Ask A Local: where to eat in Glendale

Growing up in Los Angeles, I spent plenty of time sitting in traffic and driving across town. I remember taking the 60 to the 10 from Walnut to Mid-Wilshire for elementary school and, later, when I lived in Burbank, spending weekends as a teenager hanging out by the clock at "The Gal" in Glendale, what my friends and I affectionately called the Glendale Galleria.

Today, Glendale is my home, where I’ve been for nearly a decade. And while much has changed, the sense of community is what keeps me rooted here.

I remember a time when Glendale was mostly tree-lined streets filled with Craftsman homes, mid-century apartment buildings and strip malls with mom-and-pop shops. There was Virgil's Hardware, where we'd get supplies and have our keys copied (it's now an Erewhon), and quaint Honolulu Avenue in Montrose, which still feels like a village in the way Larchmont does, with its boutiques and charming restaurants.

Since then Glendale has developed, and we now have The Americana at Brand, trendy restaurants and national retailers and even an AMC theater with an IMAX screen. But beyond the flashy lights are the places that keep me coming back: neighborhood institutions, family-run businesses and restaurants that tell the story of Glendale's many diverse communities.

Here's how I'd spend a day eating across Glendale for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Breakfast: Papillon Bakery

Papillon's bread boat, covered with two over-easy eggs and cheese.

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Courtesy Papillon Bakery

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One of the things I love most about Glendale is its vibrant Armenian community, which has shaped the city in countless ways. For breakfast, I'm heading straight to Papillon Bakery. The beloved Armenian bakery has since expanded to five locations, but I keep coming back to the one on Central Avenue.

Some of the best Armenian pastries I've ever had come from Papillon, which specializes in perashkis, borek, bread boats, churros, empanadas, Georgian khachapuri, Armenian pizza and ponchiks. In fact, I love their ponchiks so much that I named one of my cats Ponchik.

Tumang's love for ponchiks is so strong she even named her cat after the Armenian pastry.

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Courtesy Papillon Bakery

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If you've never had one, a ponchik is like the Armenian cousin of a beignet: fried, dusted with powdered sugar and filled with everything from custard and Nutella to fruit jam and dulce de leche. They're made fresh to order and arrive piping hot, crisp on the outside and pillowy inside.

My order is usually a ponchik and a bread boat, one of Papillon's specialties. Think of it as an open-faced calzone covered with two over-easy eggs and cheese, and you can top it off with basturma, a cured beef similar to pastrami.

Parking is limited, especially later in the day when a neighboring restaurant opens for lunch and valet service begins, so I often take my breakfast to go.

Lunch: Fish King

Fish King, a staple of Glendale since 1948.

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Patricia Tumang

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LAist

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Fish King on Glendale Avenue is almost always busy, with people lined up to order lunch or pick up seafood for dinner. That's how you know you're getting the good stuff.

Opened in 1948 as an independent fish shop, Fish King has been a Glendale institution for generations. The late Hank Kagawa began working there in 1952 before purchasing the business a few years later. His grandfather had immigrated to the United States from Japan in the early 1900s, building a grocery and produce business before losing everything when Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II. Under Kagawa's leadership, Fish King grew from a small storefront into the multi-storefront seafood market it is today.

You can have your seafood cooked to order however you like: grilled, fried, charbroiled or steamed. Get it with fries, white rice or coleslaw; as tacos, a bowl or a teriyaki plate. They're also known for their cioppino and poke bowls. For me, I'm ordering poke (I often dream about their spicy scallops and soy tuna poke).

Just head up to the counter and place your order, then grab a seat and wait for your buzzer to go off. Service is quick, but they never skimp on quality or freshness. The market also sells gourmet and specialty dry goods, sauces, house-made marinades, sushi and more. It's the kind of place that feels like a hidden gem, even though locals have been shopping and eating here for decades.

Dinner: Max’s Restaurant

Max's Restaurant's lumpiang shanghai, fried pork and vegetable egg rolls.

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Courtesy Max's Restaurant

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Just across from the Glendale Galleria on Broadway is a building that longtime Glendale residents may remember as The Phone Company, a restaurant known for its prime rib dinners and French onion soup, or as Cattleman's Ranch Steakhouse from the TV show Fresh Off the Boat. The exterior looks much the same today, but it's now home to Max's Restaurant, the Filipino chain known as "The House That Fried Chicken Built."

For me, Max's is more than just dinner. It’s one of the most beloved restaurant chains in the Philippines, and I grew up eating there during family visits where meals almost always included a platter of its famous fried chicken. Founded in 1945 in Quezon City, it has since expanded around the world. Seeing the Max's in Glendale always feels a little like finding a piece of home.

My order always starts with the fried chicken paired with banana ketchup. Beyond that, it's hard to go wrong. I usually add Filipino favorites like lumpiang shanghai (fried pork and vegetable egg rolls), crispy pata (deep-fried pork knuckles) and kare-kare (oxtail in peanut sauce). Always with rice.

Every bite takes me back.

Max's Restaurant, a legendary Filipino chain, is best known for their fried chicken.

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Courtesy Max's Restaurant

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It’s a core memory: the delight I’d get when the plate of fried chicken was placed on the table and I'd immediately reach for a chicken thigh, taking a bite of the crisp but tender meat, dipping it into banana ketchup and following it with a spoonful of rice. Decades later, that's still exactly how I eat it.

What makes this fried chicken different is that it's slow-cooked, rubbed with patis (fish sauce) and fried without batter, leaving the skin crisp and the meat juicy. It's simple, comforting and, as their slogan goes, "sarap to the bones" (delicious to the bones).