This Must Be Monrovia

I often onshore astatine this indie java shop astatine 8 a.m., still half-asleep but craving a bacon and ovum sandwich and potent Sightglass java — arsenic does a 4th of Monrovia, it seems. This isn’t a speed-through joint: You mightiness find kids playing checkers astatine a debased array and first-timers snapping selfies successful beforehand of nan mural of a latte-drinking carnivore connected a bicycle. It’s a spot wherever you tin still sip your java from a existent mug, alternatively than a flimsy insubstantial cup.

Customers thin to beryllium a operation of distant workers parked astatine tables pinch their laptops, noshing connected sausage aliases vegan meal burritos, and groups of friends lounging connected sofas and digging into meal bowls pinch vegan carnitas aliases soyrizo. At nan outdoor tables, dogs are spoiled pinch biscuits and h2o bowls.

The accustomed suspects statement nan paper — cortados, macchiatos, Americanos and much — but you tin besides task retired and effort specials for illustration nan James Brown, a latte pinch brownish sugar, cinnamon and oat milk; nan Honeycomb, a latte pinch earthy sage chromatic and cinnamon; and nan Tonic, a blend of espresso, lime and fever character tonic connected ice. Grey & Cash, knowing its audience, closes early astatine 2 p.m.

If you emotion Porto’s, but not nan lines, fulfill your craving for Cuban sweets astatine Merengue. The vibe hits betwixt a cafeteria, a bakery and a deli, and nan items are stellar. The guava barroom is an absolute stunner for celebrations: sweet, tangy and soft. The dulce de leche latte is fundamentally dessert, and nan dulce de leche Danish is renowned astir town. And you’ll want to scheme a picnic successful Library Park conscionable truthful you tin person an excuse to bid a fewer Cuban missiles, agelong loaves stuffed pinch roasted pork and grilled onions.

Service is brisk but warm, pinch galore items fresh to spell successful little than a fewer minutes. There are respective dog-friendly tables tucked into nan adjoining alley, on pinch ample tables indoors and connected nan beforehand patio, though it’s communal for customers to bid to go. As successful Cuba, galore of nan pastries (beef papas rellenos, pasteles de carne and ropa vieja sandos) are stepping friendly, truthful you tin easy devour them en way to wherever you’re headed. Merengue besides specializes successful catering, truthful delivering large orders is aged chapeau to them, pinch a action of afloat cakes fresh for last-minute day celebrations.

Cool off, publication books aliases get thief pinch your task astatine this exceptionally user-friendly room that’s packed pinch free organization resources. Need a guitar, sewing machine, drill group aliases Nintendo Switch games? Check them retired astatine nan lending library. Near nan big nonfiction section, you tin find thoughtfully curated kits, including 1 filled pinch representation activities for those pinch Alzheimer’s and dementia. The library’s arena almanac brims pinch offerings for illustration ukulele and guitar lessons, gentle yoga, Dungeons & Dragons campaigns, big trade nights and park-ranger-led read-alouds.

A large bluish carnivore sculpture featuring quality scenes welcomes kids into nan children’s collection, which features acquisition machine games, a play area for toddlers and predominant trade sessions and Lego building events for older kids. The YA conception is impressive, pinch librarian-favorite titles turned retired to intrigue passerby. There’s moreover a 3D printer you tin usage to people a creation erstwhile a month.

Rent a gathering aliases study room, including nan freely Heritage Room, supra which hangs a 1940s-era mural of carnivore cubs painted by California creator Helen Katharine Forbes. Behind nan room is simply a ample playground. Many municipality festivals hap successful beforehand of nan room nether nan shadiness of a expansive Moreton Bay fig tree.

If crafting a vertebrate ocarina sounds appealing aliases if gifting a handmade serving vessel would make you proud, this ceramics workplace successful Old Town Monrovia mightiness conscionable beryllium your happy place. Co-owned by Monrovian Kyle Hart and his partner Marcus Mam, Makers & Clay offers some hand-building and instrumentality classes, made to accommodate a assortment of schedules. Mam calls it “a noncompetitive, welcoming space” wherever group tin show up and research their creativity.

You tin return a one-time people wherever you’ll complete a elemental project, for illustration a pet bowl, animal figurine aliases pinch cookware java mug, aliases enroll successful a bid of classes to hone your art. Wheel-throwing is tricky, but a four-week intro people tin easiness you in, while much precocious classes tin thief you sculpt bowls aliases return you into vase-making. Hand-building courses attraction connected servingware for a beautiful dinner: a serving bowl, a charcuterie platter and a candlestick holder. Already cognize what you’re doing and simply want to activity connected your projects? A rank gives you unsupervised clip successful nan studio.

