Restaurant of the Week: Noodle World Jr.

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Noodle World Jr., 2440 W. Arrow Route (at Monte Vista), Upland

This small chain opened a location out our way in April 2014. Technically it’s in Upland, but it’s only a couple hundred yards from the Claremont border. In fact, with Claremont McKenna right across nearby Claremont Boulevard, it’s possible Noodle World Jr. is closer to some of the campuses than any other restaurant.

Pay attention, students: Noodle World is a sit-down restaurant with locations in Alhambra, Monterey Park, Pasadena, San Marino and Westwood; Noodle World Jr., which is only in Hollywood, Downey and now Upland, is fast-casual (order at the counter) and with a limited menu.

It’s pan-Asian, with items representing China (fried rice), Japan (ramen, udon), Thailand (various noodle dishes) and Vietnam (pho). And they have boba, although not enough to satisfy a boba connoisseur. There’s seating inside as well as outdoors in a covered courtyard with a high dome roof.

I’ve been there three times so far. First time I got garlic chicken ($8.25, pictured below), which is chicken sauteed with garlic flakes, served on rice. I’ve had this at Thai restaurants like Mix Bowl and this was a very good example. I also had a Thai tea with boba ($3).

Next visit I tried the spicy beef ramen ($8.25, bottom), which has tonkotsu broth, noodles, bean sprouts, seaweed and stewed beef. I’m no ramen specialist, but this made for a satisfying meal on a cool evening. (A professor friend at the colleges calls this “an A- rendition of the classic.”) A taro smoothie with boba ($3.75) hit the spot too. Since then I’ve been back for beef steak with rice ($8.75), another winner.

This won’t replace favored Asian spots in the 626 or beyond for those who can parse ramen varieties or know regional Chinese cooking, but for a local option, especially in Asian food-poor Upland and Claremont. Noodle World Jr. is quite welcome. And I suspect it’s practically an unofficial Claremont Colleges dining hall.

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More Montclair Plaza renderings

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The upcoming revamp of Montclair Plaza is the subject of my Wednesday column. The above rendering appears with my column and looks west, showing a cinema, shops and a pedestrian zone called The Avenue. The renderings below depict other views.

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This view is looking north, with the 10 Freeway at the bottom edge. Parking lots? Who needs parking lots? The lots are replaced by parking structures and new shops.

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This rendering is looking south from Moreno. The entrance to the mall is improved — it was referred to as a “grand entrance” by city planners — with a level parking deck and space for outdoor events.

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In Phase 2, which could begin in early 2017 and finish in mid-year, a fashion district would include the two new buildings at lower left, between Macy’s, top, and Nordstrom, upper right. This view is looking north. The vacant Macaroni Grill restaurant building, currently somewhere around the lower left in real life, would be demolished.

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Facing east, this view represents The Avenue, a new walkable area that would include shops, left, and a cinema, background right.

montplaza5Kathleen Kim, a CIM Group first vice president, and Jim Suhr, a consultant for CIM, speak briefly at Monday’s Montclair Planning Commission meeting, at which the commission unanimously signed off on the design and environmental study.

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Christmas in April

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The artists who in 2014 restored the 64 figures in the Euclid Avenue Nativity display, an Ontario tradition that began in 1959, were feted Monday with lunch at the Ontario Convention Center. Some of the figures were there too for everyone to admire.

Above, from left, Milica Jelisavcic, Jaime Colindres, Kim Healy Pretti, Walt Wilkey and Christian Knox, plus a friend. (I hope he ate light to save room for the Last Supper.) Not pictured: Kristen Burton, Andy Doherty, Chris Cuzzetti, Nick Gavino and Susi Silvertre.

The NOEL (Nativity on Euclid Landmark) Committee is charged with raising funds to restore and preserve the creches and statues, which were carved by Rudolph Vargas from 1959 to 1968.

A $100,000 donation last year from an anonymous Ontario businessman allowed the committee to commission the above artists to bring the statues back to their original colors, repair the damaged fingers, wings, necks, arms and more, and replace the statues that had gone missing over the years. The backdrops were duplicated digitally by John Edwards or repainted by Rick Caughman to match the originals.

More detail about the restoration can be read on the Christmas on Euclid website.

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Buddhist temple coming

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A Buddhist temple on the southeast corner of Central Avenue and Francis Street has been under construction for at least five years, reader Helen Cosner points out in asking me when it might be done (if ever).

City spokeswoman Monica Gutierrez said construction has come in stops and starts as the temple’s financing allows. Public improvements and the burying of utility lines are the last pieces and the temple is expected to be complete this summer.

