/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73001080/2023_10_18_BarChelou_027.0.jpg "Bar Chelou by Wonho Frank Lee/Eater")
Bar Chelou, a stylish bistro near the Pasadena Playhouse, serves up an enticing mix of Spanish, French, and Asian flavors that’s all about fresh ingredients and casual charm.
"Ground-breaking Pasadena restaurant known for its innovative cuisine, closed due to business decline and lease issues post-2025 wildfires." - Rebecca Roland
"A ground-breaking restaurant known for its innovative dishes that combined Los Angeles influences with classic French training, as well as Spanish, French, and Asian flavors. It received multiple awards and national mentions, including being named Best New Restaurant in Los Angeles in 2023 by Eater LA." - Mona Holmes
"Both locals and visitors alike are taking note of chef Doug Rankin’s Bar Chelou, which Eater named Restaurant of the Year in 2023. The playful spot serves a fresh, innovative menu that fills up the room regularly. Rankin performs magic with vegetables and seafood, including the house favorite carrots râpées with coconut dressing, a hint of lime, peanuts, and delicately fried potato strings. — Mona Holmes, reporter" - Cathy Chaplin, Mona Holmes
"Weekends are absolutely jam-packed at Pasadena’s Bar Chelou, a truly unprecedented mix of European and Californian flavors from talented chef Doug Rankin (ask a French person what chelou means, and it means ‘f**king weird’). Dive into the anchovies, the sprouting peas, or the merguez with toum, and it’s all just great on the plate. The fare is thought-provoking and fun without feeling too out there, and the service makes everyone feel special." - Eater Staff
"Guest: Mandy Moore “I think you all had just shouted out Bar Chelou, so that's why that was on our list. It’s right next to the Pasadena Playhouse, which I go to a lot. All the dishes were incredible but the one we were most surprised by was the carrot salad. The carrots are just so thinly sliced and diced—it was almost like a slaw, really. And the flavors were just so incredible. I've learned that those unassuming dishes at restaurants are usually the ones that I'm going to be the most excited by. I ate carrots every day of my life for so many years. It was the thing that my mom put in my lunch pail growing up every day, so to have them elevated and those flavors brought out in such different ways is so special. It reignites my excitement about root vegetables that I tend to think are a little boring. The rainbow trout was also incredibly special. Mandy and I shared that and loved it.”" - brennan carley
