Buster's Ice Cream & Coffee
Shop

A funky two-story coffee shop and ice cream parlor on a picturesque corner of South Pasadena by the Gold Line Metro station. Enjoy sandwiches on fresh rolls (try the turkey cranberry), Fosselman's ice cream and sweet pastries. Coffee drinks are custom made and smoothie options include espresso and vanilla. There are also great Italian sodas including lime with a scoop of rocky road ice cream.

Sit outside and watch the train go by or at a table on one of the two levels. The place has plenty of windows and is usually overflowing with families and students. You can hear live acoustic music on Saturday nights and a live Nairobi jazz trio every Sunday night. Buster's is exactly the kind of place that the South Pasadena City Council is trying to save by blocking the 710 Freeway extension through town: an independently owned gathering place in the South Pasadena antiques shopping district. It's the closest thing you'll get to small-town energy this close to downtown Los Angeles.