For those of you coming out to Pasadena on Saturday

[BruinPatti]

Here's a quick rundown of everything you need to know, but were afraid to ask.

If you would prefer not to deal with parking at the Rose Bowl, park at the Parsons Engineering Lot in Pasadena and take the free shuttle to the game. The lot is located at the corner of Fair Oaks and Holly. See map:

 

http://rosebowlstadium.com/RoseBowl_shuttle-dropoff.php

 

The Rose Bowl is in a small canyon in a residential area. There are no stores, markets, bars, or restaurants within a mile. So if you plan to tailgate, make sure you have everything you will need before getting there.

 

There is no alcohol sold at the stadium. There is some halfway decent food sold at the tailgate area and also inside the stadium.

 

The street access in and out of the Rose Bowl area is limited. Many of the access roads will be turned into one way streets before the game and also after the game. The road you enter the area from may not be the one they force you to exit from. So it won't hurt to print off a small map of the area showing the major roads around the Rose Bowl and how the intersect the nearby freeways. It will make getting back to your desired route a lot easier. See map:

 

http://www.rosebowlstadium.com/i/GeneralParkingMap_L.jpg

 

If you park on the golf course, make sure you look for the white balloon number marking which area you are in. When it's dark....it all looks the same and trying to find your car can be a major pain if you didn't make a note of your area number.

 

Personally I don't think the traffic getting in out out is any worse than it is for many stadiums around the country. It just goes with the territory. If you go 4 hours (or more) early, there will be no problem parking. If you wait for an hour or so after the game for the traffic to clear a bit, then it's not so congested leaving. Lot H is probably the easiest to exit. The golf course is probably the most difficult.

 

Parking is $20. If you have a motor home they will send you over to West Drive to park. Motor home parking is around $40-50. See map:

 

http://www.rosebowlstadium.com/i/parking-lg-2010.jpg

 

Parking opens 6 hours before kickoff....so obviously that means about 10:30.

 

North portion of LOT H is a Fanzone/Foodzone area. It usually gets up and running about 4 hours before the game. There are several food stations out there. Usually hamburgers, grilled sausages, teriyaki chicken, grilled corn on the cob, soft drinks/water, no beer. There are also stations out there with games and giveaways. FOX is usually there doing their pregame radio show live. The UCLA alumni band will be playing for a few hours. ...cheerleaders posing for pictures.The UCLA team does their walk-through to the stadium in this area about 2 or 2.5 hours before the game.

 

If you want to greet YOUR team, they should be arriving around 2.5 hours before the game. Their buses will pull up to the SE corner of the stadium, right outside tunnels 26-27.

 

Temps should be in the high 80's. A hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen are recommended, especially if you're tailgating all afternoon....or sitting on the east side of the stadium (tunnels 10-27) as they will be in the sun for an hour or two.

 

You may bring sealed plastic bottles (2 liters or less) of water (or soft drinks) into the stadium. Bottles MUST be factory sealed. If you open it and take a sip before going in, they will not let you bring it in....keep it factory sealed until you enter the stadium. If you try to sneak in booze, be VERY discreet...they will search all bags and purses.

 

Prohibited Items Include...

 

Noisemakers including thunder sticks, musical instruments, whistles, air horns

 

Alcoholic beverages

 

Hard or soft sided coolers of any size

 

Plastic drink containers (except 2 liters or less with factory seal intact)

 

Backpacks, bags and purses larger than 14" square

 

Unsliced fruits or vegetables

 

Banners, signs, flags, balloons, and poles

 

 

Any other questions?...ask away.

 

Here's to a fun, exciting, injury free game.

[zoogs]

Thanks for doing this, BruinPatti, and welcome!

 

I live in the area, and while I am not going to be around for this game, I wanted to put together a guide for those of you coming in to visit. Pasadena and the surrounding area is a great place. There's much to do, especially if you've got a car and I couldn't get to them all. Having never been to the Rose Bowl, I'll let Bruin fans such as Patti cover that one!

 

Here are a few places I think you should NOT miss, if you have the time...

 

1. Chinese Food

LA is home to some of the best chinese food in the world, outside of China. I don't mean the city itself, but the various other cities along a stretch of the '10 highway - Monterey Park, Arcadia, San Gabriel, etc - with very strong chinese communities, and the eateries of which tend to be referred to as "LA chinese food" nonetheless. This is especially convenient in how accessible they all are from Pasadena -- there is plenty of amazing stuff, chinese food or not, that are relatively short traveling on local roads from Pas. Don't come all the way to LA and then miss out on this stuff!

 

Do not go to any chinese food establishment in Pasadena itself, though. There's a tea/snack food place across from Pasadena City College which is quality (they make their own food), but avoid everything else! I mean it!

