It’s always lovely to share a meal with someone you care about. On this day, I trekked into Pasadena and was fortunate enough to connect with my lovely wife for her lunch break; she was surprised and she surprised me by taking me out to the Aux Delices Café & Bakery (16 W Colorado Blvd, Pasadena CA 91105. 626-796-1630). With the wealth of retail and dining options for folks on Colorado Blvd, where to dine can be something of a guessing game. However the Aux Delices Café & Bakery is as good a selection as any for breakfast and lunch and has a number of positives going for it.
The Aux Delices Café & Bakery is a European style bakery and café. With rustic wooden tables, uncomfortable straight-backed chairs, and food preparation which happens in the back, folks coming to Aux Delices Café & Bakery should know what to expect. Not that any of the food is bad or anything like that but in a 24 hour a day world and city like Los Angeles, the Aux Delices Café & Bakery doesn’t open for breakfast until 7AM (8 on Sundays). So you know that the busy bustling happens across the street at Starbucks; folks coming to Aux Delices Café & Bakery do so not for expedience but for the step up in quality.
Aux Delices Café & Bakery pride themselves on plying their trade with skill and precision. As their to-go menu states, “We’ve been doing our own baking using the finest natural ingredients for over 20 years! Quality food. Outstanding service. Reasonable prices.” Aux Delices Bakery & Café is actually open into the evening (10PM on weekdays; 11:30 on Friday & Saturday) but that has more to do with the flavor of the neighborhood and the ruckus revelry which goes on late nights on Colorado Blvd. that is, they don’t serve “dinner” per-se; however folks can go in during these late hours and still enjoy their foods.
The selection at Aux Delices Café & Bakery includes such breakfast items as, muffins, bagels, and eggs. Their PM flavors are great too and include crepes, soups, salads, sandwiches, fruit plates, and hand tossed pizzas. The Aux Delices Café & Bakery also features cakes, cookies and other treats.
When my dear sweet wife and I attended Aux Delices Café & Bakery it was for lunch and we both dined on sandwiches. My wife got their half chicken cashew melt with chicken salad, cashews, lettuce, tomato, and melted cheese (these half-sandwich options come with fruit & salad of the day) – I opted for the full option of their turkey, avocado, sprouts, and tomato sandwich. I also dabbled in my wife’s fruit. The sandwiches were quite good; my wife got her sandwich on a croissant; I opted for the French bread. The flavors as I saw them were clean and satisfying without being filling; there was not a lot of glop, “piled high” “all-the-fixins” which made the taste that much more aberrant.
When you look around at the surrounding choices, Aux Delices Café & Bakery is a great option for folks who just want a little relief from the stresses and pressures of everyday; when they just want something simple, tasty, and satisfying.