This homegrown Argentine cafe, a relaxed watering spread pinch achromatic leather booths, serves complete 20 kinds of empanadas, each cooked to order. Its walls are lined pinch family photos from proprietor Ryan Lopez’s grandmother’s ranch successful Córdoba, Argentina, and rightly so, since nan chimichurri look comes straight from her kitchen.

For breakfast, excavation into aureate meal empanadas stuffed pinch scrambled eggs, potato, food and ham. For lunch, opt for empanadas filled pinch birria, pizza, beef, murphy and hardboiled egg, and chickenhearted and potatoes. Vegetarians person their prime too: soyrizo, vegan food and potato; spinach and cheese, spicy achromatic bean, jalapeno, maize and reddish pepper, aliases mushroom, ail and Swiss. There are moreover dessert empanadas: pome pastry pinch dulce de leche aliases New York cheesecake pinch raspberry marmalade. Yet if you deliberation it’s each empanadas, you’d beryllium fooled: There are tri extremity and porchetta sandwiches, beef stroganoff, chili verde plates and section beers are connected tap. Pro tip: Grab much chimichurri sauces than you deliberation you need.

Monrovia plays big to an unusually precocious number of boba shops for specified a mini town, but this family-run shop opened successful 2020 by Ishka Villacisneros-Tusjakova stands retired pinch its high-quality Taiwanese tapioca and addictive beverage blends successful rectangular box-shaped cups. Villacisneros-Tusjakova was inspired to unfastened her shop aft her 8-year-old girl presented her pinch $1,000 that she specifically saved to unfastened a boba business. “That infinitesimal was axenic magic,” Villacisneros-Tusjakova says.

The harvest of drinks includes tiger beverage beverage pinch brownish sweetener caramel, postulation lemonade pinch butterfly pea blossom beverage and jelly, and strawberry matcha latte made pinch ceremonial-grade matcha. The freely cafe area is well-suited for studying (with outlets astatine prime tables) aliases socializing (with Uno, Jenga and chess games stacked by nan sofa). Non-boba items see an assortment of Asian packaged snacks, on pinch ube pick food breadstuff and meringue cakes successful flavors for illustration cashew, mango, ube and — yes — durian. Villacisneros-Tusjakova knows that galore boba lovers are besides stuffed animal lovers arsenic nan shop offers “surprise cups,” a promo successful which each portion comes pinch a collectible enigma plushie.

Fourth-generation Monrovian Nicole Fabry had a logic for naming her bookstore aft achromatic cats, traditionally considered unlucky and little apt to beryllium adopted. She says she wanted “a cozy, magical abstraction welcoming to everyone, particularly those who’ve ever felt for illustration nan past 1 picked.”

Fabry, who worked successful nationalist libraries for a decade, curated nan shop to beryllium inclusive successful genre and audience. The mint greenish shelves are lined pinch fiction, schematic novels, cookbooks, poetry, imagination and sci-fi. Readers tin find their group done nan shop’s array of book clubs: There’s a

, hosted by a licensed family therapist, a

, a

and a (mostly)

. Other events see reference bingo, writer talks, poesy readings and children’s communicative clip led by nan resident Story Lady, on pinch workshops for crafting everything from embroidered ornaments to hand-carved rubber stamps to watercolor paintings.

Black Cat Fables is besides a awesome spot for speedy gifts from mini and women-owned businesses: integrated skincare, sweets, jewelry, feline and canine toys, greeting cards, candles and location decor. An in-house java barroom serves espresso drinks, matcha, chai and tea, including nan staff-favorite “reader’s blend.”

As if proceeding nan Pied Piper’s flute, group each complete Monrovia gravitate toward nan mint greenish storefront of Moo Moo Mia handmade crystal pick shop. Danish American siblings Mia and Marcus Pederson opened their highly Instagrammable Monrovia location successful 2015, saying they appreciated nan city’s walkability and consciousness of community, which reminded them of nan towns they loved successful Europe. “People are much isolated now than erstwhile I grew up, but our Monrovia shop feels for illustration backmost successful nan time erstwhile you would locomotion your canine down nan street, extremity and opportunity hullo to someone, and get a scoop,” Mia says. “It conscionable feels really homey.”

Their ngo is to service crystal pick that’s up to European standards, churned caller each mates days and made pinch caller nutrient alternatively of flavoring syrups. “We really compression nan oranges and lemons, and purée bananas and strawberries,” Mia says. Marcus spends his clip successful nan room experimenting pinch caller and seasonal flavors, for illustration peach cobbler successful nan summer, pumpkin cheesecake successful nan autumn and stiff basking cocoa successful nan winter. Their astir celebrated modular flavors are cookies and cream, oversea salt, caramel, chocolate, strawberry and mint chip. Top your scoop pinch a cooky straw aliases move it into a shingle and past beryllium connected nan chair retired beforehand arsenic you watch Monrovians rotation by.

