General Information
NFT Map: 34
Address: 280 E Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91101
Phone: 626-795-9100
Website: www.paseocoloradopasadena.com
Shopping
If Carrie Bradshaw lived in LA (as if!) this is where she’d pick up her Manolo Blahniks. Paseo Colorado is a self-consciously upscale outdoor mall with the usual yadda yadda yadda stores. Fashionistas beat a path to DSW Shoe Warehouse for super-affordable designer shoes and drop by the venerable Loehmann’s for discount chi-chi threads. Looking a little like Walt Disney’s vision of a shopping mall (minus the life-size cartoon characters), Paseo Colorado boasts cutesy Mexican architecture and inviting open spaces that encourage strolling and exploration. Once inside the mall it’s easy to forget you’re just yards away from the busiest thoroughfare in Pasadena. Paseo Colorado proudly bills itself as an urban village; and it’s true, you literally could live here—if you won the lottery—as light and airy apartment towers form the perimeter of the mall. Pick up your furnishings from the Bombay Company and Brookstone. Grocery shop at the world’s most expensive supermarket—Gelson’s—and meet your neighbors for a $5 happy hour martini or work your way through the “world’s largest selection of draft beer” at the Yard House. If your jaw doesn’t drop at the idea of single digit cocktail prices, you’re not quite a local.
If you must move with the herd, know that Paseo Colorado is also home to Macy’s, Tommy Bahama, and Ann Taylor Loft as well as a variety of smaller, more distinctive stores such as J. Jill. At the end of a hard day’s consumerism, fold yourself into a seat in front of one of the Pacific Paseo Theater’s 14 screens.
Food
There isn’t one centrally located food court, thank God, but there are a variety of places to eat on the second floor. Sit-down restaurants include Island’s (huge burgers and frou-frou drinks with umbrellas in them) and PF Chang’s China Bistro. Tokyo Wako has its fans if you’re in the mood for sushi. During the day you can get takeout from Gelson’s excellent deli and hot food sections. . .but aside from the aforementioned cheap drinks, Paseo Colorado isn’t really a fine wining or dining location. Better to make the short hop to Old Town Pasadena for an eclectic array of really fine ethnic restaurants and street life.
Drawbacks
Avoid the permanently full underground garage at all costs. Your endless gas-guzzling loops will easily take on the qualities of a Twilight Zone episode. There’s plenty of street parking and it’s safe. There isn’t one contiguous second floor, so be sure and check the shopping directory before you head upstairs to your restaurant of choice.
How to Get There
From the 134 in either direction, exit at Marengo Avenue and head south on Marengo for a half-mile until you hit Colorado Boulevard. Parking is available in the structure on the right, just past Colorado.
From the 110 N, exit Fair Oaks Boulevard and head north on Fair Oaks to Colorado Boulevard. Turn right and head approximately a half-mile to Marengo Avenue. Turn right at Marengo Avenue to enter parking. There is also parking on the Green Street side of the Paseo. Don’t forget to validate your parking ticket! There is a metro rail station near by, Memorial Park Station. The buses that stop at or near Paseo Colorado are Amtrak Thruway 19, Foothill Transit 187, 690, LADOT Commuter Express 549, Metro Bus 180, 181, 256, 267, 686, 687, Metro Rapid 780 and Pasadena ARTS 10 and 40.