Claremont, CA Recommendations?

I'm planning a college-hunting trip to Claremont, California. Erik M. and PIGMON's Excellent Adventures in LA are inspiring, and we will certainly make time to travel for XLB. Nevertheless, we are in need of dining suggestions for Claremont proper. (That other board has been consulted, but as always, it's hard to assess the quality of the recommended spots). Anyone out there have ideas for me?

Josephine,
Claremont = gastro wasteland... whilst there may millions of undiscovered taquerias, one probably won't find haute cusine. it's an area saturated with chains + bad Chinese buffets. closest dining area of interest: Rowland Heights, about 17 miles southwest.

we did find a really cool (ie, out of place) bagel shop nearby tho:

Tasty Bagel Cafe
911 W Foothill Blvd
Claremont, CA 91711
(909) 946-9133

All due respect, I don't think it's a "gastro wasteland." While it may not be culinary heaven, it is a college town and there are some worthwhile places. Claremont is, in part, a victim of its location, but there's more than a few places worth your visit. First and foremost, I'd recommend Walter's. It's been there for decades now. Even though I left in (ahem) 1983, Renee and I happened to stop in not that long ago and fond recollections compelled a visit. It has enlarged enormously and has gone a bit more upmarket, but the food is still very very good. Yes, it's a burger/salad/sandwich joint (although it actually still has some Afghani food, as befits its origins), but it's stood the test of time and I for one have no hesitation in recommending it.

Walter's
308 N. Yale Avenue
909-624-2779

I've also heard good things about Darvish, a family-owned Persian place. Having not been, I can't personally attest, but it's hardly your standard Chili's/Olive Garden kind of place. Also, word-of-mouth suggests a visit to Viva Madrid, just down the street from Walter's. Sadly, memory no longer recalls the precise location (I think it was Pomona) of El Merendero. A very down-market type place but the best burritos! Mmmmm...drooling just recalling them.

If/when I can recall some other places, I'll edit them into this post.

Darvish Restaurant
946 West Foothill Boulevard
909-447-4556

Viva Madrid
225 Yale Avenue
909-624-5500

Thanks, TonyC and Gypsy Boy. Your suggestions give us a very nice start.

Walter's seems to have a loyal following. Should she end up in Claremont for the next four years, my daughter, who grew up loving Kabul House and its predecessor, would definitely find some homestyle comfort in Afghan food. Does anyone have experience with La Picoletta?

I'll toss in Buckboard BBQ Grill in nearby Upland for great tri-tip and Santa Maria-style BBQ. Also don't forget Dr Bob's ice cream!

As of 1998 La Picoletta was good, Josephine. (I never went there - for Italian we went to Cafe Allegro in LaVerne, which has now expanded and gone downhill, I hear - but friends went monthly.)

I'll try to come back to edit in addresses, but here's what I'd recommend:

Some Crust Bakery (in The Village), particularly chocolate croissants and mocha cookies

La Paloma on Foothill is a Mexican restaurant that looks like something out of Robb Walshs' Tex-Mex book. (It opened to take advantage of the Route 66 traffic on Foothill)

El Taco Nazo, also on Foothill, used to have 50 cent fish tacos every Wednesday, and I bet the prices are still as low.

For burritos: Juanita's Drive-In on Indian Hill just south of the 10 and Patty's Mexican foods at Towne and Foothill. (Either Juanita used to be a chef at Patty's or Patty used to be a chef at Juanita's - both are good. I always got chicken, rice, and cheese.)

Sanamluang Cafe (And BBQ Unlimited), on Indian Hill, south of the 10 is part of an LA chain of Thai restaurants. It's open late - I don't think I ever went before 9, but we went all the time.

Having both recently been a student (and recently gone back for a visit), I have some slightly different recommendations.

Claremont Village is pretty hit or miss, but conveniently located to campus. I second the recommendation for Walter's and would suggest Bert & Rocky's, a great little ice cream shop at Bonita (which would be 3rd) and Yale. Especially if you're out walking all day in the sun, it's pretty good.

Call me crazy, but the Sagehen Cafe on Pomona's campus is actually not so bad (especially if you're looking at colleges and not visiting a current student). To be clear, this is not a dining hall, but rather a sit down restaurant run by students. It's only really busy during official visiting times, when students are taking their parents places to impress them. The service is *great* and the food is well prepared, though fairly generic. Additionally, if this is a college visit, it's a great place to soak up the color of the colleges.

Getting off campus, there's an In N Out east on Foothill Blvd almost into Upland. It's fast food, but likely the best fast food burger you've ever eaten. Similarly, there is a "The Hat" pastrami joint in Upland which is an experience and a half. 1950s style diner with a pastrami sandwich as big as your head and, if my memory serves, the pastrami cut tissue paper thin. Going more ethnic, I recommend a place called Inka Trails (Peruvian) at Foothill and Towne.

Enjoy.

Wow, food in Claremont. I havent been back in almost 20 years, but I will second the Juanita's burrito and In 'n' Out. Certainly not fine dining but worth a visit.

We used to also eat at a tiny little Italian place on Foothill not far from campus. I don't remember the name but there was a large Italian restaurant next door and than this small deli/store with a few tables. The grandmother used to run the small kitchen and make the most unbelievable dishes. The first one to find this place was a kid from Philadelphia that lived in our dorm. We were all hooked for the next four years. I think it was a block or two East of campus.

