2016 Tournament of Roses Rose Parade float road test #7, Quick meal at Pharo's Burgers (Alhambra)

Here you are, looking at mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog.  Today's post takes place North of San Diego, because that's where Cathy went to eat and do some other stuff. As you know, Kirk is on vacation.  Essentially, Ed (from Yuma) is also on vacation. 

What a day.  The Mister and I thought we were getting a head start by leaving home at around 4:50 this morning and we hit all sorts of traffic- a horrible accident, a lot of road construction...more accidents and just backups of traffic everywhere.  We zig zagged on side streets and finally got to Phoenix Decorating Company at about 7:30, just in time to see the three floats which will participate in the 127th Rose Parade being tested for safety and maneuverability today. Union Bank is back with a float this year, teaming up with the American Heart Association. Their "Union of Hearts" float celebrates both the 30th year for Union and one of the many goals of the AHA- exercise.  It's a cute float...the 'female' heart waves one arm while the 'male' heart arms are alternating 'lifting weights'.   This is what the float collapses down to, so it can fit along the parade route.   Honda, the sponsor of the parade, will have this extremely long float at the start.  We were fascinated watching it maneuver back into the decorating barn.  The wheels are independent and the float seems to work like a ladder fire truck.  The front part (in front of the bridge) will depict National Parks in Japan, and at the rear of the bridge,
where the driver is seated (up high) is a diorama depicting National Parks of the USA.  The 2016 Tournament of Roses Rose Parade is co-sponsored by the National Park Service.  The theme is "Find Your Adventure". 

Western Asset has another beautiful float this year, "Let Your Imagination Run Wild". Taking a peek inside the barn, I could see the amount of work that has taken place since we were last up here...painted outlines are on most of the floats and so much is being done- Dry Decorating starts in two weeks! Here is a link to The Examiner's article about all the floats which will be in the 2016 parade. 

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On to the food portion of this blog post.  

You might recall I mentioned that the traffic today was the worst we've ever experienced. We drove a completely new-to-us route and ended up in Alhambra on the way to Pasadena, so we left the same way...and stopped here.. The corner of Garfield and Atlantic is where Pharos has been since 1994. 'Pharos' means lighthouse...see the shape of the front sign? Inside, up on top of the shelving and scattered on the counter near the cash register are a collection of lighthouses. The menu is on the wall.  Order, pay, have a seat and your number will be called.   Usually, my order anywhere is a 'breakfast sandwich with bacon, on rye'.  It was no different today. ($5.79) A good rye toast, griddled eggs, a thick slice of tomato, folded lettuce leaves, mayonnaise and plenty of crispy bacon.  A perfect meal...for me. 
The Mister asked and then ordered a pastrami burger ($6.79) and also a large order of onion rings ($3.75).  Charbroiled burger.  Good pastrami (not peppery) on a toasted sesame seed bun.  Wonderful not greasy onion rings.  The food here was excellent; we brought home leftovers. 

I hope you're having a good weekend.

Pharo's Burgers 1129 N. Garfield Alhambra 91801 (626) 284-2800 Website 
2016 Float tests: #1  (we couldn't make it to road test #2)   #3 and #4 #5 #6  

This link is to the artist renditions of all the floats that Phoenix Decorating Company is producing for the 2016 parade.

Comments

[Soo @ hungryones]

Thanks for the float update! Looks like they are almost done. :-) I wish I had a burger and onion rings right now...

[Ed (from Yuma)]

Your T of R float posts usually "float" my boat. It is amazing how they are designed and assembled. It looks so easy on New Years Day.

[caninecologne]

That was cool seeing the float in collapsed form. These will look amazing on New Year's Day. As always, great update Cathy. This is certainly a treat that not all people get to see or appreciate.

[Cathy]

Pastrami burger, Soo...it was like County Fair food for breakfast! We never saw any road tests for two of the floats-the Sikh and Farmers Insurance, but the drawings make each look magnificent. (Added a link to the last line of this post).

It really is a year of work, Ed. I'll add a YouTube link of an episode of "Dirty Jobs" showing the cleanup of the floats after I post the last of 2016, which will be around the first week of January...ironically.

Thank you for the kind words, cc. I try to convey an understanding in my posts, no matter the subject, but it's not easy. The Mister and I were fascinated to drive a new to us route around the Pasadena area that day.

[foodhoe]

wow, I avoid traffic like the plague, that sounds pretty epic... but your meal looks like a good consolation prize! I haven't ever had pastrami burger, does that have both pastrami and burger?

[Cathy]

Considering we left home before 5 a.m. and didn't park until 7:30, when sometimes we can be parking at 7:50 (with our usual stops at Starbucks and Cream Pan each trip), this was crazy traffic, FH. Yes, a 1/3 lb burger topped with fried up/griddle top cooked pastrami, a heavy, huge burger.

I think I need to do a post about one side street trip we took (again, because of traffic) a few years ago. It seemed that every restaurant (and Taco Shop) had 'pastrami' on their signage...for miles. It must be a Los Angeles thing.