What’s New in Pasadena January 2023

The streets of Pasadena are alive with activity as over 700,000 visitors attend America’s New Year Celebration, anchored by the Tournament of Roses® 134th annual Rose Parade and the 109th Rose Bowl Game, which will be played between the Utah Utes and the Penn State Nittany Lions. Temperatures in January are moderate in the 60°s, an ideal seasonal escape for travelers coming from the east. Pasadena visitors will experience a myriad of new experiences in January 2023.

Visit Pasadena is sharing a series of bite-sized Instagram reels in collaboration with the 2023 Royal Court, encouraging consumers to shop small and dine local in this Instagram Guide.

Pasadena has recently been recognized as a top-ranked destination by Smart Meetings, earning the 2022 Platinum Choice Award. The city was also named the fourth most creative city in the country by a report conducted by Workamanji analyzing the state of different cities’ creative economy and atmosphere.

NEW IN ATTRACTIONS

Ice House Comedy
The oldest comedy club in the country, iconic since 1960, just got a huge makeover under new ownership. Under Johnny Buss, co-owner of the LA Lakers, Ice House Comedy Club will debut in January 2022 with two bars, a VIP lounge with direct views of the main stage, and a brand new entryway. From renowned comics to fresh faces, the entertainment lineup will also expand to include music, dancing, and live entertainment.
https://icehousecomedy.com/

Pasadena Playhouse
Pasadena Playhouse, the official California State Theatre, is kicking off 2023 with a six-month celebration of Stephen Sondheim. From January 26-27, students of the Pasadena Unified School District will be performing Sondheim’s Into the Woods, a rich retelling of classic Brothers Grimm fables. Other performances in the season will include Sunday in the Park with George, multi-award winning musical theatre actor Larry Owens’ Sondheimia,
Full press release here.
https://www.pasadenaplayhouse.org/

Norton Simon Museum
See Pablo Picasso’s Woman with a Book side by side with the artwork that inspired it, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres’ Madame Moitessier, through January 30, 2023.
https://www.nortonsimon.org/

The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
See the new Inspiring Walt Disney: The Animation of French Decorative Arts exhibit to capture the early inspirations behind Disney Studios’ creations and examine Walt Disney’s fascination with European art and French motifs.
https://huntington.org/

NEW RESTAURANTS & EATERIES

Popular Nashville hot chicken eatery Howlin’ Rays, which earned the blessing of the Prince family in Nashville, has debuted a huge second location in Pasadena with beer, wine, seating, and ample parking. The new space on Arroyo Parkway is the group’s only full-service restaurant and will expand to experiment with new menu items that could sound like scallops, shrimp and grits, or tomahawk steaks.

In the South Lake Shopping District, new coffee shop Mandarin Coffee Stand offers an exciting blend of Yunnan province coffee beans and Guatemalan coffee, as well as teas and pastries in the picturesque Burlington Arcade. Down the street, a new Italian restaurant opens with an impressive wine selection and a modern twist at Marina Pasadena.

In Old Pasadena, get a taste of the lavish dim sum scene reminiscent of Guandong’s finest at Chef Tony, housed in a historic building with dazzling chandeliers. In the same historic neighborhood, Dos Besos is a popular new spot serving tapas focusing on the coastal cooking of Spanish port city Valencia, including beautiful paellas and cocktails surrounded by exposed brick adorn with upscale, modern fixtures.

In the Civic Center District, Fogo de Chao has opened a new location in a historic bank building serving their popular churrasco experience with various gauchos and an elevated soup and salad bar. This location showcases dry-aged meat lockers for in-house aging and a lively indoor Bar Fogo area, ideal for all day happy hour.

NEW IN WELLNESS

New Facial & Massages at Chuan Spa
The iconic Langham Huntington hotel is a historic landmark seen in many beloved films and television series such as The Parent Trap, Saving Mr. Banks, Modern Family, and more. At the resort’s Chuan Spa, which is influenced by Traditional Chinese Medicine, new spa treatments such as the JLO Facial and CBD infused massages offer new and reinvigorating experiences to compliment the treatments rooted in each of the elements.
https://www.langhamhotels.com/en/the-langham/los-angeles/wellness/chuan-spa/

Space B.A.R. Wellness
Recharge with ice baths, float therapy, and infrared saunas at Pasadena's first high-performance fitness center. At Space B.A.R. Wellness, visitors can experience the PNOE Metabolic Analysis to check resting or active metabolic rates for Olympic level personalization in nutrition and workouts.
https://www.spacebarwellness.com/

Lifted Botanical Wellness Bar
Lifted Botanical Wellness Bar is redefining the bar experience with a booze-free conscious approach. The menu is filled with unique coffee and tea "mocktails" with mushroom elixirs, kava, and more. There are also plant based protein smoothies and artisan smoothies.
https://www.liftedbotanicalbar.com/

NEW IN HOTELS

New historic boutique hotel: Pasadena Hotel & Pool
Located on Colorado Boulevard and the Rose Parade route, the 1926-built hotel once known as the Constance Hotel reopened this year as the Pasadena Hotel & Pool with an incredible renovation and a magical rooftop pool and pool deck. The property features an impressive Presidential Suite with a 1,000 square foot terrace. With many grandiose historic features, including an ornately refinished display of the original phone booths in the lobby, the hotel also has 13,771 square feet of meeting space.
https://www.pasadenahotel.com/

UPCOMING EVENTS

Saturday, January 7, 2023
The 9th Annual Yoga Expo at the Pasadena Convention Center (300 E. Green Street) is North America’s largest indoor yoga expo and convention, designed for beginners and experienced yogis with a full day of classes, workshops, lectures, exhibitors, and organic food.

Sunday, January 8, 2023
Rose Bowl Flea Market at the Rose Bowl Stadium, every second Sunday of the month, welcomes 20,000 buyers and over 2,500 vendors.

January 22 – 27, 2023
Pasadena Cheeseburger Week celebrates Lionel Sternberger, the culinary genius that first put cheese to hamburger and served it at the Rite Spot in Pasadena in 1924. Come to Pasadena for a Cheeseburger Crawl, take the Cheeseburger Challenge, and eat your way through the special promos on cheeseburgers at classic burger joints and new contemporary eateries.

Sunday, January 29, 2023
Pasadena Comic Con at the Pasadena Convention Center (300 E. Green Street) is a full day of cosplay contest, vendors, and special guests such as Marty Grabstein of Courage the Cowardly Dog, Nick Palma of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and celebrities from Power Rangers, Sonic, Digimon, Naruto, and more.

Saturday, February 4, 2023

ONEUS 1st World Tour “Reach for us” at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium (300 E. Green Street) is a part of their first ever world tour. The South Korean K-pop boy band was named by Billboard as a new “K-Pop Act To Watch” and featured as a Billboard Social 50 Chart for high engagement.

About Visit Pasadena

The Pasadena Convention & Visitors Bureau (Visit Pasadena) is a non-profit marketing organization dedicated to promoting Pasadena as a leading meeting, convention and leisure travel destination. It is responsible for the sales and marketing efforts to attract meetings, conventions, events, and leisure travel. Through the impact of travel, Visit Pasadena enhances the local economy for the well-being of the community. For more information, go to www.visitpasadena.com. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook at @VisitPasadena.


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