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Still Open. Still Pasadena.
Continue east and Caffe Italia, at 766 E. Colorado Boulevard, brings Sicilian café culture to the block, from Neapolitan-style pizza and Sicilian focaccia to house-made pasta and tiramisu. Walk in and the owner is likely to greet you with a warm, unmistakable “ciao,” the same welcome every customer gets.
A short walk further, Canterbury Records has outlasted nearly every record shop in Los Angeles. Rusty Gordon’s father opened the store in 1956 at 805 E. Colorado Boulevard, and Rusty now carries on the tradition with a deep, well-organized selection of vinyl and CDs. He’s noticed a resurgence lately, with CDs finding their way back into customers’ hands after years on the shelf. Two doors down, Pasadena Image Printing, at 817 E. Colorado Boulevard, handles everything from student art prints to large-format posters, with mounting and lamination finishing done in house, same-day turnaround, and free pickup and delivery for the neighborhood’s schools and small businesses.
The block ahead holds the corridor’s richest cluster yet. Oh La La, at 921 E. Colorado Boulevard, brings the French Riviera to the street. A row of pastries greets visitors at the door, and a dedicated drink specialist turns out espresso, matcha, and an array of specialty drinks to match. Co-owners Maxence and Thomas have built a space where the aesthetic is as considered as the menu: colorful, dynamic dishes plated with care, and a team trained to make the whole visit feel like an occasion from the first step inside. Every option delivers, from the pastry case to every delicious dish that comes out of the kitchen.
Don’t forget to take the stairs up to 925 E. Colorado Boulevard. Eye Speak Vintage deals in kids’ clothing, toys, and memorabilia spanning the 1950s through Y2K. Owner Kristine has built a showroom that feels like stepping into another decade, complete with a working photo booth and a VCR set up to play movies the old-fashioned way. Kristine started collecting while pregnant with her son in 2020 and her finds get noticed— Rihanna’s stylist once picked up a Harley Davidson jacket for her kid, photographed and complimented widely.
Right next door at 927 E. Colorado Boulevard, The Daily Catch opened its first West Coast location this July, more than fifty years after the original opened in Boston’s North End in 1973. Founder Paul Freddura’s son, Theo, now runs the Pasadena outpost, serving the Sicilian-style seafood the family built its name on: calamari prepared seven ways, lobster fra diavolo, and squid ink black pasta served in the pan it was sautéed in. Passersby already stop to admire the story behind the counter as much as what comes out of the kitchen.
Inside the Pasadena Hotel & Pool, at 928 E. Colorado Boulevard, Bbad (Breakfast Burritos All Day) turns full breakfast plates into tightly wrapped burritos. The concept grew from a West Hollywood farmers market stand into catering and pop-ups before landing its first brick-and-mortar home here. Crispy potatoes pavé, six-hour braised pork belly, and Salinas-style chile verde headline a menu built for the hotel’s lobby and courtyard, paired with Stumptown coffee.
Across the entrance at 929 E. Colorado Boulevard, Annapurna Grill serves South Indian cuisine built for groups. The four-foot Family Dosa is a genuine showstopper on any table, and the kitchen’s rich, layered flavors carry through both its vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes.
At 999 E. Colorado Boulevard, Onigiri Time has grown from a quiet food cart into one of the block’s most talked-about stops on social media, regularly selling out its handcrafted chunky rice onigiri. Owner Tony greets every customer personally and keeps an umbrella on hand for shade for all on hot afternoons. Specials rotate every month, so it’s worth stopping by often, and be sure to douse your onigiri in the wasabi cream sauce, the finishing touch anyone would swear by.
The stretch ends, for now, at 23 N. Catalina Avenue, where Noe Montoya Academy Tailor Shop has called Pasadena home since 1986. Noe trained as a fashion designer, with many of his pieces appearing in big-time movies, and he still lights up talking about the custom garments he’s built over the years, including one piece in his collection over 100 years old. That love shows in every alteration, custom design, and wedding piece built on decades of hands-on craft.
Thirteen stops, one boulevard: from a tailor shop on Catalina Avenue to a rice cart approaching Hill, this stretch of Colorado carries the same mix of old and new that has defined it for 150 years. As the BRT project continues toward the Colorado/Hill station and Pasadena City College, the next chapter is already being written, one storefront at a time.
And a few blocks off Colorado, near Pasadena City Hall, Eden Garden Bar & Grill is worth the short detour — mezze, charcoal-grilled kebabs, and marinated lamb chops served inside a restored century-old building, with a patio garden built for lingering.