Beloved 18-Year-Old Restaurant La Grande Orange Closes in Pasadena Today | Eater LA

"Opened in 2008 and closing on March 31 after 16 years in the historic Del Mar Train Station development, this casual café served Californian fare such as salads, grilled salmon, and deviled eggs and was described as having "upbeat service, providing high-quality, honest food that is always fresh and never frozen." The operator, Bob Lynn, who first opened the concept in Arizona and later expanded to Pasadena and Main Street Santa Monica, blamed the closure on high expenses and ongoing difficulties maintaining the historic property and said efforts to remedy the situation with ownership proved futile. Lynn’s emailed statement preserved the sentiment: “We honestly wish that we could remain in operation for many years to come and contribute to the community’s recovery after the trauma of COVID and now the wildfires that have caused so much pain and destruction,” says Lynn in an emailed statement from the restaurant. A Santa Monica outpost had previously closed in 2011 and been replaced by other concepts that have since shuttered as well." - Matthew Kang