Like Yerevan, 25 minutes from downtown
Glendale: 48-Hour Escape from Los Angeles
The largest Armenian community in America, a mile of kebab houses, bakeries, and markets 25 minutes from downtown LA.
Glendale: The largest Armenian community in America, a mile of kebab houses, bakeries, and markets 25 minutes from downtown LA.
At a glance
Glendale, California is a 25 min drive from Los Angeles, best visited Year-round, spring and fall are most pleasant. Like Yerevan, 25 minutes from downtown. Top things to do: The Armenian food corridor, Deukmejian Wilderness Park, Forest Lawn Memorial Park. Where to eat: Raffi's Place, Mini Kabob, Porto's Bakery. Stay at Hilton Los Angeles North/Glendale or Burbank Marriott Airport & Convention Center.
Why here
Glendale is a city of about 200,000 at the foot of the Verdugo Mountains, and it is home to the largest Armenian community in America, one of the largest outside Armenia itself. The community took root after the Armenian genocide of 1915 and grew through waves of migration from Lebanon, Iran, and Armenia in the 1970s and 1980s, until today roughly a third of the city traces its roots there. The result is the most concentrated Armenian food and culture corridor in the Western Hemisphere: kebab houses, lahmajoun ovens, baklava bakeries, and international markets strung along Brand Boulevard, Pacific Avenue, and Broadway.
The rest of Glendale rewards the close look too. The 1925 Alex Theatre still programs live shows under its neon spire, Forest Lawn Memorial Park, one of the strangest art museums in America, holds full-scale replicas of the Last Supper and Michelangelo's Moses, and the Verdugo Mountains rise straight off the north side of town with trails into Dunsmore Canyon at Deukmejian Wilderness Park. Griffith Park, the biggest urban park in the country, sits on Glendale's western edge. And the Americana at Brand anchors a downtown that has quietly become one of the densest retail districts in LA.
A weekend in Glendale is a food-first weekend, and it pairs with its two neighbors. Spend day one eating your way down the Armenian corridor, from lahmajoun at breakfast to kebabs at Raffi's at night. Spend day two in the studio towns, the Warner Bros. tour in Burbank, 15 minutes west, or the museums of Pasadena, 20 minutes east. Both are a straight shot on the I-5 and CA-134 corridor.
The Basecamp
Where to stay in Glendale
Hilton Los Angeles North/Glendale
The in-town base, minutes from Brand Boulevard's restaurants and the 134 corridor. Comfortable rooms, free parking, easy access to everything on this page.
Burbank Marriott Airport & Convention Center
10 minutes west, the practical base if your weekend leans studio-tour. Close to both the Warner Bros. tour and the I-5 back to Glendale.
Hotel Dena, Pasadena
20 minutes east, a modern Tribute Portfolio hotel between Old Pasadena and the Rose Bowl. The better base if your weekend leans museums and the A Line.
What to do
The Armenian food corridor
Free to walk, dangerous for your willpower. Pacific Avenue and Brand hold the tightest cluster of Armenian and Persian kitchens in America: lahmajoun, baklava, kebabs, and groceries like Jons Market. Come hungry, graze all day.
Learn more ↗
Deukmejian Wilderness Park
Free. Nearly 900 acres of Dunsmore Canyon in the Verdugo Mountains, with oak woodland trails and ridge views over the whole San Fernando basin. 20 minutes from downtown Glendale.
Learn more ↗
Forest Lawn Memorial Park
Free. Part cemetery, part art museum, and genuinely one of the oddest attractions in America: a full-scale stained-glass Last Supper, Michelangelo's Moses in marble, and a museum wing. The Alex Theatre, a restored 1925 movie palace, is nearby downtown.
Learn more ↗Pack for Glendale
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Cold water past the last switchback, hot coffee at the overlook.
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Where to eat
Raffi's Place
The kebab house that anchors the corridor. Lamb and chicken off the charcoal grill, with lavash and grilled tomatoes. Lunch fills fast, go before noon.
Mini Kabob
A kitchen the size of a closet on Glendale Avenue. Small beef kabobs, wrapped in lavash, cash-friendly, and the most-loved bites in town. Expect a short line.
Porto's Bakery
The original Cuban bakery, opened by the Porto family in 1976 in Glendale. Cheese rolls, potato balls, and guava pastries by the tray. The line moves fast.
Most reviewed on Yelp
The most-reviewed restaurants in Glendale. A solid indicator of where locals actually eat.
Porto's Bakery & Cafe
Cuban Bakery
Raffi's Place
Persian/Armenian
Art's Bakery & Cafe
Armenian Bakery
Review counts and ratings are curated from Yelp and may change over time.
Getting there
Drive logistics
From Los Angeles, take I-5 North or CA-2 (the Glendale Freeway) into town. ~10 to 12 miles, about 25 minutes off-peak, longer on the 134 and 5 interchange at rush hour. Glendale is a chain-store-rich, transit-light city, so keep the car for the park and the neighbors, but park once and walk Brand and Pacific.
Drive time
25 min
Best time
Year-round, spring and fall are most pleasant
Questions & Answers
Glendale weekend FAQ
Glendale is about 10 miles north of downtown LA, roughly a 25-minute drive via I-5 North or CA-2, longer in rush hour.
Armenian refugees settled in Los Angeles after the 1915 genocide, and affordable housing plus an established community drew successive waves from Lebanon, Iran, and Armenia through the 1970s and 1980s. Glendale is now the largest Armenian community in America and one of the largest outside Armenia itself.
Armenian and Persian food: charcoal kebabs, lahmajoun, baklava, and markets like Jons, concentrated along Brand Boulevard, Pacific Avenue, and Broadway. Porto's Bakery, the original Cuban bakery, also started here.
Yes, especially as the food half of a close-in LA weekend. Pair a day of the Armenian food corridor and Forest Lawn with the Warner Bros. studio tour in Burbank or the museums of Pasadena.
It is a great food-and-museums weekend rather than a romantic retreat: kebab dinners on Brand, a show at the Alex Theatre, and the Verdugo trails in the morning, with Pasadena's gardens 20 minutes east.