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Local Positioning: Main Street Alhambra

A guide to sweets, diners and ice cream in the San Gabriel Valley

By Adam Gropman

Special to Metromix
December 24, 2008

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(Credit: Ken Lubas/LA TIMES )

Some only know Alhambra as the home of Phil Spector and his creepy hilltop fortress of weird-itude, but in fact, they’re missing out on a gem of the San Gabriel Valley. An old (by SoCal standards, at least) suburb just east of Downtown L.A. off the 10, Alhambra offers lots of vital retail and food choices, many of them courtesy of the sizable Asian population. Main Street in particular has a town-center feel, a comforting combination of midcentury Americana and contemporary eclecticism.

Hop Woo Seafood Restaurant

1 W. Main St. - Alhambra

626-289-5072

Alhambra is a bastion of good Chinese food, and we’re partial to the lunch specials at Hop Woo. The room is spacious, and the decor has some majestic, ornamental touches, but it’s dishes like the glazed, semi-sweet eggplant that keep us eagerly returning. The presence of large groups of well-heeled Chinese also seems like a good sign.

iBrowse Coffee & Internet

11 W. Main St. - Alhambra

626-588-2233

This coffee and Internet cafe is perfect for marathon sessions of working, reading, studying, Web surfing and chilling out. The narrow space has freakishly high ceilings, is incredibly long and has a cool semi-industrial feel. The inviting seating tends to be packed with the usual laptop-toting cafe denizens, and theres a well-stocked magazine rack for those who need some time offline.

Angelena's

33 W. Main St. - Alhambra

626-284-7685

The subtitle on the menu is “signature Southern cuisine,” aka soul food. Think irresistible comfort food—ribs, smothered steak, shrimp, collard greens, fried okra, big breakfasts—prepared with a nod to California freshness and ingredients by chef-owner and former Virginian Jerome Moss. Cool oil paintings of blues, rock and R&B greats decorate the walls.

Perfectly Sweet

126 W Main St. - Alhambra

626-282-9400

This bakery moved from Eagle Rock a decade ago to this much larger space, the better to accommodate its sweet treats. The no-frills front section has some display cases and other shelves stacked with baked goods, but if you peek behind the counter at the vast, wide-open wholesale bakery operation, youll feel like a witness to a secret factory of decadent desserts. Perfectly Sweet also offers snacks shaped like ducks, bears, happy faces and old-fashioned gingerbread men.

Diner on Main

201 W. Main St. - Alhambra

626-281-3488

You cant miss this Googie diner, a time warp to 1950s America with plenty of neon, chrome and Formica. The retro resto offers three squares a day, from breakfast to burgers to pot roast, and the full bar area is an unexpected surprise. Theres also a large parking lot for your classic car.

Fosselman’s

1824 W. Main St. - Alhambra

626-282-6533

This place is legendary among ice-cream fanatics. Christian Anthony Fosselman opened the shop more than 80 years ago, and today his grandsons Chris and John carry on the legacy. The very long menu includes ice cream, sherbet, frozen yogurt and sorbet—around 100 flavors in all. Fosselman’s uses no preservatives and boasts 16% butterfat in its ice cream.