Tasty Yerevan

🇦🇲 ARMENIA
📍 1802 E. Washington Blvd., Pasadena, San Gabriel Valley.
🅿️ Ample parking in plaza
🥤 No Alcohol

After you go into Tasty Yerevan, place your order at the counter, grab a homemade kompot ($4, above) from the fridge, and sit down, you will look back out the windows and notice the beautiful San Gabriel Mountains rising sharply past the streets of Pasadena. It sets a dramatic scene for eating a shawarma sandwich, easily better than heading home with what will be a somewhat soggy meal.

Spits of slightly charred chicken and pork rotate in the kitchen, making the view away from the mountains pretty beautiful as well. With a counter full of fresh salads and vegetables, sandwiches stuffed with everything are definitely the move here. Watch the slicing, the piling, the toasting, all making your mouth water as the smells drift into the dining room.

Do not be afraid to answer "yes" when they ask you if you want your sandwich spicy, as the hot sauce is not that hot but does add a great flavor. The small, rotating spit of chicken is well marinated and taken care of, so each piece in a wrap is tender and juicy. With the fresh vegetables and delicious sauces, the chicken lavash shawarma ($12, below) is quite the experience.

Both meats are available in a pocket of bread too, but the thin lavash is worth the $2 upgrade. The Armenian version of a shawarma sandwich is also guaranteed to have a bushel of chopped parsley, and Tasty Yerevan does not disappoint. The sauces are less garlicky than the Lebanese and Palestinian versions found around town, but the overall flavors of each fresh bite are really wonderful.

You can get both of these shawarmas as a plate with buttery rice and a choice of hummus, vegetables, or salad, as well as an array of kebobs that are grilled to order. Plates also come with a few pieces of lavash, so they are good value, although the hummus and the kebobs themselves are fairly average if still enjoyable.

With so many delicious Armenian kebob purveyors in nearby Glendale and beyond in the San Fernando Valley, it would be wise to stick to the well-above-average shawarma sandwiches here at Tasty Yerevan. That being said, both the beef kebob plate ($15, below left) and chicken kebob plate ($15, below right) were devoured completely later at home.

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I COULD USE YOUR HELP

Eat the World Los Angeles is and always has been free. It is a hobby born of passion and never solicits money or free food from restaurants. No advertisements block the content or pop over what you read. If this website has helped you explore your city and its wonderful cultures a little better please tell your friends about us and if you have the means to contribute, please consider doing so. Eat the World Los Angeles is a labor of love, but also takes a lot of money and time everyday to keep running.
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Chamo Venezuelan Cuisine

🇻🇪 VENEZUELA

📍 950 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, San Gabriel Valley

🅿️ Parking in plaza behind restaurant

🥤 No Alcohol

EDITOR'S NOTE: An updated version of this article (06 February 2026) is available as part of the Historical section of our Substack page. Check that out here:

https://eattheworldla.substack.com/p/chamo-venezuelan-cuisine-pasadena 

 

Pasadena sometimes gets a bad reputation for food from people that consider themselves knowledgeable. Even as the most populated city in the San Gabriel Valley, it is often overshadowed by the delicious cuisines of the many communities that stretch to the east. But it is home to more than just little old ladies, its university residents keep the feeling young everywhere around town, and unique and classic restaurants are there to be found.

On the busy stretch of Colorado Blvd. surrounded by chain shops, boba parlors, and nondescript eating options lives five year old Chamo Venezuelan Cuisine, which seems to be a destination for the Southland's residents missing their arepas venezolanas. After a decent but underwhelming meal at the other fast casual Venezuelan spot further west right in downtown Pasadena, Chamo is the clear winner of the neighborhood.

Chamo/chama are undefined words that only Venezuelans use, taking a meaning more from how it is used in conversation. A word for a boy, a girl, a buddy or stranger. After biting into the arepas made here, you will also speak this language, starting with the perfect arepa pabellón ($12.95, above). This combines shredded beef, black beans, fried sweet plantains, and cheese.

When eating in the restaurant or out front, the shredded white cheese that covers the rest of the toppings in your arepa starts to melt fast upon arrival because the griddled corn masa top and bottom are the temperature of the sun. If you do not specify, you will get beef pabellón, pretty much the national dish of Venezuela, but chicken is also available.

