"Your Order: Spring Bowl Paper Rice is a fast-casual spot in Old Town Pasadena that takes the standard build-your-own bowl/wrap/salad formula and applies it to Vietnamese food. Groundbreaking? No. Delicious? Yes. The move here is to assemble one of their refreshing spring bowls: a bed of fresh greens topped with a protein of choice, plus a crispy egg roll, carrot-daikon pickles, cucumbers, lots of fresh herbs, crunchy fried bits, and a variety of dressings (ask them to mix the traditional citrus and savory peanut). If putting a BYO salad on this guide feels too much like a cop-out, try their house special sauteed salad, made with romaine, sweet onions, shrimp, marinated beef, and sliced boiled eggs." - brant cox, sylvio martins, arden shore, garrett snyder, nikko duren