HomeTravel & LeisureTravel › Pasadena: Stay, Play and Savor - Page 4

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SAVOR: Are you craving ice cream or French fries? A hearty steak or a healthy seafood spread? Whatever you have a hankering for, Pasadena is filled with casual and fine-dining destinations to satisfy. La Grande Orange Café (pictured above) is a cool, quirky atmosphere dishing up fresh American cooking. The shorts ribs or salmon plates will satisfy a hearty appetite while kids can adore having more to choose from than just mac and cheese (the swordfish or chicken tacos on the awesome kids’ menu are delicious). Come breakfast time, Lincoln Pasadena is what Instagram dreams are made of. The store/restaurant is in a hip industrial space that used to house a florist, and the pastry shelves are full of colorful scones, chocolate croissants and muffins. On the menu, diners find breakfast salads, granola and yogurt and incredible specials, like rose lattes and coconut pancakes with matcha cream. Plus, you can pick up unique candies, bags of lavender granola or hard-to-find baking supplies to bring home with you. One of Pasadena’s newest restaurants, Harlowe’s French Dip appears to be transported from Manhattan with his handsome good looks, dark woods and classy bar area. Harlowe’s specializes in “dips” with the traditional beef dip being a favorite. For starters, try the out-of-this-world Caesar salad, shrimp cocktail or deviled eggs. With rooftop dining, full of twinkle lights and white table cloths, Café Santorini (pictured below) is a fine-dining dream. The restaurant specializes in Mediterranean fare with divine pizzas, seafood and pasta dishes (the green curry risotto with scallops and cioppino are musts for seafoodies).

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TIP: Have a sweet tooth? Visit Afters Ice Cream, the home of the milky bun (which is similar to a doughnut). Stuff a cone, cup or the highly recommended milky bun with homemade ice cream in flavors like cookie butter, strawberry cookie crunch and jasmine milk tea and crown it with sweet toppings. The line to order may be long, but an Afters Ice Cream creation is well worth the wait.