Cups of mayo-based garlic sauces will come with your order, one smooth and very garlicky and the other amped up with the fire of many peppers. Either way you prefer, these both add positives to your arepas or other fried goodies. Before talking about those, the delicious traditional platters offer meals that revolve around rice and sometimes black beans and take you through many of Venezuela's most important dishes.

The asado negro ($14.50, above) is unlike any other you will see in South or Central America, roast beef slightly sweetened by a red wine sauce. This dish is usually not seen with beans but always must be accompanied by both white rice and fried sweet plantains. Every version you will try will taste different, even if you were invited into every home in Caracas, making it so unique and important in the country.

Venezuelans also love their snacks, from burgers and hot dogs fully loaded with everything found in the fridge to all manner of deep fried goodies. The empanada de carne molida ($7.95, above) is one of four styles of empanadas available, stuffed with ground beef and a tomato-based sauce. Like their Colombian neighbors, the wrapper of an empanada in Venezuela is corn dough, a little thicker than its wheat cousins, and usually deep fried.

An order is just one, but the meat or cheese-filled empanada of your choice is much larger than usual and pretty filling. Split it with someone else and use both the garlic dips to really feel like life is good.

If you have ever walked in a Venezuelan city at night, you will of course have memories of cheesy goodness ordering tequeños from at least one vendor. With these the cheese or other goodies inside are wrapped with wheat bread dough before frying. While usually just cheese, these tequeños de guayaba y queso ($8.25, above) make a perfect dessert, with a slightly sweet guava jam joining the melty goodness.

If you live in Pasadena, this is your chance to become a regular chamo or chama. If work or life brings you there and you need a quick lunch that is full of good ingredients and made with love, this is your spot.

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I COULD USE YOUR HELP

Eat the World Los Angeles is and always has been free. It is a hobby born of passion and never solicits money or free food from restaurants. No advertisements block the content or pop over what you read. If this website has helped you explore your city and its wonderful cultures a little better please tell your friends about us and if you have the means to contribute, please consider doing so. Eat the World Los Angeles is a labor of love, but also takes a lot of money and time everyday to keep running.

Thank you!

VENMO: @JAREDCOHEE

CASH APP: $JaredCohee

PAYPAL: (no account necessary, use link)

Su-Beoreg & Monta Factory

🇦🇲 ARMENIA

EDITOR'S NOTE: An updated version of this article (23 February 2024) is available as part of the Historical section of our Substack page. Check that out here:

https://eattheworldla.substack.com/p/su-beoreg-and-monta-factory

 

It is not until you get inside of this tiny shop that the word factory comes to full fruition and the trays of yet-to-be baked sini-monta can be observed. Stacks of variously-sized pizza boxes are also ready to hold orders of su-beoreg and trays of those monta that some people want cooked before leaving. Framed articles from Eater and the Pasadena Star-News share the leftover space with the menu.

Nowadays you order from outside the door of course as even two customers would make the little storefront crowded. A table in front allows for sitting and eating, but it appears most people load their trunks and disperse to their homes near and far. If you come for the first time, proper heating instructions are given in detail to make sure everything comes out just right at home.

In addition to the two items in the name of the factory, you can sometimes find stuffed grape leaves and various soups, as well as one interesting addition that seems to have no relation to a landlocked country far away from the northern reaches of the Pacific Ocean: Wild Alaskan salmon sandwich. The owners tell Joshua Lurie that originally this was meant as a pull for customers unfamiliar with Armenian specialties. It must be popular universally though as it remains on the menu five years later.

Su-beoreg ($2/piece, above) is more of a pull on this day though, feta and mozzarella-filled pastries baked on sheets of 12 that can also be purchased uncut. Beoreg is the Armenian name for what is known as burek or börek or byrek or many other names in many other nations from there up through the Balkans, who all enjoy the flaky, phyllo dough pies with various shapes and ingredients.

What seems to be an indication of the confidence of this kitchen is the phrase "Better than your grandma's - she'll agree!" which is challenging the vast numbers of Angelenos who do have Armenian grandmas. If you do not have one to compare with, you might just have to trust them.