 

Din Tai Fung (Arcadia)

Din Tai Fung 1

Din Tai Fung 2

 

Let's start with the best, eh? This dumpling house is so good that there are two of them. Right next to each other. As in *literally* right next door. Went there a couple days ago on a weekday night. Waits were like an hour and fifteen minutes at both of them.

 

They have a nice system where you get a text message when you are up, though. Who says iPads have no uses?

 

Important: there is ONE thing to get here, and that is their "juicy pork dumplings", as many orders of them that you can eat. And here's how you eat them: nibble a hole in the skin, suck out the juice, then dip it in your vinegar/ginger/chili mix, and enjoy. You are a fool to get anything else, unless it is dessert/appetizer to accompany those little pearls of heaven. If you can't go to Shanghai or Taiwan, this is not bad to settle for.

 

Dim Sum:

There are a ton of awesome dim sum destinations in the "LA" area. Here are a few. Wherever you go, be prepared to dig in for an extremely long wait, especially if you get there at a peak hour. If you do, make some plans to explore the area while you are waiting. Hour+ very easily possible.

 

Sea Harbour Restaurant (Rosemead)

This is an order-off-the-menu place, not too typical of dim sum, I think. But the food is excellent, if slightly above average in price. I believe this place is extremely well-regarded.

 

NBC Seafood (Monterey Park)

Very, very popular place - and much larger than Sea Harbour. This is one of those more traditional push-cart places. Huge, gorgeous interior. There's an LA Fitness right across the parking lot you know, work off all that shu mai afterwards or something

 

Ocean Star Restaurant (Monterey Park)

Very close to NBC (on the other side of the same street, but a little to the north). Another very large and popular dim sum destination.

 

Sichuan cuisine

Sichuan food is very spicy, mouth-watering deliciousness. Their brand of spicy is literally 'mouth-numbing' - a very tingling sensation (although I suppose not all dishes represent this). There are a number of great Sichuan places in the area, but I'm very picky about this food and wouldn't necessarily even trust to reviews. I do think the LA area is particularly strong in this. But I don't have too many frames of reference.

 

Wherever you go, make sure to get the [imgs follow] spicy water-boiled fish, the spicy chicken cubes, the twice-cooked pork, sichuan cold noodles, (whatever this cold pork dish is called)...man, I could go on.

 

Chung King (San Gabriel)

 

There are probably several restaurants in the region with this (or an approximate name -- Chong Qing/Chung King is the name of a major Sichuan city). Of the few I've been to recently, this place has my highest degree of confidence.

 

It's a hole-in-the-wall place and the service is not very attentive. Be prepared to have to ask for more water, etc, and don't be put off if they don't smile at you. It isn't that they are unfriendly, just perhaps more awkward and less professional in training their wait staff than big establishments like NBC. Some people let this be a deal-breaker...but come on, in my opinion

 

2. Bulgarini's Gelato (Altadena)

Website: http://www.bulgarini...o.com/index.php

This place is very high on the unique scale. I'll let this LA times article regale you with tales about how the owners of this place went on a 2-year journey to Italy to learn how to make gelato from scratch from artisanal masters, and how they travel around the world to select their ingredients, and how they make everything fresh and healthy (and low-fat) compared to industrial gelato. It will say things better than I possibly could.

 

I can count the number of times I've had ice cream or gelato in the past two years on half a hand. So I can't even tell you if it's better than your grocery store stuff. I can tell you it's fantastic, unique, and all the flavors taste exactly like their ingredients. Which is awesome It's going to be expensvie, but I think it's worth a trip for everybody. Try the nut flavors, but, of course, their exact flavors vary day-to-day depending on ingredient selection and availability.

 

General Stuff

 

There are more areas of chinese food (asian bakeries, hong kong/southern china cuisine, taiwan-style eateries, asian-style seafood places, bubble tea, etc, etc) & many more unique, worthwhile places to go to in the area but I don't know enough to comment about everything! If you do have some extra time to kick around in the area, definitely do your own research.

 

Westwood, where UCLA is located, is supposedly a very nice shopping region. And a nice place in general. Don't go to USC (or so I hear ;-P). Bad part of town. Altadena, just north of Pasadena, supposedly has a nice fresh/organic food market industry. I dunno, I read about it once. Glendale, north and west of Pasadena, has a couple of nice malls. One of them, The Americana, has a Farmer's market on Saturdays...10-2pm. Plus that stretch of the 210/134 has a very nice view of the valley below. Ah, there's also a (famous? or at least fairly celebrated) bakery in Glendale somewhere, but I forget what it's called.

 

Also some mountains right on top of Altadena, maybe good for hiking.

 

Pasadena itself has a good shopping district in the Old Town region (I dunno, all shopping districts are sorta the same to me...but it's a lively part of town with many restaurants, bars, etc), and a number of good Japanese restaurants, ranging from nice fusion places to a place that might be more authentic (Matsuri). There are maybe a half million Thai places. Daisy Mint has a nice, quaint ambience, like a pleasant European cafe.

