I've had The Original Tops bookmarked on Yelp for a minute now. I've had Tops Jr. and everyone is saying you must go to The Original Tops. There seems to be a bit of fanfare with The Original Tops in the SGV. We finally embarked on venturing out to Pasadena to try this "fast-food mainstay". The Original Tops was established in 1952. The restaurant still remains in the same family today. What we ordered: -Bacon/Sausage Egg Burrito $9.59 -Tops Special $11.09 -1 Large Drink $2.99 I always ask the employees of restaurants that I've never been to for recommendations on what to order. I was told to order the Tops Special or Breakfast Burrito and some other items. I decided to order a breakfast burrito as I'm really interested in trying different breakfast burritos in the area to see which one I like best. I really enjoyed the Bacon/Sausage Egg Burrito as the scrambled eggs were nice and fluffy. The meats were not overpowering even with two different kinds of meat. The homestyle potatoes provided a nice and soft texture to the burrito. It was an all around great burrito. It was one of the best breakfast burritos I've ever had. It's that good! It comes with salsa verde on the side. It wasn't too spicy and added a little kick to an already delicious burrito. The Top Special consists of a 1/4 lb burger topped with pastrami, mustard and American cheese. It looks very beautiful as it is served cut in half with the layers of the different meats and vegetables. This burger is the real deal. Free Refills and self service on the soda. They have Orange Bang, Horchata Ole, Lemon Ole, Coke, Cherry Coke, Ice Tea and many other soft drinks. Parking is tight and limited. There's not many spaces. However, there is a drive-thru if you don't want to eat-in. They have inside and outside seating. You order at the register and pick up your food when your number is called. I was a bit irked when I found out that I was charged a service charge of $2.50. It would have been nice to be informed of the service charge upfront with some signage. Lucky for them, the food was too good. I highly recommend coming to The Original Tops. Breakfast is served from 7-11 AM. The rest of the menu is offered all day. You won't be disappointed in eating a Breakfast Burrito or Tops Special.

Came here 5 years ago and wanted to try it out since it's been so long! On a Friday night, the drive thru is packed, parking was also tight, but we were able to find a parking spot as some customers were taking food to go. Going inside there's a back door near the drive thru line and a front door, we entered through the front side where there's plenty of outdoor seating. Didn't get a chance to take photos of the menu but what caught our eye which we ordered was the sycamore melt, pastrami, zucchini sticks, chili cheese fries, and medium drink. I also told the staff I wanted onion rings but I said all the sides at one go and he might've missed it, but after seeing all the listed food it was a good thing we didn't order it. The melt was unfortunately wet, most likely due to the coleslaw, but plenty of meat and the bread was crispy and toasted well. The pastrami had a lot of meat, but since we ate it after the melt, the bread was a bit soggy and it was more sour than I remembered (maybe too much mustard or pickle juice got it). Overall I'm happy with the size. Meat was a bit it saltier than I remembered. Chili cheese fries and zucchini were delicious. Especially with their ranch, but we didn't ask for more as I remember we had to buy it if we wanted another ranch dip. Fri is are filled through a fountain drink machine, refills unlimited! We didn't finish the sides, there was so much food so we got it to go and just stuffed them both in the chili cheese fries box and got a lid to cover. Overall I think I'd like to come back and try their burgers and get the zucchini sticks again! Restrooms are gendered and one person use at a time, and separated by a front door.

The food was delicious and the staff were very friendly. But, there were a lot of flies in the restaurant that kept landing in my food. Otherwise a great place.

The burger was fine. Not amazing. Hard to tell that it had bacon. Met my burger needs. I'll say this though. When you order fries, they give you fries. It's the most fries I've ever seen and it was like $4. They weren't soggy or all crumbs either. Perfectly cooked and we're still hot when I got home. Honestly enough for like 3-4 people.

This place as an actual LOCAL GEM! It's crazy that I can get the Sycamore Melt and Chili Cheese Fries for only around $20! The only bad thing is that the place is always packed and the lines can get quite long. They truly have the best Chili Cheese Fries in the area!

Good ole fashion diner with delicious food. If you eat here often, your wallet and your waistline would probably suffer. But man this is some good food here. First off, they have chili cheese TATER TOTS! Savory, cheesy goodness all over crispy tots is like heaven in my book. Secondly, where has this pastrami sandwich been all my life? Definitely rivals the Hat. We ordered the Reuben and the Pastrami burger and man, it was finger lickin delicious! The service is quick, friendly and efficient. The diner reminds me of those old fashioned soda spots where you would take a date to in those 80's shows. Totally family friendly and they have the classic red booths!

