We had amazing and unique cocktails along with some great Pintxos (appetizers). The general manager, Mia, was so friendly and brought us champagne for our anniversary dinner. Can’t wait to go back and try a full meal!
scotishtravelbug
Fabulous seafood and great atmosphere . We had a nice long table for 10 of us. Staff helpful and friendly Would definitely recommend
Bennett Smith
Really enjoyed the food here! Fresh seafood, nice cocktails, small plates. The oysters were particularly fresh, and I loved the chili sauce they came with. The pulpo and crudo were also excellent.
eric bornemann
Great outdoor patio when the playhouse isn’t performing. The seafood pasta is great.
Roger Lamison
Great food, great location!
Marina Morrison
Sadly, Saso wasn’t so great tonight. This restaurant was truly friken amazing on our prior visits. They opened during the pandemic & the food was fresh, innovative & delicious! Sadly, this wasn’t our experience tonight. Our meal was unfortunately mediocre -the recommended octopus appetizer was chewy & bland, our fish entree was disappointingly small & bland as well and the langostino was mostly shell. The basque cheesecake - which was amazingly light & tasty - wasn’t tonight. We really hope this was a fluke & they return to the standards we previously experienced.
Laney Day
Interesting, and innovative Spanish/Basque style food. Came for the first time, with 2 friends, and we were very impressed. Menu is really well thought out, and has a great variety of seafood, and meat. Excellent wine, and cocktails as well.The grilled mushrooms, with caviar roe, & topped with a raw egg yolk was a revelation. Dom the owner, was even kind enough to break the yolk table side. Great experience..
Katharine Goodenow
Pasadena has been needing a go to spot for a great dinner and drinks in style! Love the small plates and the octopus ? is exceptional! Right next to the Playhouse and ideal for pre-show or any other time! Very gluten free safe and friendly.
Stuart Stackelhouse
Great atmosphere. The staff was very friendly. The food was absolutely delicious. I would highly recommend if you're looking for a good spot. The tapas were the best!! ?
Loren McFarland
Had reservations for Friday. No wait but required Vaccination cards. Must be LA county rule as we have eaten at 3 restaurants in 3 days with no such request. We thought the food was good not great and portions were quite small. Farm salad had one carrot and half a radish. You probably want to ask what "market price" is before you order the fish. Its the most expensive piece of fish I have ever had.
I've been here before so I gave four stars. Tonight was not a four-star night. It is super bowl so... Seriously this is a great place usually. The food is good, outdoor area is nice, service is very good. If you're disabled you can be served and eat comfortably. Tonight though the food was not outstanding. The salmon was a bit dry. They did not have the proper pasta for my salmon dish. The compote that came with the bread was not nearly as tasty as the last time I was there. They made substitutions but it wasn't as good. I hope when I go back I can give a better review. But for right now I would call ahead and make sure they have all of their regular cooking staff and that they are well stocked with ingredients.
5ft17
Unless there is a play going on, you can be seated in the beautiful, romantic courtyard of the adjoining, iconic, century plus old Pasadena Playhouse, the official State Theater of California. Or can sit inside with the lengthy, vibrantly colored mural. The food, especially the dishes cooked in the josper (ask them), is wonderful! A seasonal dish now is the Kalabaza. Almost looks too pretty to eat (see photo), but you will most assuredly want to. Also try the jumbo prawns. The josper makes the legs very edible. The drinks are also excellent. (Try the Albret Crianza if you like red wine). And the service has been equally excellent every time I have been there.
