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Now Reading: Locations

 

Our Critics' Picks

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Union

37 E. Union St.
Pasadena, CA 91103
Pasadena and vicinity
626-795-5841
Critics' Pick
Union +

Anne Fishbein Spaghetti chitarra

Details

  • Mon.-Fri., 5-11 p.m.; Sat., 4-11 p.m.; Sun., 4-10 p.m.
  • Vegetarian Friendly, Takeout
  • Dinner
  • Beer/Wine
  • Parking Lot Available, Street Parking
New American Italian
Directions
There are few restaurants as tiny, bustling and convivial as Union, Bruce Kalman’s 3-year-old Cali-Italian restaurant in Pasadena. Large family groups commune at long tables, the babies among them happily gobbling pasta as their parents drink interesting Italian red wines. It’s the type of place where people stop in for a quick plate of pasta and a drink at the bar, a perfect first-date spot, a perfect 100th-date spot. Starters, such as beautifully executed pork meatballs with a bracing kick of chili, are inventive but comforting above all else. The handmade pastas are the star of the show, however, from the simplest, tomato sauce–dressed spaghetti chittara to heavier ragus. This is the type of restaurant we all wish we had within walking distance of our homes: laid-back, friendly, relatively affordable, and with food you could eat happily over and over again. With Kalman having opened a stall at Grand Central Market, and planning a restaurant in the former Bucato space in Culver City, it’s a wish that will be coming true for more and more of us. —Besha Rodell
Read our full review.

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