[photo credit: Melting Pot Food Tours]
The Old Pasadena Food Tasting Walking Tour, run by Melting Pot Food Tours, threads a roughly three-and-a-half-hour route — about 5,400 steps — past independently owned, often family-run eateries, the company says. An artisan chocolatier and a bakery are among the listed stops, with the walk winding through the side streets and thru-ways behind the boulevard rather than the storefronts facing it.
The tour runs in Old Pasadena, the city’s historic commercial district about 10 miles from downtown Los Angeles. For 2026, the operator is tying the walk to the centennial of Route 66, the cross-country highway that ran along Colorado Boulevard through Pasadena. The company says the road turns 100 on November 11, 2026, and that the tour will point out touchstones of that history along the way.
According to Visit Pasadena, the tour meets near Amara Café in Old Pasadena, with the exact starting point provided when guests book. The Old Pasadena Management District’s calendar lists the tour on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Tickets are $119 for adults and $65 for children 13 and under, the management district’s listing shows. Reservations are handled by Melting Pot Food Tours at 323-664-4472.
The company describes the tour as merchant-hosted where possible, with shop owners meeting guests to present their food, and says it concludes back at the original starting point. The food samples, the operator says, are filling enough that lunch afterward is usually unnecessary.
Getting there is part of the pitch. Several public parking structures sit near the meeting point — free for the first 90 minutes, then $3 an hour to a $9 daily maximum, according to Visit Pasadena. Memorial Park Station, now served by the Metro A Line, is about a block away, and guests who arrive by Metro receive a $5 discount, the listing states. Pasadena Transit routes 20, 40, 51 and 52 also stop nearby. The company advises comfortable walking shoes and water.
The walk is one of several Melting Pot Food Tours operates across Southern California, alongside outings at the Original Farmers Market, in East Los Angeles and Boyle Heights, in Long Beach and in Thai Town. The Old Pasadena edition leans on the district’s layout — the alleys and courtyards that, the company notes, sit on land once planted with orange groves.
Editor’s note: This preview was produced without an on-record source. Outreach to Melting Pot Food Tours, a host merchant, or a past participant is pending to add a verified voice. The exact meeting address is unconfirmed: the management district’s listing shows 155 South Raymond Avenue, 91103, while Amara Café’s verified address is 55 South Raymond Avenue, 91105; the operator states the precise starting point is given only at booking.
A century after Route 66 first ran past these storefronts, the tour’s premise is the same: the boulevard is the easy part. The rest is down the alley.
Melting Pot Old Pasadena Food Tour — offered regularly. | https://www.oldpasadena.org/visit/events/ Oldpasadena