Also the Buffalo Inn had a pretty good Buffalo burger and a cool place to hang outside and enjoy a burger and a beer.

JT

Omigod...the Buffalo Inn. I had forgotten it and Lord Charley's...the latter of which I believe, very sadly, is no more. But I will certainly second the Buffalo Inn. It's pretty much like what it sounds like, but damn good burgers, too (although, truth be told, the last time 91711 was my zip code was 1983!)

Mixed Bowl, 1520 Indian Hill, just south of I-5, has surprising good Thai noodle dishes.
Their yen-ta-fo is my (Thai) wife's Stateside favorite.

Thanks everyone for posting! And welcome to Curt, a first-time poster.
We are currently in Claremont and enjoying the California sun. My daughter has become an instant Some Crust devotee. She is on her way to the hotel kitchen this morning with a quiche bought at Some Crust, to see if they will warm it up for her. Will report on the rest of our experiences when we return.

Number two son and I are going to Claremont the weekend of the 9th. I would be interested in Joephines report and any additional updates

It's pretty much the Garden of Eden, botanically speaking, in Claremont. Our visit during the spring of 2007 was delightful, but not necessarily from a chow perspective. I can't speak to the range of offerings, since our visit was short. We regretted that the Sagehen, the student-run restaurant on the Pomona campus, was not open. However, we did have an excellent meal of pho and other Vietnamese specialties at Pho Ha in Pomona.









Some Crust Bakery is probably all that the typical student needs, outside of pizza and burgers, which are likely to be plentiful at the chains nearby (the town proper is blessedly chain-free). Some Crust's lemon ginger scones rival the lemon ginger muffins at Kim's Kitchen in Evanston for my affections. Outside tables are a nice place to order a coffee or a really good grilled veggie sandwich.





The consensus seems to be that La Piccoletta used to be good. Unless things have fundamentally changed in the past couple of years, La Piccoletta is a charming little spot that serves terrible, overpriced food. I have rarely been so incensed at the quality of a restaurant meal. The pasta was overcooked, the sauces tasted like jarred supermarket stuff, and the salad was one of the poorest efforts I have seen in years. The highlight of the meal was the bread: remember that white half-baked Pepperidge Farm loaf that you were supposed to bake off at home for "home made bread"? It went downhill from there.





So we headed to Walter's for dessert and we were not disappointed. We received a very cordial welcome, and the place was comfortable. Normally, we couldn't make a dent in such huge desserts after dinner, but in this case, we were hungry. We hit Walter's again for lunch one day, and had some very average fare, but perhaps we ordered poorly, as salads seem not to be their strength. Still, they were packed every time we walked by. Walter's is clearly the community favorite.





We arrived too early at the Taiwanese XLB Palace, Din Tai Fung, extolled in this thread
So we decided to take a stroll around the mall. Soon we came across Ellie's Cathy Bakery, where we were charmed by the teapot cake (and sorely tempted).





However, we abstained, and instead took a tour of the Arcadia Supermarket, where we were so enthralled with the offerings that we lost track of time. By the time we headed back to Din Tai Fung, the line was two hours long.

I was very disappointed, and tried to convince my daughter to wait the two hours, but reason prevailed. It was difficult for me to pass up the dumplings, having had such a stellar lunch at Mei Long Village the previous day. My daughter convinced me to try another place in the same mall. I am ashamed to admit that I pouted until our pork neck with black beans came and swept away all thoughts of dumplings. Note the "I told you so" look on my daughter's face. In the end, I was proud knowing that she was ready to go off to college and fend for herself-at least as far as food was concerned.







XLB at Mei Long



Pho Ha
Vietnamese Restaurant
695 Indian Hill Blvd
Pomona, CA
(909) 622-7578‎

Some Crust Bakery
119 Yale Ave.
Claremont, CA
(909) 621-9772

La Piccoletta
114 N Indian Hill Blvd
Claremont, CA 91711-4675
(909) 624-1373

Walter’s Restaurant
308 N. Yale
Claremont, CA
(909) 624-2779‎

Din Tai Fung
1108 S. Baldwin Ave.
Arcadia, CA
626.574.7068

Mei Long Village
301 W. Valley Blvd., Ste. 112
San Gabriel, CA 91776
626.284.4769

Ellie's Cathy Bakery
651 W Duarte Rd
Arcadia, CA 91007-7333
(626) 821-8655‎

Arcadia Supermarket
645 W. Duarte Rd.
(626) 447-6282

Mei Mei
Hong Kong Restaurant
639 W. Duarte Rd.
Arcadia, CA
(626) 574-1318
Cash Only

Thank you very much for the review. Sagehen will be open while we are there. My son has asked for a trip to in-and-out to try the burger.

My daughter graduated from Pomona.

Here a couple of student favorites. Nothing fancy but very good for the money. And I think the fish tacos are worth seeking out.

Good baja style fish tacos:

El Taco Nazo
320 E Foothill Blvd
Pomona, CA 91767

Carne Asada tacos are the way to go here:

King Taco
406 N. Mountain Ave.
Ontario, CA 91762