Nearby--City of Hope Recs

An old friend of mine’s husband is having experimental brain cancer treatment @ the City of Hope. She is staying on campus there and I’d like to take her out to lunch. I’m not familiar at all with the area, but would love some recs. My friend is a vegetarian ----Chinese food would be great since I never get to the far reaches of the SGV, but anything yummy is appreciated. A place where the noise level isn’t crazy would be good as well.

THANX!

When my dad was there we were always at a little mexican place right near by that was really pretty good, we went to a thai place once a little further away but I really don’t remember much about the food at that time. Neither are really vegetarian appropriate but your post brought up those memories.

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there are other options that offer vegetarian dishes that are closer in proximity for example, shanghai gourmet (in monrovia) is actually a decent shanghai style restaurant. it’s been about 6 months since i’ve been there, but i’m pretty sure that their menu features a number of vegetarian dishes and it would also be a fairly sedate setting.

for completely vegetarian chinese, two of the better options include the happy family on valley in rosemead and vege paradise in focus plaza at del mar & valley in… san gabriel(?) both would be about 15-20 minutes one way.

this will be a little off-beat but in covina, covina tasty offers completely vegetarian fast food. the mock chicken sandwich is well recommended. but it’s a former tasty freeze, so set the expectations accordingly on ambiance.

LaoXi Noodles and Cafe Fusion are ten minutes away. They should have enough vegetarian dishes to meet your requirement.

I would recommend Ashirwad in Upland for one of the best vegetarian Indian restaurant around. All their dishes are freshly made and not heavy at all. It’s a 30 minutes drive, but sometimes a little indulgence is needed to break the stress of camping out in the hospital. Been there, done that.

Dessert: The Donut Man is 15 minutes or so just east of Duarte…

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Or how about Bulgarini Gelato, which is even closer (north on Fair Oaks, then east on Altadena).

Good vegetarian pastas too.

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Thanks everybody!

Hi @LAgirl,

It’s not the greatest food, but you can consider Din Tai Fung as well, about 13 minutes away in Arcadia.

It’s Chinese and they have a lot of vegetarian options per your request.

the downside is lack of indoor seating which can make a difference at lunchtime in summer in altadena, even if the few tables outside are covered. as for:

i really like the place, yet my first thought would be to suggest that what i consider to be their signature dishes all involve pork or lamb, but now that i think about it, a number of the appetizers are vegetarian and they do offer vegetarian soup as well as vegetarian dumpling options, especially if you’re not eating family style…

Neither LaoXi nor Cafe Fusion “are ten minutes away” unless you’re Superman.

You’re best bet for vegetarian-friendly Chinese within an easy 15 minute (give or take) drive from City of Hope is Tasty Noodle House on Main St in Alhambra.

Go south on Fair Oaks, left (or east) on Huntington Drive), then a right (or south) on Atlantic and then a left (or east) on Main St., then it’s immediately to your left.

Tofu dumplings, mushroom egg dumplings, Shanghai rice cakes, and the leek pancakes are all solid vegetarian options.

Although if you go I think you owe to yourself and to @chandavkl to order the chicken corn dumplings. Just because they’re chicken and they’re dumplings and they’re served in a real Chinese restaurant.

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Information is based on google map, and I have found them to be pretty darn accurate. But of course YMMV.

(I have driven that stretch of road many times, and 10 minutes is reasonable. And I am no Superman.)

You must have a better version of Google Maps than I do. Mine shows 28 minutes.

I was looking at City of Hope National Medical Center at Duarte. shrugs

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Actually I think it’s called Tasty Dumpling House, 621 W. Main St.

You’re right. My bad bad.

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Yup, Tasty Dumpling.

By the way, have you tried their chicken dumplings?

When I went right when they opened I was enticed by their colored dumplings, which I don’t believe included chicken.

You should give them a try. I’ve heard they’re pretty good.

She actually ate there yesterday and said that she had a tofu dish that she really liked.

We ended up at a mediterranean place pretty close by (she didn’t feel like going too far). She thought her falafel was really good. The hummus was tasty, although my lula kebab could have been better. But, I was there for company and support so it was fine (not the time to get overly critical). It was nice and quiet and a break from the treatment center.

I think this place must have been across the street from where we ate lunch. She said that other folks @ City of Hope had recommended it and that it was supposed to be decent.

Thanks again everybody for the recs and hopefully I’ll get to try one of them out the next time I get out there to visit.

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