Figured rather than tagging along with the various SGV update threads it makes more sense to put the Pasadena stuff in one place.
Copenhagen Pastry in East Pasadena has closed; according to sign on the door the last day was Sept 3rd.
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That’s really sad. 
I tried it once when we were in the area. They seemed to be pretty good quality.
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I liked the place, a lot. The original store, in Culver City, is still open; we’re just never on that side of the basin.
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Let’s be honest, there are only so many people in Pasadena supporting restaurants. And there are a lot more folks trying to run restaurants. It’s competitive. Thus, we see the fall of 800 Degrees. We see the closing of Bollywood Marsala. We see Green St. Taqueria about to close or be sold. A number of places seem to be hanging on. I guess there’s going to be a sorting out. And then some sort of booze and food reality taking hold. Could be good. Could be weird.
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Liked Copenhagen a bunch as well, though it’s on a strange stretch of Colorado. No seating like many Danish bakeries. And they were not always terribly accommodating. Glad you let us know so we didn’t find out the hard way.
On the better note, Lincoln will be carrying Friends & Family bread (Roxana Jullapat) on Tuesdays!
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I’m not sure why but it seems like the old town area is seeing an uptick in higher end restaurants that focus on dinner like Union, Bone Kettle and Maestro. None of these places are open for lunch. I work in old town and there really aren’t a lot of great fast casual options for lunch on old town, probably due to rent. If you go on the other side of Arroyo Pkwy towards City College where rent is cheaper there are many more options.
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Looks like Fishwives on Fair Oaks is open for lunch with a Social Hour starting at 2:30pm.
Saw Sushi Enya opened on the corner of Colorado just west of Arroyo Pkwy.
Enjoyed Urban Plates on Lake. It’s like the lovechild of Lemonade and Tender Greens, but better.
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Definitely want to try Fishwives. And Delicatessen by Osawa but a little too far to walk.
I try not to drive to lunch but there would be a lot more options like Tender Greens, Pie Life, Houstons, Urban Plates, Roma Deli, Lincoln, Zankou to name a few.
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Oh no! That’s a shame. They were the only place nearby where I could get one of those rye loaves.
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Fishwives is a great addition to that area of Pasadena. I like that it’s open for lunch too. I think Lost at Sea is also going to start lunch service this week so it’ll be interesting to see that experiment.
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Know it’s not walking distance, but my fave place for lunch is QQ Kopitiam across the street from PCC, but it’s a carby nightmare. Never tried Top Restaurant.
Too far to walk as well is Annapurna on Colorado just on the other side of Lake, the sister restaurant to the Culver City restaurant, but Pasadena serves meat.
Have eaten at California Chutney, Ramen Tatsunoya, and Lunasia in Old Town. Not stellar, but not horrible either.
What did you like there?
Yes these are in my rotation along with King Taco, Euro Pane and Harlowes. 800 degrees $5 POTD was a great option before closing.
I got a couple of oysters and a scallop from the raw bar.
I also got the 3 temaki combo: salmon, blue crab, and amberjack. The salmon was surprising in that it was cured or marinated – definitely more salty than I expected.
My dining companion got fish and chips. It was a very large chunk of fish, not like the usual flat fillet of fish that you’d expect. I didn’t taste that one so no comment. Fries were decent though.
What’s your opinion on Harlowe’s?
There’s always people standing outside (can’t tell if that’s Union), but it’s often empty inside.
Yeah, we thought Deli by Osawa was near Old Town the last time we went to go to the Apple Store there… WRONG. But the Pasadena #10 bus runs about every 20 minutes, so we got there relatively quickly from Old Town
–Dommy!
Tortugas, next to King Taco, is quite good.
So is Braise Crumble & Cafe, but that’s east of Lake (on Colorado), not Old Town.
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What do you order at Tortugas and Braise & Crumble?
Good sandwich. Not the best French dip in town. The meat was just ok. The horseradish sauce and toasted bread were very good. My favorite thing was probably the bread and butter pickles. The fries and onion strings are great sides but I got a very greasy batch of onion strings once. Another time the fries were excellent. It’s a little on the expensive side unless you go with somebody and share fries/pickles.
Tortugas specializes in Tortas, but I think the thing to get their is their taquitos, and the homemade potato chips (which are free)
At Braise & Crumble, I think their pulled pork sandwich is pretty tasty, and the desserts (apple pie and chiffon cakes) are all solid. My friend swears by their panko dusted deep-fried mac-n-cheese squares, but that borders too much on 2 a.m. drunk food for me, which is, in other words, not conducive for a good lunch-fare option.