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Lemonade Restaurant celebrated the grand opening of its Pasadena location on South Lake Ave. on Thursday, Sept. 29, with a plein air party that shared the spotlight with Jones Coffee and Carmody & Co, which recently moved across town from Old Pasadena.
The new Pasadena location is Lemonade’s seventh.
“You know it is a very unique concept,” said co-owner and Chef Alan Jackson, describing what makes his restaurant special. “It gives people the freedom to choose how they want to eat,” added Jackson.
Lemonade Restaurant offers a “very wide selection of Southern California comfort foods, which are very seasonally driven,” according to Jackson.
Jackson said he believes there was something missing in the restaurant market before Lemonade: diners really wanted a restaurant that offers healthy and flavor-filled options other than fast food.
Lemonade Restaurant provides diners the opportunity to build their own healthy culinary adventures. To illustrate, there are at least two dozen prepared salad varieties and eight or more pot roasts, which range from traditional beef short rib to barbecued brisket.
Other menu offerings include soups, sandwiches, and of course, lemonades. The restaurant offers six different flavors daily. Got lemonade? These go perefectly with the cookies, cupcakes, and brownies.
“The greatest thing about our restaurant is we are still very confident we are bringing is something that isn’t already there,” said co-owner and Chief Operating Officer Ian Olsen, describing what his restaurant brings to the table.
“We are serving a mix that really, today, has been underserved or not served in this way,” added Olsen. “We are doing something that we know is having a measurable impact on the communities where our restaurants reside.”
Lemonade Restaurant’s menu is basically California comfort, in a contemporary cafeteria setting, according to Olsen. “We are trying to bring something that you’re not going to get every day in another restaurant setting.”
All of the restaurant’s locations offer lots of fresh vegetables. There are always plenty of seasonal fruits and produce that diners will not find every day at the other restaurants.
“We’d like to think we are unique in that regard,” said Olsen.
Jackson has his own favorite dish, the Char Siu Chicken, with charred pineapple and plenty of herbs.
“What I like about it is its being an earthy dish,” said Jackson. “It combines this earthiness with the sweetness of the pineapple and the crunch of the cashew,” added Jackson.
Lemonade Restaurant’s Pasadena location, during the few days of its existence, has already captured the imagination of local foodies, especially those who lean more toward healthy and tasty food, who have generously given the restaurant their hearty approval.
Clearly, Jackson’s “modern cafeteria” concept of a restaurant works.
Lemonade Restaurant, 146 S Lake Ave., Pasadena. Call (626) 304-7700 or visit www.lemonadela.com.
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