- Light rails now makes it cheap and easy to travel from La Verne to cultural hubs across Los Angeles
Margaret Contreras
LV Life Editor
Located in the city of Pasadena there is a small gem, the Burlington Arcade is a small shopping center with an English ambiance. From children’s clothing stores to photo studios to cafes, there is a little bit of everything. Located on Lake Avenue near the Pasadena Community College and California Institute of Technology.
Burlington Arcade is an outdoor alleyway with a glass awning to protect from the weather. In the center of the alley, there is a classic red phone box that is iconic from England. Around the alley there are flags from different parts of Europe such as; Italy, the United Kingdom and Spain. There are a couple of American flags around the Burlington Arcade.
There are plants in front of some of the businesses and there are two trees with the red telephone booth in between them. There are large lanterns hanging in the center from the ceiling and fairy lights stings along the from business to business. Offering a romantic atmosphere in the evening.
Located in the Burlington Arcade is the Mandarin Coffee Stand, Mikko Hair Creation, Peony Couture and more. There are multiple beauty and nail salons. There are also two clothing stores, one for kids and the other for adults.
Peony Couture is a European children’s clothing store, from newborns to 16-years-old. According to their website; peonycouture.com has European designer clothing being sold at the little shop including Kissy Kissy, Tartine Et Chocolat and Bonpoint.
There seems to be a couple more businesses being added to the Burlington Arcade, one of them being a bar or pub. There is a second story in the Burlington Arcade, but it is mostly used for office space or salon space.
The Mandarin Coffee Stand is a cafe located at the end of Burlington Arcade. It offers coffee with Chinese flavors. It still serves the classic espresso drinks such as lattes, americanos and flat whites. They change the seasonal menu speciality drink, currently on their website mandarin-coffee-stand.square.site, Blossom Latte is the seasonal drink.
The Blossom Latte is made with pink peppercorn ginger syrup, espresso and choice of milk.
On their menu they also have Matcha, one of the specialty drinks made with the green leaf powder is the Matcha Tonic. Which is made with Japanese yuzu juice, agave and fever tree tonic.
Mandarin Coffee Stand has a second location on Colorado Boulevard. The location in the Burlington Arcade is open at 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. from Mondays to Sundays.
I tried their Matcha Tonic and the Vienna Latte. The Vienna Latte is a house espresso, brown sugar syrup, with your choice of milk; I chose whole milk. The latte is then topped with sweet cream. The Matcha Tonic comes iced only, but the whole drink felt well balanced.
I recommend coming to the Burlington Arcade during the week or early in the weekend. Majority of the businesses are closed or close early.
Margaret Contreras can be reached at margaret.contreras@laverne.edu.
- To get to The Burlington Arcade by transit from the University of La Verne
Hop on the the Metro A line
Exit at the Lake Station-Southbound Lake West Entrance
Get on the 20cw Lake and Fair Oaks
Get off on Del Mar and Lake
Turn right onto Shoppers Lane
Then turn right
The total time to get there is about an hour depending on traffic
- To get to The Huntington by car from the University of La Verne
Head towards Bonita Avenue and turn left
Turn right on Damien Avenue
Then turn left unto Foothill
Turn right to merge on the CA-210 West towards Pasadena
Then take the exit 27A towards Hill Avenue
Merge onto East Maple Street
Turn left on East Del Mar Boulevard
Turn left onto Shoppers Lane
Then turn right
Note: there is parking in the back
The total time to get there is about 30 depending on traffic
Magaret Contreras is a senior communications major with a concentration in public relations. She is editorial director and LV Life editor of the Campus Times and previously worked as editor-in-chief and a staff writer.