In addition to the proper temperature, the secret is in watching the wings of the tiny monta get browned. This will be the signal that the meat within them is cooked, but you can let them stay a bit longer if you prefer more crisp in each bite.

A small tray of sini-monta ($10, above) comes with forty of the little dumplings and containers of yogurt, hot sauce, and some dried oregano, but first heat up the large cup of tomato sauce they also include and poor this over the monta and into every crevice. If you have them bake it and serve it ready to eat, the tray is $2 more.

After that, add the hot sauce as desired, get the garlicky yogurt spread around nicely, and watch the steam rise before digging in with a spoon to make sure plenty of the liquid is in every bite. The combination of flavors hits the tongue in multiple areas, especially if you are generous with that hot sauce.

Grandmas across Pasadena are going to have to up their game.

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PASADENA San Gabriel Valley

1531 E. Washington Blvd.

QQ Kopitiam

🇸🇬 SINGAPORE

EDITOR'S NOTE: An updated version of this article (12 January 2024) is available as part of the Historical section of our Substack page. Check that out here: 

https://eattheworldla.substack.com/p/qq-kopitiam

 

If you have ever traveled in Singapore and some of the larger cities of Malaysia and Indonesia, the letter Q used twice in names will be very familiar. Small street vendors, hawker stalls, and full restaurants all use it similarly, most of which have nothing to do with each other. The term originated in Taiwan and has spread throughout the Chinese-speaking world with many meanings and usages.

In terms of food, the literal translation is akin to "chewy," the Taiwanese version of which sounds like the way people say the letter Q in English. Chewy does not tell the whole story of QQ though, as it implies that the item in question has a good resistance and mouthfeel. Not too soft, a good bounce, nice and chewy.

Right across from Pasadena City College, the simple shop that was birthed in 2014 and shares this name is Singaporean-run and features the Peranakan foods that you find in hawker stalls all over the tiny island nation and beyond. These familiar dishes are rich in the influences brought by Chinese immigrants for centuries. The food is not limited by this assessment though, it also reaches out and grabs bits of Indian and other Southeast Asian cultures that have blended in Singapore and Malaysia forever.

With both a rice and noodle section of the food menu, QQ Kopitiam has most of the bases covered. Unfortunately it looks like Singapore's most ubiquitous dish of Hainanese chicken rice is no longer available. The permanent-looking piece of tape (which ironically reads "temporarily not available") over it on the menu board hints of this at least. But different fried rice styles, meats over rice, perennial favorites like Hokkien mee, chor hor fun, and Singapore laksa all look so good.

A good introduction and a wonderful barometer of how satisfying the QQ here will be is a handsome plate of Singapore char kway teow ($9.95, above and below). Also full of the other textures from meats, vegetables, and egg, the broad flat noodles have some of the best QQ in town and are the perfect vehicle for a well-balanced blend of seasoning and good spice level.

Each bite of the char kway teow reveals a deep level of skill by the chef and just the right amount of each ingredient. When the meats (beef, Taiwanese sausage, shrimp) and vegetables are slightly charred, they give the surrounding elements even more flavor, a technique Cantonese chefs describe as "wok hei" or "wok's breath" in English. This simple phrase might be the best way to describe the simple satisfaction that comes from eating the dish.

Kopitiam means coffeehouse, and their fine selections should be a part of any meal here. Bubble teas are on offer, which students come in for alone, but the different types of kopi really go well with meals.

A lot of Southeast Asians enjoy their coffees with plenty of sugar and/or condensed milk (kopi O or kopi), but you can also get kopi kosong which is simple black. A good compromise is kopi C ($2.95, below), a version that uses evaporated milk and can be further sweetened as desired with sugar.

Coffee culture on the Malay Peninsula often includes a plate of kaya toast in the morning, but if there is one strike against QQ Kopitiam it is the lack of this snack. The 11am opening time probably rules this out of the question. Seeing as how many students probably wake up late, the timing could be ignored and afternoon toast and coffee enjoyed.

Maybe one day.

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PASADENA San Gabriel Valley
1491 E. Colorado Blvd