Eating your way around Arcadia

With so many famous restaurants throughout Southern California, from Hollywood and Beverly Hills to Pasadena and Orange County, you might expect to find very few notable eateries in tiny Arcadia.
But it’s surprising to see so many and such an eclectic assortment of dining in the city, from historic and world-renowned restaurants ranging from The Derby to the Din Tai Fung Dumpling House (almost always a line of people standing outside the door), to one of the best-loved regional fast food burger chains, In-N-Out (almost always two lines of cars winding down the streets), and local favorites such as Matt Denny’s Ale House Restaurant (pictured), Pepper’s Mexican Restaurant and Cantina, Marie Callender’s, and Carmine’s Italian Restaurant.

Any of those ring a bell to you, perhaps a dinner bell now that you are salivating? Which are your favorites?

The city also boasts many of the most prominent national restaurant chains from The Cheesecake Factory, California Pizza Kitchen, Wood Ranch Grill, Tony Roma’s, Dave & Buster’s, BJ’s Pizza, and Outback, to Denny’s, Johnny Rockets, Olive Garden, Souplantation, Panda Express, Sbarro’s, and International House of Pancakes, and almost every fast-food chain from McDonald’s, Burger King, and Dairy Queen to KFC, Subway, Pizza Hut, Papa John’s and Taco Bell.

Sadly, missing from this category in Arcadia is a Wendy’s. I promise I would support a Wendy’s by buying at least one meal every week consisting of a burger (one of the best), fries (the best), chili (darned good), and, oh yes, a Frosty (so thick I can never get it through the straw — chocolate; not that new vanilla).

Of lesser disappointment is the lack of an Arby’s, Hardees, Sonic or Bob Evan’s.

You must have some favorite chains missing from Arcadia that you would like see come to town. What are they?

But we haven’t even scratched the surface of the hundreds of lesser known but food favorites in town, from the Taco Lita and Taco Treat stands, Paco’s Mexican Restaurant, Rod’s Grill, and Chef’s, to Moffet’s Family Restaurant, Sir George’s Smorgasboard Royal Buffet, Coco’s, Cabrera’s, and an ever-growing number of sushi, Japanese and Chinese restaurants such as Maru, Wamu, Kiyosuzu, Toyko Wako, and Todai to May Mei and Arcadia Garden Cafe.

Here’s a list of the most notable restaurants and eateries in Arcadia.

What are your favorite restaurants in Arcadia? Submit your comments here so we can find out what we all may be missing.

– Scott Hettrick