Saturday, August 13, 2005

Ask Eating L.A.: Any Chinese in Glendale?

A reader asks,
" I live in Glendale but seem to go elsewhere (Pasadena and Burbank) for food. Besides Carousel, Mandaloun, Gaucho Village, are there any decent ethnic places in Glendale? Seems like there is NO good Asian restaurants in all of Glendale. Any suggestions?
Sincerely, Leticia"
We all feel your pain, Leticia, but I'm afraid that there isn't much good Asian food in Glendale. As far as other ethnic places, you might try Porto's for Cuban food, Raffi's and Elena's for middle Eastern, and Lola's on Brand for Peruvian chicken. Since Vietnamese seems to be the hot Asian cuisine of the moment, try Blue Hen in Eagle Rock or wait for Indochine to open in Atwater. Readers, any other suggestions?

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

1. Zankou! But of course :D
2. Pollo a Brasa on Eagle Rock
3. Polka on Verdugo

Anonymous said...

Guess I don't know Chinese? I like Harvest Inn, 500 block of North Brand. I also love Buko (Japanese) on Verdugo & Chevy Chase.

Leticia SooHoo said...

Thanks for your input. I agree there are no decent Asian restaurants in Glendale. Quite surprising given a relatively large Korean population there should be a good Korean restaurant somewhere near Glendale. Any suggestions?

Melchoir said...

I cant think of any good Chinese restuarants in Glendale, but one of my favorite sushi place is Zono Sushi. Its located in the alleys between Brand and Maryland near the Mann's marketplace theatres.

Also Glendale is only a skip and a hop away to Arcadia via the 210 East. Arcadia home of lots of great Chinese food like Din tai Fung, JJ's Bakery, and Pheonix Inn. And thats just one strip mall on Baldwin.

Doran said...

Melchoir, that's so funny because I was in the stip mall on Baldwin last Friday (for the first time) and I was just overwhelmed. The large number of people, and my ignorance of what to order kept me from staying and you know, actually eathing something, anywhere. But just the shear number of obviously good places to eat means I will be back, better prepared and ready to dive in.

Now, as for the subject of this thread, it's funny given that I grew up in Burbank and never missed Chinese in Glendale. I guess we always just traveled the extra 15 minutes Downtown to Yee Mee Loo.

Now for Chinese, I eat at Frontier Wok in Burbank, though the quality of their chicken is isn't always the best. I do Emon for Japanese and Seoul Korean Barbecue for Bulgogi.

Again, none of which is Chinese in Glendale. Sorry.

Mike said...

As a fellow Glendalian... luckily, Chinatown is just a hop down the 110 (via the 2 and the 5, of course)... where a mid-morning at Empress Pavilion or an evening at Sam Woo's should do the trick...
But yeah, I feel your pain... Glendale seemed to miss the dining and nightlife boat, but hey, at least it's a family-friendly place to raise a kid! (Dear God, I am old now!)

Anonymous said...

I am confirming: There are no good Chinese restaurants in Glendale.

Everyone's comments about heading to Chinatown (LA downtown) or Arcadia/Alhambra are right on. All the best Asian food in SoCal, if I may be so bold, is located in the San Gabriel Valley.

However, if you are dying for Asian food (not Chinese specifically) in Glendale, I recommend the following:

- Max's of Manila on Broadway directly facing the Glendale Galleria. Cholesterol-saturated Filipino food but very tasty. Try their lumpia (like eggrolls), garlic fried rice, and fried chicken combo meals.

- The Japanese food stall in the Food Court of the Glendale Galleria. There's always a line at the Panda Express (*blech*) but the food is better at the Japanese place. Don't order the raw-fish sushi though, just the cooked items.

- Okay, this is Glendale-adjacent in Eagle Rock but: Goldilocks in the Westfield Mall on Colorado just off the 2. Filipino food to bust your gut and arteries but very popular with Filipinos, natch. Try the chicken soup, it's very tasty.

Good luck!

Anonymous said...

I don't know how authentic it is, but I enjoy Fortune Inn on the corner of Maryland and Broadway. I love their fresh green beans in garlic sauce.

Leticia SooHoo said...

Hey, thanks for all your input. I think Fortune Inn is OK. It's just an upscale, sit-down version of Panda Express (and owned by the same company). Their food is the typical Chinese-American, sweet and sour variety. They are OK but not authentic.

Well, the verdict seems to out: THERE ARE NO GOOD CHINESE RESTAURANTS IN GLENDALE. Confirmed. Maybe I should open one.

Anonymous said...

Glendale may be a desert as far as Chinese food is concerned, but there is one oasis that I crawl to whenever the MSG craving hits and I don't have time for a Monterey Park trip: Panda Inn. Most everything there is OK, but the Panda beef, extra crispy, is out of this universe. Throw in a plate of braised string beans (just garlicky and salty enough), some rice and a little hot sauce, and it's as if you're in a whole other part of town.

Anonymous said...

hmmmmmm... grew up in glendale and the family would head out for weekly chinese in CHINAtown of course. then sometime in the 80s panda inn on maryland opened and we thought it was the best place on earth. nothing like overly sweet americanized chinese food to cleanse our authentic palates. now my husband and i do empress/ocean in chinatown, din tai fung in arcadia, monterey park once in a while, but we still also head to panda inn every once in a while for convenience. of course we use forks instead of chopsticks because, let's face it, it's not reallllly chinese.

(btw, there's gourmet 88 on brand and once upon a time a china inn on glendale ave... don't recommend unless desperate). for korean in glendale, don't know of any restaurants, but you can always check out the HK market on pacific--there's prepared korean food for take-home.

Anonymous said...

Tep Thai (again, not Chinese) on Wilson between Central and Brand has wonderful Thai food and now that their new space is open, it's a beautiful place to eat as well. They were recommended by a friend who lived in Glendale 10 years ago. I used to hate to eat in the restaurant... it was just ugly and poorly laid out, so I always took it to go. The new space is gorgeous and now I can't wait to bring friends. I don't love the price increase, but they have to pay for the great new space somehow. Highly recommended!

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