La Grande Orange Cafe
| Address: | 260 S Raymond Ave, Pasadena, CA 91105, USA |
| Phone: | +1 626-356-4444 |
| Site: | lagrandeorangecafe.com |
| Rating: | 4.3 |
| Working: | 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–11PM 10AM–11PM 9AM–9PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 5
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Shanon Yu
Nice ambiance but food is disappointing! The wait for La Grande Orange is absurd on the weekends. Expect to wait 45mins to one hour for brunch. It looks like its indeed the "it" place to go to for brunch in Pasadena so the place gets crowded. The ambiance is pretty nice and theres plenty of seating for large parties, although sadly the presentation of the food looks better than the actual taste of the food. The group of 5 of us ordered the following items: -Deviled Eggs -Shredded kale and quinoa salad -Ingos Short Rib Hash x2 -Wood-fired rotisserie chicken -The Howie burger The only items on this list that were notable were the Deviled eggs with bacon and kale salad. Everything else tasted bland or wasnt as good as it looked. Even the lemonade tasted terrible. It was way too sour and we had to add packets of sugar to make it taste somewhat tolerable. Ingos Short Rib Hash was highly recommended although we expected it to taste sweeter and the amount of potatoes to short rib ratio was off. There was barely any meat in the dish. Also, the Howie burger was not flavorful and cooked way too rare. The wood-fired rotisserie chicken was also a disappointment. We were intrigued to order this item because we were seated outside and watched the chicken cook in their wood-fried oven, although the chicken was so bland and we even mentioned how Costcos chicken tasted better than this. Theres plenty of brunch options in Pasadena so I would suggest skipping this place. You can get a much better meal with the prices that you will pay here. Tip* Valet is complimentary from 11-3 and $6 after. 90 min free parking in the structure next door. They also have complimentary sea salt cookies but they were way too salty for my liking so I had to scrape off the salt. *They also charge a 3% on your meal for their employee benefits that they dont tell you until you get your bill. I consider this a hidden charge and honestly frowned upon for restaurants.
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Tiffany K
Came here for brunch on a Sunday. Located next to one of the train stops and convenient underground parking garage, La Grande Orange Cafe is a real find. I suppose its name meaning "The Big Orange Cafe" harks back to Pasadenas early heritage of orange growing which many of the settlers from Indiana adopted when they came out West. Decor-wise, there are tables and chairs on the outside surrounding a few booths. Dark wood abounds and the building itself has a historical, yet modern feel to it. Ive never had a mouthgasm during brunch as this place. Seriously. I had the ricotta lemon pancakes. ($11?) YESSS!!!! They taste as good as they sound. Kind of like having dessert for breakfast, but not sickingly sweet. Served with a side of maple syrup, I could not stop eating them. Also tried the huevos rancheros ($12). No I did not order both plates for brunch, I split them with a friend. Admittedly Ive had better huevos, but this was still muy bueno. They do not serve espresso drinks, but have an all-you-can-drink plunger coffee option ($3) which was tasty. Its enough to share with another person as it yields about 2.5 cups or so. You know the whole thing about actors being waiters/waitresses before making the big screen? Well, our waiter was some definite eye candy. He kind of reminded me of Ryan Gosling + a touch of Ashton Kutchner but taller. However as my friend Anna put it, "Yeah if I was 20 years younger, Id feel nervous. Now he probably thinks of us as old ladies." I reluctantly had to agree. He was probably more nervous than we were though. While he was very attentive, when we asked for an extra fork, it flew out of his hand and nearly stabbed my friend in the head. Ha!
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Tiffany Cheung
I really enjoyed eating at La Grade Orange when I came here a while back. We had a pretty big group (around 10), so they had to shift tables and whatnot in order to accommodate us. Everybody was extremely nice and patient, which was a really big plus. The ambience of the restaurant is really nice. It has dim lighting with current music playing - but really captures a comfortable, relaxed feel to the restaurant. They also have a plate of cookies at the front for you to help yourself to if youre waiting for a table or on your way out. Just be careful because the cookie lid is pretty heavy! I ordered the eggs benedict and I have to say that La Grande Oranges eggs benedict are my favorite out of all the restaurants I have tried so far. The eggs were cooked just the way I like - so when I delicately poked my fork through, the yolk bled over the rest of the plate. And the hollandaise sauce was on point. Not overwhelming, but had great flavor to add to the balance of the dish. And the dish looked so pretty when it was served! It came with a side of fresh fruit, which was a light and refreshing dessert after I finished my eggs benedict. I also tried the seafood salad that my friend ordered and the fries from another dish, and everything was really good. The pricing is a little expensive, but I do think that you get what you pay for (with the ambience, service, food quality, etc.). And they do have these buy an entrée get another for $5 deal on Monday and Tuesday nights, which is a great deal! Theres validated parking in the lot right around the corner. Definitely will be back to try more dishes or get that Eggs Benedict again!
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Esther Kim
My friends and I came here for a well-earned brunch after we did a 10K nearby. LGO shares a parking garage with the metro/businesses nearby and I think its free for 90 minutes. We went over so we had to pay a couple bucks, but overall parking here is pretty easy and stress-free. We didnt have a reservation but we were seated right away and the staff here was so great! I loved the service that we got :) And I must say the restrooms here are quite nice too. Since we had just run (okay, more like speed-walked) 6.2 miles, I ordered bottomless mimosas with my brunch. I earned it, right?! My friend RC did the same thing; the bottomless mimosas are $12 and we got our moneys worth by drinking 5 glasses each hehe ;) For my entree, I ordered INGOS SHORT RIB HASH: potato, onion, carrot, 2 eggs over easy, our housemade English muffin. I didnt realise it would be kind of like a soup... I thought it would be a "dry" dish (which I would have preferred). But the flavours were good and I enjoyed it. I heard good things about the ROASTED POTATO "YANKS" so I couldnt resist getting a side order of those along with my entree. I love potatoes! And these really were good. (Dont worry, I ended up taking leftovers home... I didnt eat EVERYTHING! :P) Everyone enjoyed their food and we all got along really well with our server. I had a great time here and definitely plan on coming back!
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Trevor Winn
A Pasadena gem in my opinion and a total value for the price. Across the street from the city park and right off old town. Upscale restaurant that can be found at the Del Mar gold line station. They always have valet out, but its a quick walk if youre already in old town. If its not too chilly out be sure to eat on the patio, its great and lined with plenty of heaters. Youll be greeted by a friendly space and have line of sight to the kitchen. Solid wine selection and a handful of specialty cocktails. The French sailor is a hibiscus infused rum drink that tastes a little bit like xmas. In terms of entrees, Ive had the Ahi tuna tacos on multiple occasions and they were delicious. Fresh made corn tortillas, great cuts of ahi and delicious kale salad and guacamole to top it off with. Chips, salsa and guac is tasty and you wont be disappointed with ahi tuna. People swear by the white sangria pitchers but be forewarned its a little on the sweet side. I was disappointed by the olive oil cake and our server was quick to take care of it. Even better, he didnt pester us about a replacement. A couple quick tips: Free home made chocolate chip cookies on your way out that were dabbed with a bit of sea salt. Youll find them on a plate with a glass serving lid by the exit Go there on Mondays, I believe the special is your second entree is $5 which is a killer deal.