Katherine Pacpaco
Made a reservation on Resy so we were seated right away. They have a very large outdoor patio area which they share the courtyard area with Pasadena Playhouse. It was a chilly night for LA but with the heat lamps you were able to stay warm without having to eat wearing a bulky winter coat. Although the seating is right by the street, it was a nice setting. It was casually classy.Let me start off with the service, everyone was very attentive, friendly and the food came out to the table very promptly.I tried to be adventurous with my cocktail and ordered the New Moon. The waitress did warn me that it was a very unique drink and yes it was. Horseradish vodka and squid ink cube. Sounded very interesting but I wasn’t a fan at all. It was very bitter and didn’t really have the heat I expected with horseradish.For the food, we looked at the menu beforehand so knew exactly what we were ordering as soon as we sat down. We went appetizers heavy with the Croketas (comes with 3), the wagyu steak bites (2 skewers in chimichurri sauce), a mountain of charred potatoes and 1/2 a dozen oysters. Everything was on point and started a great meal. Loved the presentation and taste of the Thai Chile concoction for the oysters in a medicine dropper. They had a fried scallops special which you could order as an appetizer or entree so we added this to our table of tapas. This was my favorite.We shared the pasta Saso which was handmade duck egg-yolk pasta, shellfish, fish, prawn, and ginger. I loved that the pasta was light and the broth was very flavorful. They were not stingy with the mussels portion either. Had enough to take some home.And how could I forget dessert, brûlée French toast. This was not overly sweet but hit the spot. Ate every inch of the toast it was just that good even after all that food.As for parking, there’s street parking but most spots directly near the restaurant were 1 hour parking. I parked across the street in a parking garage and paid $5.
Romancia Ortega
Jamon wasn’t iberico and it was cold. Not the right temperate and not the right ham. Croketas were too dry and the pasta wasn’t amazing, some of the mussels shells were broken. That means that you shouldn’t eat them because the are dead before cooking. I won’t recommend this restaurant.
Susanna Santiago-Soriano
Walked out of this place on our first visit in April. We ordered the pintxos experience, plus crab claws and tartar at that time. The food was good but we decided to leave before the mains due to very slow service. It took 2 1/2 hours to serve all the tapas . Today, I’m happy that service is spot on. Shelby made our dining experience superb. The La Espanola and brasa bread were ok. The grilled mushrooms with caviar roe, the octopus a la Gallega and delicata squash were savory dishes. The fried sea bass was light and crispy, the kazola de mariscos broth was deliciously infused with the seafood juices. The Basque cheesecake was a nice finish to a very satisfying dinner.
We had amazing and unique cocktails along with some great Pintxos (appetizers). The general manager, Mia, was so friendly and brought us champagne for our anniversary dinner. Can’t wait to go back and try a full meal!
Fabulous seafood and great atmosphere . We had a nice long table for 10 of us. Staff helpful and friendly Would definitely recommend
Really enjoyed the food here! Fresh seafood, nice cocktails, small plates. The oysters were particularly fresh, and I loved the chili sauce they came with. The pulpo and crudo were also excellent.
Great outdoor patio when the playhouse isn’t performing. The seafood pasta is great.
Great food, great location!
Sadly, Saso wasn’t so great tonight. This restaurant was truly friken amazing on our prior visits. They opened during the pandemic & the food was fresh, innovative & delicious! Sadly, this wasn’t our experience tonight. Our meal was unfortunately mediocre -the recommended octopus appetizer was chewy & bland, our fish entree was disappointingly small & bland as well and the langostino was mostly shell. The basque cheesecake - which was amazingly light & tasty - wasn’t tonight. We really hope this was a fluke & they return to the standards we previously experienced.
Interesting, and innovative Spanish/Basque style food. Came for the first time, with 2 friends, and we were very impressed. Menu is really well thought out, and has a great variety of seafood, and meat. Excellent wine, and cocktails as well.The grilled mushrooms, with caviar roe, & topped with a raw egg yolk was a revelation. Dom the owner, was even kind enough to break the yolk table side. Great experience..
Pasadena has been needing a go to spot for a great dinner and drinks in style! Love the small plates and the octopus ? is exceptional! Right next to the Playhouse and ideal for pre-show or any other time! Very gluten free safe and friendly.
Great atmosphere. The staff was very friendly. The food was absolutely delicious. I would highly recommend if you're looking for a good spot. The tapas were the best!! ?
