. . . And then, after dinner, we went to dinner!

Another title for this post could be, "Mike Eng has a LOT of friends!"  Something on the order of 1,000 individuals crowded into Luminarias to join Mike Eng for his re-affirmation of his oath of office.  One of the speakers joked that he thought he accidentally walked into a gubernatorial event by mistake.

About a dozen SOC members were proud to be a part of this celebration.

One drawback of the crowd was that partaking of the appetizers after the swearing in was really not practical.  Being a somewhat impatient person, I wasn't willing to get in a line so deep and thick with people that the actual food was hidden behind that mass of humanity.

So my wife and I bid our friends adieu and headed off into the evening in search of food.  By now, it was very nearly 10:00 pm, and I was trying to think of places to eat.  Naturally, I thought of places near home that I could eat at.  But, other than Denny's or Carrow's, nothing came to mind.  And I wasn't in the mood for an omelet or pancakes, anyway.  I wanted a real dinner.

So we drove down the hill from Luminarias, crossed the San Bernardino Freeway, looped around Cal State L.A., and struck off into Alhambra in search of food.  I wanted a known quantity, and also a place that would be open until well past 10:00 pm.

There were plenty of restaurants we passed, but they were largely unknown quantities, and there was no easy way to know without stopping to know if they would be staying open late on a Wednesday night.

Finally, we wound up on Main Street and Garfield.  And I saw an Appleby's.  A known quantity.  There's one in Monrovia that we often stop at after our Sidewalk Astronomy nights http://saveourcommunity.us/?q=node/310

so I know they tend to stay open late and I know there are things on the menu I like.  So Appleby's, it was.

And, again, I was reminded of things I can do in Monrovia or Alhambra or even Montebello that I can't do in Rosemead.  So, again, I ask:  Why can our neighboring cities get places like this, and not Rosemead?

My Picks

Ay ay ay, not Applebee's.  There aren't many fancy places open late right around there, but there are places that are good, especially around Garfield and Valley.  There aren't many really late night spots, because it's a suburb out here.  Enjoy the relative quiet :-)

Noodle World until 1.

MPV on Garfield... I think is still open to around 11.

Sam Woo BBQ on Valley in Alhambra, open until around 11.  There's also one on Garvey.

Garfono's pizza on Valley just west of the 710, open to around 10 or 11.

The Hat... not really a restaurant, but I don't care.

Petrillo's is open kind of late on weekends, but not on Wednesday night.

I remember back when nothing was open late.