Green Street Tavern

I have been to Green Street Tavern many times for a glass of wine at one of their sidewalk tables, sometimes with a plate of cheese and sometimes followed by another glass of wine or two, but I have only been there twice for meals. Last summer I had one of the best dinners I have had in Old Pasadena in several years, and in September my friend Murph and I stopped by for lunch, which was also very good, and much less expensive than the dinner.

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Yesterday was Elizabeth's birthday, and my parents offered to take us out for lunch or dinner, anywhere she wanted to go. She loves brunch, so we looked at several brunch menus around town. Green Street Tavern advertised a pretty straightforward menu: some breakfast items and some lunch items. If every restaurant had a menu like this I probably wouldn't loathe brunch so much. So that's where we decided to go.

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I always enjoy entering Green Street. I have had many of the best - and certainly the most fun - meals of my life in this room, back when it was Kuala Lumpur, one of the last restaurants remaining that reminded me of a time when Old Town was cool. (Even Manny's Pizzeria closed last week. At this point we're basically one lake away from being a Caruso Affiliated project.) But the people at Green Street have always been very nice, and this time was no exception. We were given a table next to the window.
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My mom ordered the Cobb salad. This sounded like a boring choice to me, but the server - whom I believe is also the owner - said that was his favorite, and my mom loved it. Plus, it came with edible flowers.
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My dad had a panini special, with lamb and pickled red onions. He said it was very good, although he wished the lamb had been more substantial than the shredded meat he got. I took a tiny bit and thought it was fantastic. I offered to exchange him half of my burger for half of his panini, but he declined.

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Elizabeth had the steak and eggs, with salsa and an avocado mousse. I did not try any, but she really liked it, and I was impressed with the quantity of steak she got. I have seen enough steak and egg dishes served at brunch where the serving of steak was minuscule, not to mention obviously being leftover steak from the week that didn't sell (another of the many reasons I dislike brunch.) This was definitely high quality.

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I ordered the Italian burger: served on ciabatta with pancetta, balsamic onions, provolone cheese, and basil aioli. This was fantastic. I had requested it medium rare and it was certainly overcooked, but other than that it was perfect. Green Street is serving my favorite fries in Old Pasadena at the moment - fresh cut Kennebec potatoes fried just long enough to crisp them up, and tossed with garlic and parsley.

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I would gladly come back here for any meal, including brunch, which is saying a lot.