menu


    Forgot Password?

    Or sign in with a social account:

    GOOGLE + YAHOO!

    Don't have an account yet? Sign Up ›

    Connect. Discover. Share.

    Get the most out of your experience with a personalized all-access pass to everything local on events, music, restaurants, news and more.

    GOOGLE+ YAHOO!

    Already registered?

  • MVN

    Don't have an account yet?

    Sign Up ›
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Other

Now Reading: Locations

 

Our Critics' Picks

Join Insiders today!
  • Slideshows
  • Videos
 
MORE

Union

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

Anne Fishbein Spaghetti chitarra

Details

  • Mon.-Fri., 5-11 p.m.; Sat., 4-11 p.m.; Sun., 4-10 p.m.
  • Dinner
  • Beer/Wine
  • Takeout
  • Parking Lot Available, Street Parking
New American Italian
Directions
There are few restaurants as tiny, bustling and convivial as Union, Bruce Kalman’s 2-year-old Cali-Italian restaurant in Pasadena. Large family groups commune at long tables, the babies among them happily gobbling meatballs 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 glass of wine at the bar, a perfect first-date spot, a perfect 100th-date spot. Starters, such as a beautifully spiced cotechino sausage served with braised collard greens and a soft poached egg, are inventive but comforting above all else. The handmade pastas are the star of the show, however, from the simplest tomato sauce-dressed spaghetti chitarra 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. —Besha Rodell

Read our full review.

Related Stories (11)

  • L.A.'s Most Essential Italian Restaurants
    Tuesday, March 1, 2016 at 6:10 a.m. by LA Weekly

    In celebration of our 99 Essential L.A. Restaurants issue, we're breaking out entries from the big list into handy, cuisine-centric guides. Right now, we're all about Italian. Check out L.A.'s essential spots for handmade pasta...

  • Restaurant Reviews: A Second Look at Girasol in Studio City and Union in Pasadena
    Tuesday, January 26, 2016 at 6:30 a.m. by Besha Rodell

    Is there anything more frustrating for a critic than to write about a restaurant that's bursting with as-yet-unrealized potential? For this critic, there is not. Let's put aside, for a minute, the old and tired debate about when it'...

  • The 10 Best Restaurants in Pasadena
    Thursday, January 14, 2016 at 9:43 a.m. by Ben Mesirow

    Pasadena is a unique combination of old-money and blue-collar sensibilities, full of tasteful institutions and down-home charm, with a whiff of stuffiness and a seedy side, too. It is a city in which debutantes are introduced at the...

  • From Gjusta to Arby's, Chef Michael Bryant Recommends 10 L.A. Restaurants
    Monday, September 14, 2015 at 6:54 a.m. by Besha Rodell

    Michael Bryant, chef of The Churchill and The Hudson, brings all kinds of influences to his two kitchens. A childhood in Virginia with a French mother gave him an appreciation of Southern and French cuisine. Formative years as a coo...

Load More Articles

Menu

View All

More New American Restaurants in Los Angeles

©2016 LA Weekly, LP. All rights reserved.

Newsletters

All-access pass to the top stories, events and offers around town.

  • Top Stories
    Send:

Newsletters

All-access pass to top stories, events and offers around town.

Sign Up >

No Thanks!

Remind Me Later >