Lunch in L.A.? Car Beats Train as Meal Ticket

Let's do lunch.

How many times has the sheer geography of L.A. -- along with the region's less-than-accommodating transportation options -- messed up plans for meeting friends, colleagues and even important business partners for a simple lunch?

Last week, I had to cancel lunch with a former colleague for the fourth time in two months -- not because of some unexpected catastrophe, but because I couldn't get downtown quickly enough to meet him before he had to set out on another appointment.

So I decided to put lunchtime travel to the test. I picked Pasadena as my destination. I would go there for lunch four days running -- twice by transit and twice in my car. Would either be worth it? Which would be easier?

Here's what happened.

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Day 1: I decide to drive. I leave the Times office at 12:30 p.m. and walk a block to the parking lot. My husband is meeting me at Saladang, an upscale Thai restaurant on Fair Oaks Avenue, at 1 p.m. I figure I have plenty of time.

It takes a few minutes to get to the car and get out of the Times lot. By 12:40 p.m., I am entering the Pasadena Freeway from Third Street. It's not going so well.

The sluggish traffic comes to a complete stop before we even get to the I-5 junction. There's no sign of what's wrong. We inch along, and finally I see that Caltrans is closing down a left-hand lane for some kind of roadwork.

I'm getting a little nervous. He hates it when I'm late.

I exit the Pasadena Freeway at Fair Oaks at 1:01 p.m. and turn left. More roadwork. At Fair Oaks and Columbia the cars stop suddenly, and I'm right in the middle of a big intersection. The street's center lane is closed. It's been half an hour since I left The Times and I'm still stuck in traffic.

I arrive at Saladang at 1:20 p.m. My husband is pacing outside -- it's taken him just 20 minutes to drive there from our home in Studio City.

Lunch is pretty good. Afterward, we get into our vehicles and head back to work. It takes about 35 minutes, door to door. I'm at my desk a little before 3 p.m. Kind of a long lunch.

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Day 2: Today I'm taking the train. I'm sure it will be easier, quicker and more relaxing to simply walk the block to the Civic Center Red Line station, hop on the subway, transfer in a jiffy to the Gold Line and get to Pasadena in time to meet my friend Louise for lunch.

If only.