[photo credit: South Lake Business Association]
South Lake Avenue is making this easy on us. Five restaurants, one walkable stretch, every meal of the day covered. Brunch with mimosas at Magnolia House (492 S. Lake), where the menu is built for slow Sundays. Lunch at The Arbour (527 S. Lake), which is doing a three-course prix fixe at $78 per person from 11:30 to 2 — a special menu for the day, not the regular one with a bow on it. Dinner at Smitty’s Grill (110 S. Lake), opening at 5 p.m. for the kind of low-lit evening where someone else handles the dishes.
Mercado Pasadena (140 S. Lake) is running brunch, lunch, and dinner — the rare Mother’s Day option that also covers Cinco de Mayo for the in-laws who flew in early. And Gaucho Grill (455 S. Lake) is open for all three meals, for the families that travel in packs and the moms who, frankly, prefer a steak to a soft-boiled egg.
The thing about South Lake on a Sunday is that it actually walks. Park once, drift between courses, let the afternoon stretch. If the meal needs an act two, Susie Cakes is finishing its limited-run Strawberry Cake through May 3, and Nothing Bundt Cakes is fully stocked with Decorated Bundts and Bundtlet Towers — the kind of dessert that travels well in a backseat with three opinionated children.
Make the reservation, make it early, and bring the people she actually wants to see — the reservation, frankly, is the gift.
Sunday, May 10. South Lake Avenue, Pasadena. Reservations strongly suggested. southlakeavenue.org