 

Also a number of upscale Italian finer dining restaurants in Old Pas. Some of them are open *quite* late.

 

Also just south of Pasadena, in neighboring San Marino, is Huntington Gardens...if you like flowers and stuff.

 

For the tailgaters who need to pickup supplies, there is a nice whole foods market with I think fairly decent prices at Colorado & Rosemead (way on the NE end of Pasadena), called Sprouts Farmers Market. It is a grocery store but pretty nice. There's a nice one called Gelson's in Old Pas and a Whole Foods somewhere around there as well, but I imagine those might be pricier

 

Airport stuff

Lastly, a note for airport transportation. If you don't intend to rent a car but are getting into LAX, there is a $7 'Flyaway' bus service to Union Station in LA, which runs every 30 minutes, 24 hours of the day. Union Station is sort of a transportation hub for various lines, and you can take the Gold Line metro rail north to Pasadena. Should put you within walking distance of most hotels, and pretty much right at some of them.

[HeyBurke]

Wait, so I can bring my collection of sliced fruits and veggies to the game?

[BruinPatti]

Wait, so I can bring my collection of sliced fruits and veggies to the game?

 

Yep. Sliced is fine. LOL! I guess they think you're going to throw whole fruit. Who knows....

 

True story...a couple years ago a friend gave me one of those yummy gourmet caramel apples at our tailgate. I figured I'd bring it in and eat it during the game. They actually stopped me at the gate and would NOT let me bring it in! I mean seriously...I'm going to throw a yummy $10 candy apple a someone instead of eating it??? Seriously? They wanted me to toss it in the trash. I told 'em no way! I went back to the car and put it in my cooler! Ate it after the game.

[HeyBurke]

Wait, so I can bring my collection of sliced fruits and veggies to the game?

 

Yep. Sliced is fine. LOL! I guess they think you're going to throw whole fruit. Who knows....

 

True story...a couple years ago a friend gave me one of those yummy gourmet caramel apples at our tailgate. I figured I'd bring it in and eat it during the game. They actually stopped me at the gate and would NOT let me bring it in! I mean seriously...I'm going to throw a yummy $10 candy apple a someone instead of eating it??? Seriously? They wanted me to toss it in the trash. I told 'em no way! I went back to the car and put it in my cooler! Ate it after the game.

 

Haha. That's kind of what I assumed the rule was for.

[sd'sker]

Wait, so I can bring my collection of sliced fruits and veggies to the game?

 

Yep. Sliced is fine. LOL! I guess they think you're going to throw whole fruit. Who knows....

 

True story...a couple years ago a friend gave me one of those yummy gourmet caramel apples at our tailgate. I figured I'd bring it in and eat it during the game. They actually stopped me at the gate and would NOT let me bring it in! I mean seriously...I'm going to throw a yummy $10 candy apple a someone instead of eating it??? Seriously? They wanted me to toss it in the trash. I told 'em no way! I went back to the car and put it in my cooler! Ate it after the game.

a candy apple is like a weaponized apple, what with a stick to increase trajectory and all.

[JoeHuskers!]

It could be used as a mace to bash opposing fans and/or players if its covered in a bunch of crumbled nuts also.. dont forget that one

[Moiraine]

grilled corn on the cob

 

I ate corn on the cob in California once. I sniffed in derision.

[zoogs]

BruinPatti covered a lot of important stuff, and since I'm from the area I filled in my 2nd post with some extraneous information about some local eating/other things, but mostly eating, if you have the time to check them out. Hope you guys enjoy LA, especially if anyone is traveling out all the way from Lincoln.

 

Also, despite being from the area I wouldn't consider myself someone who is "in the know" about all the good stuff, so do your own research as well!

[NUance]

Here's a quick rundown of everything you need to know, but were afraid to ask.

Nice! +1 :

[NoHoHusker]

thanks BruinPatti...i live in North Hollywood and have friends coming in for the game...do you know of a particularly good spot to tailgate?

[irieboy8]

where you get the buds at??!

[TaraShow]

Hi there...I have a bunch of family coming out from Nebraska and I was trying to avoid tailgating but it looks like everyone wants to, but of course no one wants to sit in traffic after the game. Due to the new rules, does anyone know if you can just kinda walk about and party or do you have to be confined to an actual tailgate area in front of/behind a vehicle? We were thinking of taking a taxi or shuttle to the stadium but we don't know anyone that's going to be there.

[MLB 51]

where you get the buds at??!

East L.A.

[California Husker]

For the best pastrami sandwiches and burgers you should go to The Oinkster in Eagle Rock (right down Colorado Blvd. from Pasadena). It is just a little hole in the wall, but they have really good food ("The Oinkster" pastrami is my favorite). Guy Fieri from the Food Channel did an episode there and gave it rave reviews. Link below.

http://theoinkster.com/