I'm going to be hanging out in Pasadena for like five days in December, and I need things to do! I've never been to California before, so even minor things'll at least have novelty value for me. Any tips?
The Metro yellow line (train/subway) also goes to and from Pasadena. and you can easily transfer to the red line and visit Hollywood, or Universal Studios/citywalk. If you have access to a car, you can go anywhere in LA or any of the beach cities, obviously.
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ThegreatcowLord of All BaconsWashington State - It's Wet up here innit? Registered Userregular
edited October 2009
Ahhh Pasadena, good times. One quick thing to note about the place it literally has several large swathes of the place that are nice and are....not so nice. Pretty much here's how it breaks down...
Sections you'll want to Visit -
Old Town - Concentrated right around Colorado Blvd, this is where you'll see the majority of places to hang out, dine and shop, it's a bit shi-shi at this point, having boutique-fied itself over the years, but there's movie theatres and plenty of restaurants of every type to suit your tastes.
South Pasadena - Only visit here if you're really itching to see some really old condemned-yet-kept-pretty-thanks-to-the-city houses. There are some restaurants concentrated around Fair Oaks ave, but overall not much to do there....I do believe the Pasadena Playhouse is around there that does some theater events there as well.
Main Pasadena - This is sort of hard to describe, but it grows out of Colorado Blvd if you go west along it and branches out into a mishmash of residential and commercial districts that overlap each other quite a bit. I'd check out to see the Caltech theater on the Caltech Campus, they usually have something or other going on and there's always something to eat along Colorado Blvd. I also believe the Ice House Comedy club is located near where Fair Oaks and Colorado Blvd intersects, so there's that too. Some of the fancier restaurants are scattered around here, let me know what kind of stuff you like, and I can probably recommend you a place.
IMPORTANT! - Before you leave, you OWE it to yourself to take yourself (if it's not too much hassle) to a little grease joint called "Lucky Boy" for their Burrito Breakfasts. They only take cash, but suffice to say, that burrito will fill you up for pretty much the whole day and then some. You can get it in Bacon, Sausage or Pastrami for about 5.50$. Another good spot is "The Hat" on Lake ave, north of the 210 Freeway. Fantastic pastrami and gravy fries.
Places to Avoid
Northern/North-Eastern Pasadena - This place has gotten better over the years, but it's still a bit of a rough place and it's pretty much nothing but high density housing, liquor stores and high crime areas. This is the general area where it starts to merge with Altadena, around woodbury ave. Suffice to say, don't go walking around that part of Pasadena at night unless you're feeling exceptionally lucky or brave.
kaliyamaLeft to find less-moderated foraRegistered Userregular
edited October 2009
ok i guess pasadena isn't los angeles, but you're like 15 minutes from downtown if you're avoiding rush hour commutes. check out the standard. you could do disneyland as a day trip. see the sunset strip. do LACMA in mid-wilshire, or do some time at the getty or getty villa and then goto the beach.
First of all, Old Pas is a good spot. It' s a bunch of shops, restaurants, bars, and a couple clubs all along Colorado: Map
There's a lot to do there, if you want to go a little bit further, you can drive down the 110 and then north on the 101 and you'll be in Hollywood. Sunset boulevard, starting from the 101 and down to the sea, is a whole bunch of stuff you can do.
If you're more interested in restaurants and whatnot, there's a bunch of that around as well, Pasadena is full of old people and all they really do other than go to bed early is eat out (and jack up prices everywhere, cocks):
Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles has a location in Pasadena, north of the 210 freeway. I love this place but I don't eat there too often because I like having a working heart.
Really, there's a ton of restuarants along these streets:
- Going N on Lake Ave starting at California blvd, this is where rosco's and that other dude's fastfood vegan stuff is
- Old Pas
- Fair Oaks - Starting in Old pas, going south until it hits Huntington Blvd (MAMMA's NY STYLE PIZZA)
- All along Green street, from Pasadena City College to the 110 freeway (Matsuri Sushi and Green street cafe are good)
There's a shitton of restuarants along those streets.
If you're looking to go a little bit further, I'd suggest checking out some beaches. Malibu is an excellent choice, as is the nearyb Point Dume - Dume is probably my favorite spot. In addition, Santa Monica has a cool pier that I hear tourists love, and Venice Beach has one of the weirdest collections of crazy stuff on a beach boardwalk you will ever see (Muscle beach, freakshows, dancing hobos dressed as santas)
There's also amusement parks, such as Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, etc around that you can check out.
If you have a question about something specific, feel free to PM me and I'll try to get back to you, I actually have lived in Pasadena for ~5 years now.
If you're going to be in Pasadena, forget In-N-Out. Go to the Corner of Lake Avenue and California Blvd, and look for a place called Pie'N'Burger. Get a bacon cheeseburger, and afterward, a piece of apple pie a la mode. Best burger on the planet.
For breakfast, I cannot recommend Marston's Restaurant highly enough. Get the French Toast, or else the macadamia nut pancakes.
Unfortunately, Pasadena's biggest attraction is really the food. They have literally thousands of restaurants. But little else it seems, sometimes.
