Lucky Baldwin's Pub
Old Town Pasadena, California, USA
17 South Raymond Ave
Pasadena, CA 91105
Phone: (626) 795 0652
Fax: (626) 795 9358
Email: [email protected]
http://www.luckybaldwins.com/
Carved out of an old brick industrial building in Old Town Pasadena, Lucky Baldwins is a British style pub with high ceilings, brick walls, creaky wooden furniture, tele's that play European football, and a jukebox with everything from classic to contemporary rock. The pub is English owned and operated.
It's very young age (est. 1996), jukebox, high ceilings, bright, expansive interior and slightly cluttered restaurant feel distance it from its true British and European counterparts. However, boasting 63 international beers on tap, and plenty more imports and quality domestics in bottles, this place is the pride of the locals. The food menu is traditional pub grub fare; bangers and mash, fish and chips, pot pies, etc. (my favorite is the fish and chips). If you want a truly memorable meal, there are plenty of nicer restaurants in Old Town right around the corner. Lucky Baldwins is where you go to drink good beer with good people. Every year they host an annual Belgium beer festival, and Octoberfest.
The contagious appeal of Old Town Pasadena carries over nicely inside Lucky Baldwins. It is simultaneously hip, social and cozy, yet spared the stigma of being overtly trendy. It always makes us feel energized, but not worked-up. Behind the bar dozens of taps remind you there are over sixty draught beers at hand. The air inside is always heavy with the tempting smells of beer and pub grub.
The brick walls are covered with a hodgepodge assemblage of beer signs, banners, mirrors and memorabilia. To my eye they seem randomly collected and hung to cover the brick walls, rather than carefully placed in an attempt to manufacture atmosphere. But I suppose they serve both fuctions. Lucky Baldwins is positively no Victorian pub, but through all the clutter a sense of unique character somehow emerges from this young pub.
There are three main areas; one bar (lower), upstairs and downstairs dining/drinking areas with wooden tables. And you can soak up the California sun in the beer garden/patio (below), which adjoins a scenic back alley.
A wide variety of locals, visitors and British ex-pats haunt this place. With a nearby college, the famous Jet Propulsion Laboratory ("JPL"), and bustling Pasadena itself, the IQ's can run above average on any given day or night.
Above: Westmalle Trappist Ale, Tripel (Belgium), my favorite New Years Eve brew .
Helpful Tip: Want to do something memorable on New Years Eve but don't feel like putting on your suit and over-extending your wallet? Lucky Baldwins is your gateway to the Rose Parade new years eve "block party". (be warned: no open alcoholic beverage containers allowed on the street!)
Get a designated driver or cab, dress casual & warm, and go with some good friends to Lucky Baldwins by 9pm* on new years eve. Park yourselves at a good table, order dinner, beer and more beer. Take full advantage of Lucky Baldwin's wonderful beer selection. When you get the munchies again, order a plate of chips (with malted vinegar, mayonnaise and ketchup of course!). Next thing you know the place is packed with jolly, unpretentious pubbers cheering the new year in.
Wander outside at about 1am and walk about 20 yards north to Colorado Boulevard. There you will find many thousands of people camped -- portable fire places, tents and all -- on the sidewalks up and down the boulevard. They do this to have a front-row seat when the sun rises on the famous New Years Day Rose Parade. There are throngs more people wandering up and down Colorado Boulevard all night long, some drunk, all happy and vocal.
The Colorado Boulevard Rose Parade New Years Eve block party.
Got the munchies? Street vendors are up and down the boulevard all night selling freshly grilled hot dogs wrapped in bacon, and other goodies. Witnessing (and participating) in this phenomenon has become a New Years Eve tradition with my girlfriend and I. We've yet to stay until morning to watch the parade, however. One of these times...
A street vendor's cart with bacon dogs cooking on the griddle.
For more information on the new years eve block party:
*I'm not sure, but I suspect they might collect a cover charge later in the evening on New Years eve. I've been gone there as late as 9:45pm on new years eve and have not been hit with a cover charge.
