PASADENA, Calif. — Old Town Pasadena is known for its main drag of Colorado Blvd., but a foodie scene is beginning to take shape one block over. On Friday, the Vietnamese restaurant Paper Rice joins a growing fast-casual scene on Union Street.

Tucked between shops serving tea, hot chicken, and Dirt Dogs, Paper Rice specializes in spring rolls that are customized in a way that’s similar to Subway sandwiches, only with rice paper wraps filled with noodles, fresh vegetables and herbs, and marinated proteins, such as grilled chicken, beef, pork belly, pork sausage, and tofu.

What You Need To Know

  • Paper Rice serves Vietnamese spring rolls and other street foods

  • Diners can customize their spring rolls in a way that's similar to Subway sandwiches, with fresh Vietnamese ingredients

  • Paper Rice is part of a growing fast-casual scene on Union Street, one block over from Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena's Old Town

  • The restaurant's grand opening is Friday

“This is how we eat at home,” said Lee Diep, who co-owns Paper Rice with her husband, Jens Kristen, and is working with three of her eight siblings to get it off the ground. “Fresh vegetables and herbs are always in our refrigerator. If we have some leftover chicken or beef, we just wrap it up for a quick meal.”

At Paper Rice, the wraps can be served as bowls, without the rice paper. Also on the menu: Vietnamese classics, like Banh Mi sandwiches, sticky rice patties, and coffee served with sweetened condensed milk.  

Diep has two older siblings who used to run sit-down Vietnamese restaurants. She currently works in the garment industry as an importer, but owning her own restaurant has “always been my dream,” she said. 

Her husband, Jens, used to work in a building a couple of doors down from their new restaurant in Old Town. Lunchtimes, he said, were always a struggle.

“Here in Pasadena with the office environment, there was Il Fornaio for a sandwich, otherwise it was sit down,” Kristen said. “If you only have an hour lunch, you don’t have time to sit down and order lunch especially when everybody is going. That’s why we got into this idea: to offer something that’s different from the traditional way of dining.”

Paper Rice was supposed to open in the spring, with indoor dining. But the pandemic has pushed the seating to tables out front and around the corner in an alley that is now outfitted with tables, chairs, umbrellas, and taverna lights for several Union Street restaurants to share. Friday is its grand opening.