If you're into botanical gardens and museums, I recommend the Huntington. It's on Allen avenue, all the way south from the freeway. It's not cheap to get in, but it's a really nice place. If you're willing to go further out of your way, I'd recommend going to the Los Angeles County arboretum in Santa Anita, but that's a bit out there.
Other than that old town is where all the shopping and such is. Going into LA proper isn't terrible if you want to see more.
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The Metro yellow line (train/subway) also goes to and from Pasadena. and you can easily transfer to the red line and visit Hollywood, or Universal Studios/citywalk. If you have access to a car, you can go anywhere in LA or any of the beach cities, obviously.
Sections you'll want to Visit -
Old Town - Concentrated right around Colorado Blvd, this is where you'll see the majority of places to hang out, dine and shop, it's a bit shi-shi at this point, having boutique-fied itself over the years, but there's movie theatres and plenty of restaurants of every type to suit your tastes.
South Pasadena - Only visit here if you're really itching to see some really old condemned-yet-kept-pretty-thanks-to-the-city houses. There are some restaurants concentrated around Fair Oaks ave, but overall not much to do there....I do believe the Pasadena Playhouse is around there that does some theater events there as well.
Main Pasadena - This is sort of hard to describe, but it grows out of Colorado Blvd if you go west along it and branches out into a mishmash of residential and commercial districts that overlap each other quite a bit. I'd check out to see the Caltech theater on the Caltech Campus, they usually have something or other going on and there's always something to eat along Colorado Blvd. I also believe the Ice House Comedy club is located near where Fair Oaks and Colorado Blvd intersects, so there's that too. Some of the fancier restaurants are scattered around here, let me know what kind of stuff you like, and I can probably recommend you a place.
IMPORTANT! - Before you leave, you OWE it to yourself to take yourself (if it's not too much hassle) to a little grease joint called "Lucky Boy" for their Burrito Breakfasts. They only take cash, but suffice to say, that burrito will fill you up for pretty much the whole day and then some. You can get it in Bacon, Sausage or Pastrami for about 5.50$. Another good spot is "The Hat" on Lake ave, north of the 210 Freeway. Fantastic pastrami and gravy fries.
Places to Avoid
Northern/North-Eastern Pasadena - This place has gotten better over the years, but it's still a bit of a rough place and it's pretty much nothing but high density housing, liquor stores and high crime areas. This is the general area where it starts to merge with Altadena, around woodbury ave. Suffice to say, don't go walking around that part of Pasadena at night unless you're feeling exceptionally lucky or brave.
Wud yoo laek to lern aboot meatz? Look here!
There's a lot to do there, if you want to go a little bit further, you can drive down the 110 and then north on the 101 and you'll be in Hollywood. Sunset boulevard, starting from the 101 and down to the sea, is a whole bunch of stuff you can do.
If you're more interested in restaurants and whatnot, there's a bunch of that around as well, Pasadena is full of old people and all they really do other than go to bed early is eat out (and jack up prices everywhere, cocks):
Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles has a location in Pasadena, north of the 210 freeway. I love this place but I don't eat there too often because I like having a working heart.
Really, there's a ton of restuarants along these streets:
- Going N on Lake Ave starting at California blvd, this is where rosco's and that other dude's fastfood vegan stuff is
- Old Pas
- Fair Oaks - Starting in Old pas, going south until it hits Huntington Blvd (MAMMA's NY STYLE PIZZA)
- All along Green street, from Pasadena City College to the 110 freeway (Matsuri Sushi and Green street cafe are good)
There's a shitton of restuarants along those streets.
If you're looking to go a little bit further, I'd suggest checking out some beaches. Malibu is an excellent choice, as is the nearyb Point Dume - Dume is probably my favorite spot. In addition, Santa Monica has a cool pier that I hear tourists love, and Venice Beach has one of the weirdest collections of crazy stuff on a beach boardwalk you will ever see (Muscle beach, freakshows, dancing hobos dressed as santas)
There's also amusement parks, such as Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, etc around that you can check out.
If you have a question about something specific, feel free to PM me and I'll try to get back to you, I actually have lived in Pasadena for ~5 years now.
If you're going to be in Pasadena, forget In-N-Out. Go to the Corner of Lake Avenue and California Blvd, and look for a place called Pie'N'Burger. Get a bacon cheeseburger, and afterward, a piece of apple pie a la mode. Best burger on the planet.
For breakfast, I cannot recommend Marston's Restaurant highly enough. Get the French Toast, or else the macadamia nut pancakes.
Unfortunately, Pasadena's biggest attraction is really the food. They have literally thousands of restaurants. But little else it seems, sometimes.
If you're into botanical gardens and museums, I recommend the Huntington. It's on Allen avenue, all the way south from the freeway. It's not cheap to get in, but it's a really nice place. If you're willing to go further out of your way, I'd recommend going to the Los Angeles County arboretum in Santa Anita, but that's a bit out there.
Other than that old town is where all the shopping and such is. Going into LA proper isn't terrible if you want to see more.