Had reservations for Friday. No wait but required Vaccination cards. Must be LA county rule as we have eaten at 3 restaurants in 3 days with no such request. We thought the food was good not great and portions were quite small. Farm salad had one carrot and half a radish. You probably want to ask what "market price" is before you order the fish. Its the most expensive piece of fish I have ever had.
Restaurantji Recommends
I've been here before so I gave four stars. Tonight was not a four-star night. It is super bowl so... Seriously this is a great place usually. The food is good, outdoor area is nice, service is very good. If you're disabled you can be served and eat comfortably. Tonight though the food was not outstanding. The salmon was a bit dry. They did not have the proper pasta for my salmon dish. The compote that came with the bread was not nearly as tasty as the last time I was there. They made substitutions but it wasn't as good. I hope when I go back I can give a better review. But for right now I would call ahead and make sure they have all of their regular cooking staff and that they are well stocked with ingredients.
Unless there is a play going on, you can be seated in the beautiful, romantic courtyard of the adjoining, iconic, century plus old Pasadena Playhouse, the official State Theater of California. Or can sit inside with the lengthy, vibrantly colored mural. The food, especially the dishes cooked in the josper (ask them), is wonderful! A seasonal dish now is the Kalabaza. Almost looks too pretty to eat (see photo), but you will most assuredly want to. Also try the jumbo prawns. The josper makes the legs very edible. The drinks are also excellent. (Try the Albret Crianza if you like red wine). And the service has been equally excellent every time I have been there.
Made a reservation on Resy so we were seated right away. They have a very large outdoor patio area which they share the courtyard area with Pasadena Playhouse. It was a chilly night for LA but with the heat lamps you were able to stay warm without having to eat wearing a bulky winter coat. Although the seating is right by the street, it was a nice setting. It was casually classy.Let me start off with the service, everyone was very attentive, friendly and the food came out to the table very promptly.I tried to be adventurous with my cocktail and ordered the New Moon. The waitress did warn me that it was a very unique drink and yes it was. Horseradish vodka and squid ink cube. Sounded very interesting but I wasn’t a fan at all. It was very bitter and didn’t really have the heat I expected with horseradish.For the food, we looked at the menu beforehand so knew exactly what we were ordering as soon as we sat down. We went appetizers heavy with the Croketas (comes with 3), the wagyu steak bites (2 skewers in chimichurri sauce), a mountain of charred potatoes and 1/2 a dozen oysters. Everything was on point and started a great meal. Loved the presentation and taste of the Thai Chile concoction for the oysters in a medicine dropper. They had a fried scallops special which you could order as an appetizer or entree so we added this to our table of tapas. This was my favorite.We shared the pasta Saso which was handmade duck egg-yolk pasta, shellfish, fish, prawn, and ginger. I loved that the pasta was light and the broth was very flavorful. They were not stingy with the mussels portion either. Had enough to take some home.And how could I forget dessert, brûlée French toast. This was not overly sweet but hit the spot. Ate every inch of the toast it was just that good even after all that food.As for parking, there’s street parking but most spots directly near the restaurant were 1 hour parking. I parked across the street in a parking garage and paid $5.
Jamon wasn’t iberico and it was cold. Not the right temperate and not the right ham. Croketas were too dry and the pasta wasn’t amazing, some of the mussels shells were broken. That means that you shouldn’t eat them because the are dead before cooking. I won’t recommend this restaurant.
Walked out of this place on our first visit in April. We ordered the pintxos experience, plus crab claws and tartar at that time. The food was good but we decided to leave before the mains due to very slow service. It took 2 1/2 hours to serve all the tapas . Today, I’m happy that service is spot on. Shelby made our dining experience superb. The La Espanola and brasa bread were ok. The grilled mushrooms with caviar roe, the octopus a la Gallega and delicata squash were savory dishes. The fried sea bass was light and crispy, the kazola de mariscos broth was deliciously infused with the seafood juices. The Basque cheesecake was a nice finish to a very satisfying dinner.
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