Breakfast Brunch and Bicycles

Weekend adventures on the East Side

There is nothing much more fun on the weekend when the sun is shinning, than to hop on the bike and head out for good coffee and a nice bite to eat. This is a hopefully expanding collection of good coffee and brunch places in the N.E area of LA, a region that seems to be sadly under represented in the guide books, but where there is some EXCELLENT food to be had.

Saturday morning, and time for some GOOD coffee: Peet's Coffee on Lake Ave. in Pasadena sounded like just the thing. So we went down Walnut (much quieter than Colorado Blvd. and to avoid Lake which can be horribly busy, take Mentor Ave. South. Mentor does not quite go all the way. Don't go through the parking lot at the end of Mentor, it doesn't go all the way through... we tried :-), so make a quick jog over on San Pasqual, and then take the second parking lot entrance on the left, past a very interesting looking wine store (have to check that out later) and you get to California Ave. Hang a right and just over the street on Lake is the destination and a good cup of coffee.   Next for a bite to eat, though there is a Noah's bagels next to Peet's, we were in the mood for something a little more substantial, so back up to Colorado, this time taking Catalina Ave. as it goes all the way through,  and the "Euro Pane Bakery" at 950 E. Colorado Blvd. Pasadena. for a great egg-salad sandwich and scones to die for!

After the last telecon on a Friday afternoon there is nothing better than hitting the Ragazzi Room (2316 S. Union St., at the corner of Hoover, 23rd St. and Union) on the way home. Only about a mile from USC up Hoover the food is just right to start the weekend off. The soups are delicious, and the sandwiches a perfect mix of good bread and fresh ingredients.

Well we were a bit too late to get to Julienne's for breakfast, and there was a long line for lunch, so the hunt was on for a breakfast place. We had started off with coffee at Peet's again, then headed a block down Lake, and then take Arden over to Los Robles, down the hill (what a nice hill on a bike!) and then turned left on Mission to Julienne's. After discussion we decided to keep on Mission, but headed West. After no time we found ourselves at Bristol Farms on the SE corner of Fair Oaks and Grevelia St. (just N. of Mission), and after wandering round the market had sandwiches there which were excellent! Back on Mission, and I thought that Euclid might go through (even though it says it does not...) There actually is a little pedestrian gap from Euclid through to Marengo, so we walked the bikes thorough. Make sure you are in a low gear as you are right at the bottom of a short but steep climb. Then it is just back up on Marengo into Old Town Pasadena.

We decided to try another Peet's this weekend out at Hastings Ranch on Foothills Blvd. and Rosemead Blvd. To get there we just took Orange Grove all the way, and then turned into the parking lot just before Rosemead Blvd. I had remembered Orange Grove as a wide tree lined street, which it was for the last mile or so, the rest was narrower and busy, so taking Walnut and Foothills would probably have been a better bet (a theme that will be continued for the whole ride...). We headed out on Foothills then to Monrovia, jogged down at Santa Anita to Colorado and then continued to Myrtle Ave. A right onto Myrtle and then a couple of hundred feet on your left is Jake's Roadhouse. Another fine place for lunch! The service was excellent, as were the omelets and the lemon-rasbery pancakes superb!

As I am not big on tracing the same route back, we decided to try and get back on Sierra Madre Blvd. Without a map there were a few diversions, along the way, but we found Sierra Madre in the end, and it was a MUCH nicer ride than Foothills or Colorado to get from Pasadena to Arcadia. It was a quiet street with beautiful gardens along the way, and then when you get to Pasadena there is a bike path for the long down hill.

Well, finally my knee has healed to the point where I can ride without painkillers (or doing more damage to the knee) so to celebrate we took the longer ride to the beach that has been in planning for a couple of months. To start things off right though we headed down Figuerroa and started off the morning with an EXCELLENT cup of coffee at the Mudpuppy on the S.W. Corner of Figuerroa and 43rd. Ave. Then, feeling able to take on the day, it was almost exactly my route to work, hanging a left on Pasadena Ave, then a right onto Broadway. Take Broadway all the way to Venice Blvd., and then after the right turn on Venice it is a straight shot all the way to the Pacific Ocean! I had been to a great little breakfast place with a friend before on Wilshire Blvd and 23rd St. I had only known it as "The Chocolate Pancake Place" but it is in fact called "Bread & Porridge". There was a bit of a wait, but they have a very nice lounge while you are waiting, and we got to sit outside after about 30 mins. The chocolate chip pancakes were just as I had remembered them, it is not just the chocolate, the pancakes are some of the lightest and fluffiest I have ever had. The omelets were great too served with orange and banana, and fresh lemonade topped off a great brunch Coming back is almost exactly a retrace, but instead of heading all the way back to the coast, take 17th.to Broadway, hang a left onto Broadway (which has a bike lane) then take a right on Bundy (just after the bike lane has ended) past the Santa Monica airport, and then a left on Venice back to down town LA.

