Fair Oaks Pharmacy: Your First Stop to Route 66

California

By rommel on June 12, 2012 • ( 27 Comments )

A pharmacy? You might ask. Yep, this pharmacy situated so courtly with outside tables at the corner of Mission St. and Fair Oaks Ave. has adjoining vintage store and soda, ice cream and coffee bar counter. I don’t know where else I’ll be exploring the historic Route 66, but I’m telling you, my first stop is raising the bar high.

First of all, I got there as they were only opening so there wasn’t much people yet. I heard the place can get crowd-y, and rowdy, for its mighty goodness so make it your first stop. It’s a great place to start your journey to the Old Pasadena and the rests of Route 66.

I was greeted by Paul. He was so attentive to my curiosity of the place that he even abandoned his post and showed me the old pictures of the place in 1940’s. I wasn’t even going to try their soda fountain but Paul generously showed me how they make their own carbonated drinks, and then offered me what he prepared. Be sure to check it out if you do come here. They have a buffet of different flavors. I bought one of their Route 66 soda and took home the bottle. An immediate souvenir! With that friendly and attentive service, we talked over brownies and cappuccino, and before I know it, my schedules to see more of Pasadena were all pushed back. It’s okay, I traveled back in time in this cozy place.

Fair Oaks “Pharmacy” is also a sandbox for the sweet tooth. And it isn’t only because it’s a candy store, IT’s a vintage candy store! So, the trial and triumph exploration is limitless, and timeless.

Their variety of huge servings of ice cream is high-praisingly a word of mouth. I didn’t get to try it, but will make sure the next time. There’s definitely a next time… and more after that.

Wait, there’s more. Fair Oaks Pharmacy is also adjoined with a gift store. The whole place is decorated with paraphernalia and collector’s items of pop culture icons like Elvis, The Beatles, Marilyn Monroe, Alice and Wonderland, I Love Lucy, superheroes, etc.

This truly is a blast from the past. Technological kids of today will require a lot of effort to operate these old toys. I bought a wind-up train toy for a kid I was going to meet at the end of the that day. Today’s toys are just a push-button-and-go. Still nothing beats the hardship-before-reward quid-pro-quo for small kids. The 3-year old kid really enjoyed what I bought him.

Last Call … These robots are OH-SO COOL to look at!

You see it isn’t hard to love this place, an easy favorite amongst many. Neat and well-kept. Happy people enjoying their treats. Time-traveling is overflowing. Classic rock and roll tunes in the background.  Your order is guaranteed to be prepared well. Someone order malts and Paul prepared it for a good ten minutes. They also have an added Bath Accessories section. I don’t generally talk about business establishments but this one is so post-worthy not to mention. If you are planning to take the historic Route 66, Fair Oaks Pharmacy is NOT TO BE MISSED!

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Check out Xandre Verkes’ post on Edmonton in Canada. Love the blog for its simplistic grandeur, an oxymoron I know. There are times that she’d blog a travel post with guaranteed good quick reads and enjoyable quirks. There are times that she’d post impressive images, mostly of serene-scene from all her travels. Accompany her “travel-withdrawal symptoms”  in UK, Canada, Paris, Austria, etc in Everything & Nothing. Life.

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Future Posts: (I have so many promises.)
Old Pasedena
Arboretum

www.fairoakspharmacy.net

Categories: California, Food, review, Travel, Unique

Tagged as: California, Food, LA, review, Travel, Unique Places and Events, USA