Short and sweet
Taco Station and Cherry on Top are Pasadena’s cutest lunch couple
By Erica Wayne 05/06/2010
I’ve been to a lot of nice restaurants in my day. Elegant restaurants, attractive restaurants, pleasant restaurants, quaint restaurants, cozy restaurants, charming restaurants, scenic restaurants and beautiful restaurants. But I must say that very few of them can be described as intrinsically “cute.” Occasionally, themed décor (e.g., cows at Market City and The Black Cow Café, over-the-top Italian at the Buca chain, tiki at Damon’s, etc.) creates a close-to-cute restaurant. But most don’t even try.
The absolutely hands-down cutest restaurant I’ve seen in years is the newly opened Taco Station on the northeast corner of Green Street and Chester Avenue in eastern Pasadena. This place is as cute as a button, as cute as a bug’s ear, as cute as a renovated gas station. What — a renovated gas station doesn’t sound all that cute?
Well, just drive by and take a look. That is, if you can catch a glimpse over the heads of the crowd. (It’s been open less than two weeks and we had to fight our way through a horde of folks lining up to order from the limited menu posted adjacent to the window of the teensy white building with the canopy roof.) The concrete-paved lot in front boasts three crimson umbrellas shading chrome tables, a few red- and black-cushioned backless chrome-legged stools at smaller, taller tables and a platform with three antique red and white “fire chief” gasoline pumps. Red and white ice chests and barrels hold soft drinks, and a red and blue neon sign flashes the word “open” over and over. The whole façade looks like a movie set of a small 1950s town. Even the servers who take orders and deliver food are dressed in red and white. Now how cute is that?
Once at the head of the line, you can peer in through the window and see actual cooking going on. That’s interesting, but not cute, nor is the menu. It’s just basic and cheap (a helluva lot cheaper than gas these days). Soft tacos ($1.50) come with a choice of five fillings, red and green salsas, pickled onions, lettuce and sliced radishes. Quesadillas — $4.75 ($6.25 with meat) are accompanied with some mild pico de gallo and a dab of guacamole. Crispy tacos (3 for $5.75), chicken taquitos ($4.75), frijoles charros (bean, sausage and bacon soup ($4.75) and four kinds of vegetarian tacos complete the limited bill of fare.
Our order was ready amazingly fast, considering the folks who had lined up ahead of us. Each item (one cochinita pibil soft taco, one plump cheese quesadilla, one order of crispy beef tacos) came in a separate Styrofoam box. My mate wanted more meat in his tacos; I wanted less cheese in my quesadilla (mainly because my seat faced Curves’ storefront, kitty-corner from the restaurant). And we both wanted more of the marinated pork, which was delicious. All in all, aside from the guilt-producing Styrofoam, we were happy campers at the end of our lunch. And did I mention that Taco Station’s soooooo cute?
We’d had plenty to eat, but the last and one of the cutest things I want to mention about Taco Station is its great location a mere short block from Cherry On Top, the do-it-yourself yogurt emporium that opened about a year ago. More of a contrast with Taco Station you can’t imagine. The Station’s basic and rustic. Cherry’s minimalist and slick. But they make a perfect pair, a really cute couple!
What better than a cup of frozen fantasy to alleviate the slight residual salsa heat, fried-food glaze and bean bloat (not to mention mild guilt) that results from a satisfying south-of-the-border repast. Thirty-nine cents an ounce buys an edible dream — as much of and as many flavors of yogurt as you choose topped with as much of and as many toppings as can be imagined. You can carry it out or enjoy your masterpiece in the new-age molded plastic interior of the shop while ever-changing Technicolor screens behind the counter extol the healthful benefits of yogurt. Cool — literally.
My mate filled his vessel with a swirl of chocolate, twirled with peanut butter, sheltered in cake batter and topped with a dollop of vanilla. Then he went to town on crumbled Heath Bars, Oreos and Butterfingers, whose benefits are somehow overlooked in the soothing messaging. I was far more discriminating — half peach tart, half boysenberry, after toying with Hawaiian delight (too sweet) and azuki bean (too bland). Then I sprinkled on a smattering of sliced almonds and a couple of spoonfuls of fresh blueberries for flavor and texture contrast. Each creation cost slightly more than $2, neither a belly nor a wallet-buster; and their multicolor magnificence was (dare I say it) almost as cute as Taco Station itself.
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