laughing to myself about Pasadena being hot in August. We live in the Phoenix area. When it comes to hot, we've got it going on!
Thank you for the restaurant suggestions. I'm going to start googling them and look at their website. We'll probably eat at the hotel one night, and in old town the other.

We're going to take the "Behind the Velvet Ropes" tour of the Green House. That's our reason for going to Pasadena.

orangetravelcat

I meant the Gamble House.

maitaitom

I am glad you haven't left yet. Just in case you listen to any of my advice, wipe Bistro de la Gare in South Pasadena off your list. We hadn't been there for awhile and tried it last night. The food was weak from the escargot to the duck to the chicken, and the service was absolutely terrible.

ncounty

On the other end of the food spectrum, there is a really cheap Indian dive restaurant I really like to go to when I can. I think it is called Sitar but it is on Colorado about two blocks from Los Robles away from old town Pasadena. Lunch buffet is about $6.

Jean

Shame about Bistro de la Gare. We like to take turns between that and Firefly Bistro.

ncounty

I looked up Sitar and it got 3.5 stars and some negative reviews; maybe it has changed since I ate there.

This place got high marks for Indian: New Delhi palace.

http://losangeles.citysearch.com/pro...hi_palace.html

socaltraveler

I wouldn't wipe Bistro de la Gare off the map quite yet. I ate there recently and it was fine; perhaps the Maitais happened upon a bad evening there. It does happen, and sorry for them that it did.

POlson

We've had several wonderful meals at The Dining Room at the Huntington. They also do a yummy yummy (off menu) BLT on the Terrace at lunch time.

We ate at Maison Akira just the other night and enjoyed a fabulous meal from start to finish.

Other Pasadena favorites:

Akbar (Indian, in Old Town)

Arroyo Chop House (for Steaks)

Chado (to buy tea); Scarlett Tea Room (for "afternoon tea"), though the Afternoon Tea at the Huntington is quite nice

Pie and Burger (California and Lake) for a terrific old school burger joint/diner and great pies (try the peach or the marionberry if in season)

La Luna Negra (Spanish tapas) - I admit its been a few years since my last visit

Maitaitom also listed several of my favorites. Cafe Bizou has a great carrot/rosemary soup and lovely salads; Saladong Song is also terrific.

maitaitom

"... It does happen,.."

Yes, it does, but there are so many good restaurants in our area that when I have an evening like the one we suffered through on Saturday night, that restaurant moves to the back of a very long line. I will accept an off night, but when virtually every dish is consistently bad and the service is even worse, they won't see me again.

Jean

I'm with maitaitom on this. I can accept an off night regarding service. (Maybe some wait or prep staff were no-shows.) I can also accept that a dish was disappointing. (Maybe expectations were too high.) But when it's all bad from start to finish for everyone at the table, there's no reason to go back until you've heard from some brave soul that things are back on track.

socaltraveler

Perhaps I will have to volunteer to be that person, but it won't be until the end of the summer, way too much going on around here. Sorry it happened, it really can ruin a special evening.