{"id":523047,"date":"2026-01-17T15:25:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T15:25:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/523047\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T15:25:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T15:25:16","slug":"l-a-s-best-cheesesteak-arrived-in-pasadena-this-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/523047\/","title":{"rendered":"L.A.’s best cheesesteak arrived in Pasadena this week"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mat\u016b, the Beverly Hills steakhouse themed around Wagyu beef, had been open nearly a year and a half in November 2022 when the restaurant began lunch service essentially serving one item: a luxury cheesesteak. The craze has grown so fervent that a stand dedicated to the creation appeared across town in Pasadena this week.<\/p>\n

The breakdown of a luxe cheesesteak<\/p>\n

The original cheesesteak began with cooks searing and chopping a combination of Wagyu ribeye and sirloin on the griddle. They folded in diced onions that quickly browned to sweetness. A white version of Cooper Sharp, a sliceable brand of American cheese that\u2019s been inducted into the unofficial lexicon of acceptable ingredients for cheesesteaks in Philadelphia, lined a baguette-ish roll crusted with sesame seeds. (Not every cheesesteak roll in Philly sports sesame seeds, but my favorite one, John\u2019s Roast Pork, does.) The final addition: a charred, thin long hot pepper slid along one edge.<\/p>\n

It was \u2014 is \u2014 a delicious, tightly constructed extravagance. Wagyu is admittedly not my preferred genre of beef, but its unctuousness suits a fancy cheesesteak. Local devotion quickly built around Mat\u016b\u2019s creation. Not much surprise, then, that when a spinoff restaurant, Mat\u016b Kai<\/a>, appeared last year in Brentwood, the cheesesteak became a staple on the bar menu and subsequent lunch service.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The midafternoon line on the second day of business at Cheesesteaks by Mat\u016b in Pasadena. <\/p>\n

(Bill Addison \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

As of Jan. 14, amid the commercial density just east of Old Pasadena, Cheesesteaks by Mat\u016b has arrived with a short, focused menu. <\/p>\n

Its ordering window shares a table-filled alcove with HiHo Cheeseburgers. Both are creations by Jerry Greenberg, the restaurateur also behind Sugarfish, KazuNori, Nozawa Bar and Uovo.<\/p>\n

The scene in Pasadena<\/p>\n

My colleague Jenn Harris and I swung by midafternoon for a first look on Thursday, the business\u2019 second day of operation. The line reached the sidewalk. Every seat was taken.<\/p>\n

In the same way that Greenberg has a reputation for duplicating the sushi experience between Sugarfish and KazuNori locations, he\u2019s pulled it off right away here too with the cheesesteak: same proportions, same frizzle to the meat, same solid-molten consistency to the cheese, same racing-stripe of blackened green chile.<\/p>\n

\"Signature <\/p>\n

Signature cheesesteaks \u2014 made with wagyu beef, grilled onions and long hot peppers \u2014 at Cheesesteaks by Mat\u016b in Pasadena.<\/p>\n

(Bill Addison \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Customization is limited. You can ask for a cheesesteak with no onions or no peppers. As in Beverly Hills, Jenn attempted to ask for a second hot pepper<\/a>, and as before, the staffer said, \u201cWe won\u2019t do it.\u201d Like all chiles, the long hots can vary in heat \u2014 and ours roared back.<\/p>\n

My one complaint: To borrow Samin Nosrat\u2019s famous equation<\/a>, the salt, fat and heat boom from this thing in equal levels. What\u2019s lacking is acid, some tang, to cut through the excess of richness. Cherry peppers or other pickles, sriracha, even the horseradish sauce I\u2019ve seen now and again alongside cheesesteaks in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

To that end, the potato chips fried in beef tallow (the only side option) have a parallel greasiness and didn\u2019t much appeal. I was more persuaded by the floppy, freshly cut fries from HiHo.<\/p>\n

But is it, like its Westside counterparts, the best iteration of a cheesesteak I\u2019ve had in Los Angeles? Yes. Should you join the line to decide for yourself? Again, yes, with the caveat that the fledgling storefront has been so overwhelmed after a few days that, rather than daylong hours, it\u2019s switching for now to lunch<\/a> beginning at 11:30 a.m., with last orders at 2 p.m., to accommodate the initial surge of interest. <\/p>\n

Cheesesteaks by Mat\u016b: 625 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, www.matusteak.com\/cheesesteaks-by-matu<\/a> <\/p>\n

\"View <\/p>\n

View from the dining alcove at Cheesesteaks by Mat\u016b in Pasadena. <\/p>\n

(Bill Addison \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Eat (and drink!) your greens<\/p>\n

This week, in the spirit of the January post-holidays reset, my colleagues went deep on the subject of greens<\/a>. Food editor Daniel Hernandez<\/b> shared his recipe for gingery, citrusy Mexican green juice<\/a> (which also has a secret ingredient<\/a>); Stephanie Breijo<\/b> spotlighted Beverly Hills Juice<\/a>, in operation since 1975; and Danielle Dorsey<\/b>, Betty Hallock<\/b> and Jenn Harris<\/b> joined them in naming 16 of their favorite green juices around Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

\"Food <\/p>\n

Food editor Daniel Hernandez\u2019s Mexican green juice, photographed in the Los Angeles Times test kitchen.<\/p>\n

(Juliana Yamada \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Carolynn Carre\u00f1o<\/b> also has strategies for making all manner of greens<\/a>, including recipes for easy sauteed greens<\/a>, curly kale salad<\/a> and a dupe of the Mighty Greens soup<\/a> from Erewhon. <\/p>\n

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