el matador which replaced the branch of mijares at washington and allen now has outdoor dining: a few tables on the side, and two cabana sized enclosures with what looks like mosquito netting.
EDIT:
stopped by late last month as a friend from out of town wanted mexican and wanted to eat indoors - those cabana type structures in the parking lot are actually seating for the shawerma masters in the same mall.
ordered a drenched lengua burrito (forgot to take a pic), it was OK as burritos go, but nothing i’d go out of my way for.
a tostada mixta. i admit i have been spoiled by the tostada mixta at my taco in highland park.
this may not be news to some, but apparently there’s now a wendy’s in the playhouse district on madison south of colorado blvd. while i personally consider it an odd choice of location, perhaps the star-news will give it all the business it needs to stay afloat; IIRC there’s limited parking around there which suggests the location is going to have to rely a lot on foot traffic.
i haven’t had a frosty in ages.
and since i’m on the topic of fast food, i tried the fish sandwich over at carl’s jr by pcc. the protein may have been fish once upon a time, but what i’d conjecture to be serious freezer burn altered the texture to that of a bad chicken patty. pass!
more of a public service announcement: there was a shooting this week in the parking lot of the la estrella at the intersection of foothill and altadena. there was also a robbery at gunpoint near sierra madre and del mar in the last couple of weeks. it’s kinda shocking to me to have this kind of crime going on in that part of pasadena. you kinda expect it west of lake and north of the 210.
I noticed the other day that Sushi Ichi is closed; there’s a new sushi bar in its place, Sushi Karen (relocated from Culver City). Has anyone been? Also, it looks like Sushi Kimagure is closed as well. Are there any decent sushi bars in the Pasadena area? I love that there are so many options for high-quality sushi in DTLA and nearby, but sometimes I just want a casual, good-enough neighborhood sushi bar.
Depending on what part of Pasadena you’re in, there’s an argument to be made for Ichijiku in Highland Park. At least in the casual/affordable/good QPR genre.
Thanks for the reminder; I haven’t gotten around to trying it yet. Do you know if/when they’re opening up for indoor counter service? I’m so over take-out sushi, even if I go no further than the outdoor patio there.
I think before we get down to Sugarfish, there is Osawa. But they’re only doing limited-menu patio dining at the moment. Battera and other specialties not available.
My husband ate at Osawa’s patio recently and said the sushi wasn’t as good as in pre-pandemic days. Hopefully quality will improve as we edge back towards normal operations. I’ve had some very good sushi there, but very pricey for what it was, and what I really want is a little neighborhood sushi-ya rather than jack-of-all-trades.
We had takeout chirashi from Sushi Karen last week. The fish was fairly good. Planning to try their takeout omakase in the near future. It is nice to have a decent local place for takeout sushi in the current environs.
tacos poncitlan is returning to pasadena on allen south of old sasoun bakery (which is itself undergoing renovations but still open for business using the southern most entrance of the building) but still north of the school.
