Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Pasadena

  • Los Angeles – McDonald’s (Pasadena)

    Los Angeles – McDonald’s (Pasadena)

    [I originally posted this in July 2018 about a visit in January 2018 and I’ve reposted it to fix the broken image links]

    The photo above isn’t mine, I took it from Google Maps. This McDonald’s intrigued me though as it the first walk-thru outlet of theirs that I’ve been to. That is they have a drive-thru counter and also a walk-thru counter where customers have to order outside. There are no inside counters at all, which struck me as novel.

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    The actual reason I went in McDonald’s wasn’t to get food, it was to escape the rain. Pasadena decided to flood when I visited and I had another fifteen minutes walk to get to the hotel.

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    Although all of the orders were taken outside, there was a relatively small inside dining area.

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    There’s the sum total of my purchases, a 99 cent unlimited soft drinks cup. Bargain. I stayed quite a while but the rain didn’t really dissipate.

  • Los Angeles – Blaze Pizza (Pasadena)

    Los Angeles – Blaze Pizza (Pasadena)

    [I originally posted this in July 2018 about a visit in January 2018, I’ve reposted it to fix some broken image links]

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    Just after I arrived in Pasadena it started to rain. The roads started flooding with the quantity of rain, so it seemed that an early lunch would be a rather good idea. This pizza restaurant, which is part of a national chain, seemed well reviewed and was on the way to my hotel. This restaurant is their outlet on East Colorado Boulevard, which is also on the historic route 66.

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    Firstly, the service was quite ridiculous insomuch as it was near perfect. There’s often talk from restaurants in the UK how they want their staff to engage with customers, to build up a rapport, to be conversational and welcoming. It rarely happens. Here, they had it down to a fine art.

    I took a leaflet by the door to get an understanding of the different pizza options available. The process is similar to Subway, that you walk down a line and select the pizza and other items that you want, before paying at the end. I mentioned to the first staff member that it was my first visit, and she proceeded to offer a comprehensive introduction to how the process worked.

    Then, after she had introduced herself and the concept, she then introduced me to the other staff members along the line. She was conversational and friendly, it is hard to imagine a friendlier introduction to a restaurant, but it never felt over the top or forced.

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    There’s an open and slightly industrial feel to the whole restaurant, which soon got much busier. The pizzas are cooked in just a few minutes and customers go and collect them from the counter.

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    Unlimited Dr. Pepper, a side salad and a pizza, all of which were at the temperature I expected, were neatly presented and tasted of an excellent quality. The pizza base was thin and crispy, the toppings were evenly spread and there was a depth of taste to both the pizza and the salad.

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    I think that covers most eventualities.

    This was my first visit to a Blaze Pizza outlet and I discovered later on that Pasadena was the home of the chain, which might explain the near perfect customer service. It’s a shame that I don’t live closer (it’s hard to justify popping over to Pasadena for lunch) as I’d have this as my go to fast service restaurant….