The Raymond 1886

About The Raymond 1886

In 1886, the Raymond Hotel opened in Pasadena — a grand resort of the Victorian era that once hosted presidents and attracted the wealthy East Coast families who were discovering that Southern California had something to offer beyond orange groves and mild winters. The hotel is long gone, destroyed in a fire in 1895 and not rebuilt after the Depression finished the second version. What survived was the caretaker's cottage: a Craftsman bungalow of modest scale and extraordinary character that has outlasted everything around it to become the most atmospheric dining address in the San Gabriel Valley.

The Raymond 1886 — named for both the original hotel and the year of its construction — occupies this bungalow and its surrounding garden, and has transformed the historical accident of survival into one of the most distinctive restaurant experiences in Southern California. The structure itself does the primary design work: original woodwork, period details, a layout that creates natural intimacy without manufactured privacy. The garden patio, with its canopy of mature trees and string lighting, is among the most genuinely romantic outdoor dining settings in the region — the kind of space that photographs well but performs even better in person.

The 1886 Bar operates in the basement of the property and has developed its own reputation for craft cocktails of serious quality — the bar programme is informed by the historical setting, drawing on recipes and techniques from the pre-Prohibition era without becoming a themed exercise. Cocktails here are genuinely good rather than nostalgically interesting.

The kitchen presents modern American cuisine with an emphasis on seasonal California ingredients and the kind of refined technique that matches the setting without overwhelming it. Starters show particular intelligence: roasted beet preparations, seasonal tartares, composed vegetable courses that demonstrate the kitchen's commitment to ingredients rather than complexity. Main courses include proteins executed with precision — properly rested duck, fish with correctly calibrated sauces — and a wine list that supports the food without requiring expertise to navigate.

Saturday brunch has developed a following that rivals the dinner service in popularity: the combination of setting, cocktails, and a kitchen willing to apply dinner-level technique to morning food makes it one of the most pleasurable late morning experiences in the city. The property's outdoor garden comes into its own on weekend mornings when the light through the trees is at its most flattering.