I remember this complex from visits to the barbecue restaurant across the street, which closed in 2011. I thought it was a stalled office park. In Chino last week, I pulled over to take a fresh look. It looks pretty complete from the street, so sprawling that it’s hard to get it all into one photograph, and with an impressive entry gate. If your view is right, you can see the top of a Buddha statue. Makes me want to see inside.

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Column: Ontario’s Grinder Haven briefly grinds to a halt

A local favorite since 1958, Grinder Haven was closed last month by the Health Department and hasn’t reopened, although that may happen within days after some paperwork gets ironed out. Also: two Culture Corner items about classical concerts, and a recap of my screening of “The Sting,” with a plug for Thursday’s “Unforgiven.” All of this is in Sunday’s column.

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Column: Lakers fan supreme abandons Ontario, not team

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A home in Ontario has long been decked out in Los Angeles Lakers style, inside and out: banners, flags, mobiles, murals, messages in the grass and on the roof, etc. Just when I finally catch up with the homeowner, he’s moving. But that added a news element to Friday’s column.

Above is Martin Espinoza in some team gear outside his garage-door mural; below are views of his home and garage; at bottom, Espinoza points to a key motto on his purple and gold vehicle.

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Restaurant of the Week: Panda Inn

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Panda Inn, 3223 E. Centrelake Drive (at Guasti), Ontario

Panda Inn, an outpost of the small Pasadena-based chain that also owns Panda Express, opened in 1992 in Ontario in what was then the hinterlands. But we had an airport. The location, only yards from the 10 Freeway, was renovated in 2013, the subject of one of my columns. I’ve dined at this Panda several times over the years with groups of friends. I had dinner there last month with a friend and figured I might as well memorialize it here.

Panda is a little more modern inside now. They knocked down a wall to the bar, making it more accessible, and it has more TVs. And the dining rooms are more stylish and colorful with elements like decorative bird cages.

The menus are updated too, although I don’t remember enough about the old menus to gauge how much it’s changed. Panda is still Americanized, as perhaps you must be to fill an enormous restaurant in Ontario, and orange chicken, sweet and sour pork, and fried egg rolls remain on the menu.

But they do a good job. My friend got kon pao chicken ($14), pork fried rice ($10) and braised string beans ($7.75). A creature of habit, she orders those same dishes at any Chinese restaurant she visits. She likes Panda’s versions best, though. I got steamed pork dumplings ($6.25) and wok-fried scallops on a bed of spinach ($19.25). Pretty good.

All the food came out quickly, except my dumplings, which arrived 10 minutes after everything else.

The waiter was exceptionally friendly. Celebrating mutual March birthdays, we got birthday ice cream and a song from three servers. And of course, Panda’s signature foil-wrapped fortune cookies dipped in white chocolate.

Overall, it was a pleasant meal in nice surroundings. Leaving our dining room for the men’s room, my way was momentarily blocked by a party of four taking a selfie. “The arches,” one explained apologetically. Ah, yes, the arches: The long hallway got five arches as part of the renovation, and it does make for a neat, almost science fictional sight.

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Firehouse Inn forlorn, but cleaner

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The Firehouse Inn was a popular Pomona restaurant of the 1970s in a unique location: a former Fire Department station built in 1924. Shades of Engine Co. 28 in downtown LA!

The Italianate-style station was Pomona’s second. According to Gloria Ricci Lathrop’s 1976 “Pomona: A Centennial History,” from which the above photo and caption were taken: “Located at Garey Avenue and Alvarado, its purpose was to handle fires in the north part of Pomona, especially if freight trains blocking the crossings prevented the main station’s crews from traveling to answer the calls.”

After some alterations, the restaurant opened in 1970, according to a Progress-Bulletin story from that April. The restaurant lasted until about 1988, based on phonebook listings; it’s unclear if anything took its place. It’s been vacant for years.

Incidentally, can that be the same street light today from whenever the historic photo was taken?

With a new Starbucks having opened across Alvarado, on a previously dead corner that had a long-vacant gas station, there’s more traffic and renewed attention. On an April 8 Starbucks visit, I walked across the street to look at the Firehouse Inn building. On the door was a Notice of Abatement, dated two days earlier and signed by a judge. (I can’t even try to relax without bumping into news, evidently.)

According to Community Development Director Mark Lazzaretto: “The weeds at the Firehouse Inn were unbearably high and there was trash and debris throughout the site. We sent notices to the owner, but the owner failed to comply. In these situations, we go to court for an abatement order, which allows the City to clean up the site so that the neighborhood isn’t burdened with the blight. We then lien the property and recoup our costs when the property is sold.”

For now, the Firehouse Inn sits, boarded up, waiting for progress. Would anyone like to comment about the current condition, the recent past or memories of having dined there?

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