These groups are helping revive Altadena eateries that lost customers after the Eaton fire

Community members have started restaurant crawls and dining clubs hoping to revive Altadena restaurants and bars who are struggling to keep their doors open after the Eaton Fire.

Brooke Lohman-Janz started the Altadena Dining Club after hearing about businesses that were barely surviving.

She was at her yoga class at practiceALTADENA when a classmate told her that the owner of El Patron Mexican Food Restaurant on Lake Avenue was struggling to keep staff on, and even stay open for dinner.

She knows firsthand how hard it is to recover. Lohman-Janz lost her duplex in the Eaton Fire. She is currently rebuilding on a new lot in West Altadena, and after recently hosting a gathering where she invited the community to eat and just be together, she realized she could find a way to bring Altadenans together and help save local businesses.

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“ They're really the last remnants of what we've got as a town,” said Lohman-Janz. “ They are in a way, lifelines to what was and what can be again.”

Lohman-Janz’s Altadena Dining Club has grown since their first outing in late June.

They met at El Patron, where about 20 or so people came to dine. In the next outing, the group doubled at Nancy’s Greek Cafe on Altadena Drive. The owner told Lohman-Janz that about a handful of customers returned next week.

The dining club has been meeting every week. Their next meetup is next Tuesday August 26 at Prime Pizza on Allen Avenue at 6pm.

Meanwhile Tujunga resident Jeff Dolen started another group — Altadena Restaurant Crawl — after visiting Altadena Ale and Wine House recently.

He started chatting with a couple about how they could support the other restaurants. He created an event on Meetup inviting others to come to El Patron (coincidentally the same restaurant as Altadena Dining Club). That same couple showed up and dozens of more people.

He said it’s his way of helping out with the recovery process, because he didn’t volunteer immediately after the fires. But now several months later, he can still do his part.

“ I think in some small way, for me, it's a way to contribute, if a lot of people maybe want to as well and don't know how,” Dolen said.

The next event for the group is this Sunday August 24 at Ferrazzani's Pasta and Market along with Kismet Rotisserie on Lincoln Avenue at 1pm. He plans on keeping the restaurant crawl going on for the rest of 2025.

Lohman-Janz, on the other hand, said she’s going to keep going indefinitely.

“ However long we can go because the rebuild is gonna take years. Everyone's gonna have a different timeline. But we need to make sure that we're there supporting us for the long haul,” said Lohman-Janz.

When she learned about Dolen’s restaurant crawl, she said she was thrilled.

“He has a reach beyond what I have been reaching. I've been reaching people who are primarily in our Altadena groups, and so the idea that other foothill communities or other neighboring towns and cities can know that we're there, and we need help for the long term — it’s really important," she added.

To follow the Altadena Restaurant Crawl’s next events, you can follow along here. And you can also follow the Altadena's Dining Club on their Facebook page.