[photo credit: Melting Pot Food Tours]
On Friday, August 7, a guided food tour will spend three and a half hours on that boulevard and in the alleys behind it.
The Old Pasadena Food Tasting Walking Tour, operated by Melting Pot Food Tours, runs from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., covering approximately 1.25 miles and about 10 tasting and merchant stops, according to the tour’s listing with the Old Pasadena Management District. For 2026, the company has added Route 66 centennial history to a route that already covers the district’s own past. In that listing, the company said its guides will “highlight touchstones and history along this foodie Tour.”
Route 66 was established in 1926 and ran from Chicago to Santa Monica, according to Visit Pasadena, the city’s tourism agency. Its Pasadena alignment followed Colorado Boulevard, which the agency says marks 150 years in 2026 since its origins at Fair Oaks Avenue in 1876.
The walk covers roughly 5,400 steps and returns to its starting point, the district listing states. Stops introduce Old Pasadena restaurants, bakeries, chocolate shops and specialty shops. The company states that the samples are filling enough that most people do not need lunch afterward.
Tickets are $119 for adults and $65 for children 13 and under, and are sold in advance through the company’s website. The tour begins in Old Pasadena at 155 South Raymond Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91105. Melting Pot states that the exact meeting point is sent to ticket holders when they buy.
The district the walk crosses has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1983. Visit Pasadena describes it as 22 blocks of restored late-19th- and early-20th-century commercial architecture.
Melting Pot Food Tours was founded in 2008 by sisters Lisa and Diane Scalia, according to the company’s business profile. Jody Flowers acquired the company in early 2021, according to its website.
The company’s frequently asked questions page states that its tours are wheelchair and stroller accessible and are held rain or shine. Guests can note dietary restrictions when booking, the page states, and regularly scheduled tours are conducted in English.
The tour is scheduled Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through December 31, 2026, according to the district listing.
Parking is not included. Old Pasadena’s three Park and Walk garages — De Lacey at 45 South De Lacey Avenue, Marriott at 171 North Raymond Avenue and Schoolhouse at 33 East Green Street — charge $1 for the first two hours, $2 an hour after that and $12 for a full day, according to the management district. Metered street parking runs $1.25 an hour in the center of the district.
Metro’s A Line serves Old Pasadena at Memorial Park and Del Mar stations.
Tickets and schedule information are posted at https://meltingpottours.com/melting-pot-tours/old-pasadena-tour/, and the company’s listed phone number is (323) 664-4472.
Route 66 turns 100 in November. The boulevard it followed is 150 this year, and most of the walk happens in the alleys behind it.