A big circle this weekend. We started off with lattes at the Oxy Café on the S.E. corner of Eagle Rock and Addison Way. A reasonably quiet way to get there is to cut across from Figueroa via Yosemite Dr. When you are within sight of Eagle Rock, hang a left and then a right onto Addison, and then just pull up at the corner. The coffee was good, though not super hot, but they fixed that without complaint. Then it was back up on Eagle Rock and hang a left on Colorado, and keep going through to Glendale Ave. Take a right on Glendale Ave. over the freeway and then just keep on going up the hill. Glendale Ave will join with Verdugo and stay with that all the way. We were lucky enough to find the Montrose Farmers Market on Ocean View and Honolulu Ave. so we had to wander round a bit.

For lunch we stopped in at "La Cabañita" also in Montrose (or possibly the very north of Glendale). A very nice little Mexican restaurant with fast, friendly service and just perfectly spiced (for me) food.

Then it was a bit more of a climb still on Verdugo, and keeping right until Foothills. Now it is time to gain back some of the morning's constant climb, as you fly down Foothills all the way to the end, and hand a right on Oak Grove Dr. following the bike path all the way down Arroyo, and past the Rose bowl. A right on Orange Grove and then a left on Colorado and you are in Old Town Pasadena, where we stopped for some quick shopping, and to complete the circle down Los Robles, right onto Monteray that will turn into York, and meet up with Figuerroa again.

A quick, ride this weekend just out to Glendale to run errands. Just ride over on Colorado. Across from Target Colorado turns left which can be a difficult turn when there is lots of traffic, but it doesn't matter if you keep straight, both will get you into Glendale. There are a lot of great places to eat when you get there, but I was in a bit of a rush, so I just had a coffee at Borders on the corner of Brand and Broadway. There is normally a nice wide sidewalk to park the bike, but there is road construction at the moment so I went round the corner on Broadway, and there was still plenty of room to lock the bike there. Then back along Broadway to Colorado and home.

Another big circle this weekend, thanks to Haroon on the Yahoo bike paths group. Starting at the Pasadena Rose bowl head up Linda Vista Ave, which is a lovely tree lined street with a wide bike path. It then opens up and you are riding along the S. side of the 210 freeway for a bit with a great view of the mountains and JPL in the valley. Linda Vista changes name to Highland Dr. for a bit then you want Berkshire Ave. to Chevy Chase Dr. which heads north into La Cañada Flintridge. Take a right at Foothills and a couple of blocks down on the Right is DISH, another great spot for lunch, excellent food and superb service. Feeling completely stuffed, back onto foothills, but back the way we came, so heading West, uphill. It is a long steady climb all the way to Dunsmore Ave. at the top of the hill, take a left, down the hill (watch out there are a couple of stop signs) then just before the bottom hang a left at the lights onto Honolulu Ave. Then it is down hill all the way following Honolulu, La Crescenta, and Verdugo down into Glendale. At this point it would have been easy to hop onto Colorado and get home the easy way, but instead we took Chevy Chase Dr (as Haroon suggested) It is a long climb (I mean a LONG climb!) and then when you get to Linda Vista Rd. there is still MORE climbing! But is worth it all after you reach the crest of the hill it is one of the most exhilarating down hills I have ridden in a long time, Linda Vista Rd turns into Lida St. somewhere along the way (I didn't notice where as we were going pretty fast at the time) and then at the end turn right onto Linda Vista St. and we are back near the Rose Bowl.

Coming Soon:

Marsden's

Aunti Em's

Fatties

Petit Beaujolais

Billy's

Julienne

Blue Hen

Belle Epoque

September 6 , 2005