We stayed in Monrovia, and almost every place we ate was fantastic. Merenge Bakery, Café De Olla
Maybe the best part was the amount of whole food shops serving healthy salads or mixed bowls (and unhealthy too), which were shockingly affordable in LA. Was able to eat out for less than buying any of those supplies at aldi or kroger.
p.s. My friend is first generation american from Taiwan, and spends large portions of each year over there. I think they just stop out in Pasadena a lot for fun and food, so it sounds like you had a similar experience.
Had a lot more fun Jan 1, 2025 for football coverage (much better weather, and first bowl game ever for me overlapping with the greatest OSU offensive performance maybe ever

). The past two november trips have been to photograph a horse show rebuilt inside Santa Anita racetrack (where the olympics will be). Great event, but it's absolutely poured the past two years, to the point where I had to buy rain slickers (never needed them in KY where I work outside 80 days a year). Both years were wet, but we were there for the national news covered storms
One fun part was hitting so much traffic when we landed, that it just took us through surface streets all the way from LAX to Pasadena. We drove through compton and every bad part of LA, so we got a full feel of many of the areas. For as much as LA gets a reputation for being shallow, their architecture is remarkable, and not just in the nice areas. Previously I had only seen the beaches and Orange County, which has to be one of the least creative places on earth for architecture.