Every Friday night, 4 blocks of Myrtle Avenue successful Monrovia’s Old Town are closed disconnected to cars arsenic nan city’s main resistance transforms into a grand, walkable bazaar. Children’s musicians group up folding chairs for their mini assemblage members, while popular guitarists and Chinese zither players get retired their instruments. Restaurants, boutiques and bookstores buzz pinch activity. Filling nan thoroughfare are candle and clothing vendors, nutrient stalls, bounce houses, nutrient trucks, a snake charmer pinch a elephantine boa and moreover a petting zoo pinch ponies that kids tin ride.

It could each consciousness a spot chaotic, isolated from that nan metropolis of Monrovia organizes nan arena truthful good that maneuvering nan adjacent is fluid and cleanup is thorough (there’s not a azygous portion of confetti aliases popcorn to beryllium recovered connected nan thoroughfare nan adjacent morning). The play fest originates astatine 5 p.m. and runs until 9 p.m. — and a spot later successful nan outpouring and summer. Don’t miss nan inflatable slides and aerial trampolines (buy tickets astatine nan array adjacent Thai Thyme), nan nutrient vendors connected nan acold southbound extremity and nan balloon creator adjacent Taqueria Diablo, whose winsome flowers and eccentric aliens are ever a deed pinch kids.

Amid each of Monrovia’s much caller developments — boba shops, a dine-in movie theater, a Korean fried chickenhearted associated and respective chic restaurants — it’s easy to hide really heavy its history reaches into nan past. That’s why this 8,000-square-foot depository is specified a treat. Situated connected a information of nan erstwhile Monrovia Municipal Plunge, a elephantine metropolis excavation that was segregated racially erstwhile it opened, it’s a humanities landmark successful itself. Inside, you’ll find 10,000 artifacts, including an ancient telephone collection, a Kizh Gabrieleño Indians shelter built for nan depository by nan tribe, section World War I and II memorabilia and photos of nan aged Monrovia Airport.

The depository besides hosts large-scale exhibits for illustration a turn-of-the-century parlor and 1920s kitchen, a Monrovia doctor’s buggy utilized to make location calls, and replicas of a section 1907 first-grade schoolroom and a section sanatorium for lung diseases. The Changemakers grounds highlights nan value of diverseness and inclusion successful nan improvement and maturation of nan city. A imperishable architectural grounds highlighting section building styles opened past year, featuring a destruction of an authentic Craftsman and a touchscreen wherever visitors tin position nan 170-plus landmarked Victorian, Four Square, Craftsman, Spanish Colonial Revival, English Tudor and midcentury homes and trial their architectural knowledge pinch quizzes.

Sisters Jeanne Herrera, Teresa Castro and Lucinda Perez tally this friends clothing and accessories boutique known for its pretty, flowy maxi dresses, bodycon cardigans, cozy sweaters and denim jackets. “We strive to cater to each different ages,” Herrera says. “Many families shop astatine our store, from daughters to grandmothers.”

The sisters started their business by manufacturing their ain clothing (“suo” intends “to sew” successful Latin) and later moved connected to handpicking items from outer producers. The denim collection, pinch sizes 0 to 15, includes nan brands Just Black Denim, Risen, Mica and Flying Monkey, each known for their quality, agelong and accessible value points. The jewelry barroom features delicate chains and playful beaded first necklaces.

For inspiration connected really to style your items together for a winning OOTD, cheque retired Suo’s Instagram.

Sidle up to nan acheronian barroom astatine Look Cinemas, a dine-in movie theatre pinch iconic greenish lighting accents, for 1 of nan champion happy hours successful town. From 4 to 7 p.m., good drinks are $5 and apps are $7. The regular paper pairs themed drinks and nutrient pinch celebrated films, on pinch smash burgers, Baja atom bowls, pizzas and flatbreads, salads and boozy mudslide shakes, overmuch of it carried by mini eating robots that thief nan servers present nan nutrient to each theater.

Look Cinemas shows each nan blockbusters and galore indie films successful its 8 theaters of varying sizes. At times, it hosts typical themed events — deliberation Miyazaki creations, vintage flicks for illustration “Dirty Dancing” and Halloween fright nights. My favourite are nan enigma screenings, wherever you don’t cognize what’s going to play until nan movie rolls. Best of all, Look offers an yearly all-you-can-watch walk for $199 a twelvemonth (one movie per day), which you tin usage astatine nan different Look location successful Glendale. And for $800, you tin rent retired a theatre for a backstage screening pinch up to 40 of your closest friends.

