As we stagger to what may finally be an end to our Year-plus of Pandemic Paranoia and Isolation, and restaurants begin to open for (limited) indoor dining, more than a few among us are still a bit chary about eating within four walls. Outdoor meals, it seems, have become more than the new normal — they’re actually something of a venerable European culinary style, reborn during a period of American crisis.
And so, it’s good to see the crowds on Union Street — a narrow one-way thoroughfare that runs parallel one block north of Colorado Boulevard — lined with tasty options, and a plethora of tables packed with locals, happy to be at least semi-social again. And in terms of reflecting our culinary needs and tastes, it’s a brilliant mirror.
On one short block, there are places to go for tacos and hot dogs, Vietnamese sandwiches and bowls, and vegan Chinese food, Nashville hot chicken and Modern French cooking, snappy California-Italian cuisine and craft beers, fancy burgers and — coming soon — upscale pizza.
There’s no sushi, but then, there’s enough in the hood to take care of whatever needs can’t be filled on Union. And perhaps more importantly, there’s a celebratory feeling in the air. We’re out again, eating with other humanoids, masked and Purelled, and hopefully vaccinated. On Union Street, life is good.
And so are those burgers at what’s properly called Slater’s 50/50 Burgers by Design (61 N. Raymond Ave., Old Pasadena; 626-765-9700, www.slaters5050.com), which is the first restaurant you come upon entering Union from Raymond, and a pioneer in the development of the street, a survivor in a space at the corner of Raymond and Union — home to many a restaurant that left nary a footprint.
Not all the burgers are on the menu at any given moment. But there are ones that are worth looking for. Like the Bloody Mary Burger, a big, fat, juicy “Sterling Silver” ground beef beauty flavored with Worcestershire and Tabasco, topped with grilled tomatoes, a garlic-olive tapenade, with bacon vodka sauce, served on a bacon pretzel bun, and stabbed (a la a Bloody Mary) with a celery stalk. (And yes, they are utterly bacon-obsessed. Really — aren’t we all?)
The Armageddon Burger is a one-third pound ground beef, ground bacon and ground porchetta slab of meatloaf, wrapped in bacon and mustard, served atop prosciutto, topped with chipotle ketchup — on a bacon pretzel bun. There are beer cheese fries, fries with bacon ketchup, fried dill pickle chips, beer-battered onion rings, beer-battered jalapeños, fried bacon mac and cheese balls. There’s mac and cheese with Buffalo chicken bites, and with bacon and jalapeños. There’s a salad — a salad! — made with Top Ramen crunchies.
There’s also a burger topped with peanut butter, strawberry jelly and, yes, bacon. There’s a burger topped with Fritos. There’s a hyper-bacon burger with bacon-dotted American cheese, bacon dressing, and a slab of bacon on a bacon pretzel bun. And — yes, yes, yes — one of the ingredients you can choose for the design-your-own milkshake is maple bacon. There’s a bacon brownie for dessert. You can also design your own burger, with so many add-ons, your head will spin.
That’s where I go for burgers on the block.
Where I go for a more California-Italian experience is to Union (37 Union St., Old Pasadena; 626-795-5841, www.unionpasadena.com), which has evolved quite a bit since it was first opened by master pickle maker Bruce Kalman back in 2014.
These days, Chef Kalman works his magic in Las Vegas — an outsized city for his outsized style of cooking. But his giardiniera pickles are still on the menu, even if his warmed olives with Calabrian chiles, smoked nuts and chunks of parmigiano-reggiano may not be.
And I do miss his crostini, toasted and crispy, topped with ricotta, pickled onions, pancetta bacon and a duck’s egg. Instead, there are pork meatballs. And, there’s lamb merquez sausage with San Marzano tomatoes.
These days, the pastas run to tonnarelli cacio e pepe, sublime spaghetti alla chitarra, squid ink lumachel, and torchetti with Maine lobster. Ditto candele with pork meatballs, bucatini carbonara, and truffle fettuccine. If you’ve been watching Stanley Tucci’s wonderful “Searching for Italy” on CNN, you’ll understand if I offer up Tucci’s trademark comment after pretty much every bite: “Oh my God!”
There’s a sign noting that the restaurant is opening a pizzeria next door. On the other side, if you prefer your food Traditional French rather than Edgy Italian, there’s Perle (43 Union St., Old Pasadena; 626-460-8819, www.perlerestaurant.com) next door — sole meunière! moules-frites! coq au vin!
And if it’s casual you crave — and “casual” defines us better than any other word — those spicy Nashville wings and thighs are found at Main Chick Hot Chicken (20 Union St., Old Pasadena; 626-660-9204, www.eatmainchick.com).
Fast, snappy Mexican is across the street at Tacos 1986 (20 Union St., Old Pasadena, 626-460-8450, www.tacos1986.com), which shares its address with the bowls at Paper Rice (20 Union St., Old Pasadena; 626-345-5333, www.paperrice.com), and the wieners at Dirt Dog (20 Union St., Old Pasadena; 626-345-5306, www.dirtdogla.com) — and also meatless Chinese at Naughty Panda/Naughty Vegan (20 E. Union St., Old Pasadena; 714-287-9093, www.naughtyveganp.com).
And if it all makes you thirsty, back down by Slater’s, there’s Blind Donkey (53 Union St., Old Pasadena; 626-486-2379, www.theblinddonkey.com), which serves plenty of craft brew to slake your need.
Restaurants may be opening again. But I’m hoping the pleasure of street dining on Union doesn’t go away. Warm weather is coming. The street is just perfect for a sultry evening in Old Pasadena.
Merrill Shindler is a Los Angeles-based freelance dining critic. Email mreats@aol.com.