So good!! Best pastrami place around. Food: Can't go wrong with anything here. Generous portions and fair price. Get the chili cheese pastrami fries! so good and so much for a size small! Service: Quick and great service always. Ambiance: Diner styled seating with clean restroom. Lots of seating but it does get busy late weekend nights.

Since 1952, The Original Tops has been serving up quality grub for the residents of Pasadena that they would want to enjoy every day with the promise to be made: "craveable, comforting, approachable, and from scratch." In 2024, I decided to check up on this promise. I stopped by on a Friday morning and decided to try to much talked-about Basic Egg Burrito ($8.29). It was mentioned on several of the growing "Best Breakfast Burritos" in Southern California lists. This is a tall order, especially given my love of breakfast burritos and trying several of them throughout the years. Made with three California fresh eggs, homestyle potatoes, Jack & Cheddar cheese, the Basic is then all wrapped up in a warm flour tortilla, grilled and served made to order. The burrito itself is a pretty good size, accompanied by two green sauces which add some flavor to each bite. The burrito itself came out extremely hot, with the egg and cheese perfectly melted together. The homestyle potatoes were also delicious. Mild in flavor, soft to the bite, with the occasional crispy "hash brown edges" included to add a little crisp. I wish there was a little more crisp to the burrito to give a little more "umph" and flavor with each bite. You could add a bacon, chorizo or pastrami as an upgrade if you choose. However, it was a decent basic burrito and value for under $10. Hop's is a small drive-thru and dine-in restaurant, located on E. Colorado Blvd. just south of the 210 Freeway. The parking lot is fairly small, however, located in a residential area provided plenty of street parking options, as well as grab and go flexibility. You order at the counter, wait for your order to be called in one of the two dozen indoor and covered outdoor seating options, pick up, and enjoy. No frills, no fuss, just a pretty good option for quick-service, homemade greasy spoon grub in Pasadena.

Hubby kept seeing Tops all over social media and wanted desperately to try. He came the first time on his own wanting the breakfast burrito but was sad to learn they stop serving it at 11am. For his first rodeo he got the chili cheese fries with pastrami and pickles. This was such a large portion that he had some leftover, which I tried next day and it was still good! I think he also got the pastrami burger, which he said was okay/not bad - I just think his appetite was set on the brekky burrito tbh... Anyhow, the following weekend he went back Tops and brought some food back for me. Didn't bother waiting in the drive thru, he went around the long drive-thru line, parked, ordered and got his food rather quickly. He got the breakfast burrito this time w/ sausage and it was seasoned well & comes with some salsa verde. Got the regular chili cheese fries - still delicious and a huge portion & the patty melt (one of my faves!). I think for the price, portion, and speed (when going in) - you can't beat Tops! Their breakfast burrito is better than Lucky Boy, IMO.

I first heard of this spot from my coworkers, who all spoke highly of this place. After trying it out, this may be my new go-to spot for a tasty pastrami sandwich. The inside of the store has a classic, old school diner feel about it with its plush booth benches, checkerboard tile styling, the wall with old images of Tops, the standard bowl shaped lights above, and so on. You'll find this place buzzing with locals just enjoying a casual meal together, hanging out with friends, etc. Each person is happily chowing down on a burger, sandwich, and sides. In terms of food: Pastrami Sandwich ($14.19): Like a person trying to hug a full sized Sequoia tree, their soft, toasted French roll tries its best to hold the stacked layers of peppery & salty brined blankets of juicy, tender pastrami. A light spread of yellow mustard and slices of pickles completes the #topspastrami sandwich (I added onions to mine because I like that bit of sweet, sharp taste). "Small" Chili Cheese Fries ($6.09): They say it's small but it definitely is a generous size to share between 2-3 people in my opinion. A pile of fries are slathered with hefty amount of chili and melted cheeses (we topped ours with onions). It's a heavy, rich accompaniment that goes well with any of their sandwiches or burgers. I enjoyed the friendly service and terrific food so much that my last bite felt bittersweet. Full up with the rich meats, bread, and fried goodness, I definitely need to take some time to walk about a bit afterwards. Give this place a try and let me know what you think!