On Tuesdays, propulsion up to nan yellowish awning of this cheery, brightly-lit taqueria for all-day 99-cent tacos. That’s erstwhile you’ll find families, co-workers and couples packing nan four-tops group against white-tiled walls, testing conscionable really galore of these bad boys they tin handle. You tin take from tender, flavorful pork costillas, chicharron en salsa verde, chile colorado and bistec aliases chorizo con papas, among others (though not each meats are connected nan paper for Taco Tuesdays, for illustration nan pricier Angus sirloin steak).

For thing little typical, effort a tlayuda, a Oaxacan specialty featuring a crispy tortilla topped pinch meat, beans, food and shredded cabbage. The comfortingly carby meal burritos (served each day), nan crispy asada fries, beef quesabirria and chimichangas are each worthy a trip. Be warned that it’s not nan champion sitch for vegetarians who want much than rajas, hongos aliases nopales. And if you want beans connected your tacos, you’ll person to inquire for a typical order.

Before you return your first glorious bite, apical your items pinch moreover much flavor: The reddish and greenish salsas are calibrated toward nan little spicy extremity of nan spectrum, and there’s a sweet, nutty salsa macha that you tin drawback astatine nan condiment bar. On bully days, nan taqueria offers an outdoor agua fresca barroom pinch free refills. If you for illustration it sweet, effort nan strawberry aliases watermelon.

If you emotion Korean thoroughfare nutrient aliases pub snacks, this low-lit, vibrant spot smack dab successful nan mediate of Monrovia’s main portion useful nicely for a nightcap aliases moreover dinner. It’s a vibe to dine pinch friends nether nan glow of neon signs declaring successful Korean that “You’re astir beautiful erstwhile you’re eating chicken.” The K-pop tunes will make you sway successful your spot arsenic friends servers quickly dole retired pitchers of Sapporo, glasses of sparkling yakult and those all-too-familiar green-hued bottles of soju.

Start pinch spicy bulgogi fries, steamed cheesy egg, soondae (blood sausage, sliced and stir-fried), maize food and kimchi fried rice, but don’t capable up earlier you deed nan main attraction: nan chickenhearted (the spot utilized to beryllium called K-Chicken & Beer, aft all). The wings aliases boneless pieces travel coated successful 8 flavors, including mango habanero and soy garlic. They besides service regular spicy tteokbokki, a celebrated thoroughfare nutrient pinch thick, chewy atom cakes successful a agleam reddish Korean chili sauce, but I for illustration nan roseate tteokbokki, a creamy, much temperate version. If you’re still hungry, spoon up spicy pork stir-fry, kimchi jjigae and service stew (IFKYK). In nan summer, you tin get jolmyeon, a tasty acold noodle salad.

After six years arsenic an coach astatine Le Cordon Bleu successful Pasadena, cook Alex Reyes opened his ain schoolhouse successful 2012 to thief cooks not only amended their culinary skills but besides “come together, stock experiences and turn done nan creation of food,” he says.

He recovered 2 chopped groups flocking to his workshops: kids and couples. Every Saturday morning, young chefs-in-training tin study really to clasp a knife, measurement spices, rotation cinnamon rolls aliases crank retired agelong ribbons of pasta. Sauté besides hosts typical kids classes for illustration cupcake wars and pizza parties. Couples tin bask nan BYOB day nighttime experiences, wherever they’ll slice, dice, knead and stir-fry dishes and past bask them together astatine a banquet array complete a vessel of wine. Adult people options see caller pasta making, sourdough baking and exploring Japanese, French, Italian, Cuban, Mediterranean, Thai, Indian aliases Korean cuisines. Sauté besides holds typical vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free courses, arsenic good summertime camps for kids and teens, and team-building workshops for master groups.

The champion part? Someone other will do nan dishes.

Christopher Thomas and Ky Pedulla, erstwhile edifice managers and location brewers, leaped astatine nan chance to stock their passion for beer, popular civilization and video games successful 1 welcoming space. Their labour of emotion became Hop Secret, a dark, low-key brewery bursting pinch colorful artwork featuring superheroes, underdogs and popular civilization icons that they purchased during their yearly trips to Comic-Con and WonderCon.

Step into nan long, constrictive cavern wherever you tin snack connected caller baskets of (free!) popcorn from nan old-fashioned popping instrumentality and savor a seasonal brew (try nan Watermelon Creamsicle Double Hazy successful summer, Raspberry Wheat Ale successful nan fall, and Winter Wit successful nan chillier months). The brew rotation usually includes their standbys: nan El Cachorro Mexican Lager, Westy West Coast IPA, Starhazer Hazy, Tongue Butter Peanut Butter Stout and Forbidden Marionberry Crumble Pastry Sour.

For those emotion competitive, there’s a Nintendo Switch wherever you tin propulsion down astatine Mario Kart, on pinch SNES, Sega Genesis and retro arcade games. And if you commencement to get hungry, cheque retired nan nutrient trucks stationed extracurricular connected Friday and Saturday nights.