The bar at Trejo’s newest cantina in Pasadena was standing room only, as was the large dining room. Theater patrons were sipping one last drink, before seeing the first show of the Pasadena Playhouse season – “Our Town.” Located adjacent to the playhouse, the cantina is an ideal spot to drop in for  pre-theater  drinks and dinner.

The colorful interior is decorated with Mexican blankets. (photo by Jill Weinlein)

The face of Danny Trejo, the actor and namesake of the restaurant is featured throughout the dining room. Best known for his roles in movies including “Machete” and “From Dusk till Dawn,” he’s one of the driving forces behind this venture, which continues to expand. Trejo told me once, “I’d rather shoot for the moon and miss, then aim for the gutter and make it.” In my opinion he isn’t missing at all.

The first Trejo’s Tacos on La Brea Avenue opened in 2016 by partners Trejo, Jeff Georgino and film producer Ash Shah. Georgino and Shah met while roommates at the University of Southern California. Shah and Trejo became friends on the set of the movie “Bad Ass.” Together they make quite a team.

Soon after the success of Trejo’s Tacos, they opened Trejo’s Cantina in Hollywood on Cahuenga Boulevard. You may have also seen Trejo’s food truck cruising around or the bright pink Trejo’s Coffee & Donuts logo painted on the side of their location on Santa Monica Boulevard and Highland Avenue ,selling creative donuts like Coco Loco, Low Rider and the Maple Pig with bacon. The coffee drinks are all made with Trejo Coffee.

The cantina in the historic Playhouse District in Pasadena offers sit down service with a more expansive menu and a full bar.

Trejo’s serves several beers on tap, including Made West’s pale ale and Eagle Rock Brewery’s Populist IPA. Besides cerveza, they also offer a variety of unique margaritas with names that include The Good Stuff made with Grand Marnier or the Pink Señorita made with Blanco tequila, strawberry lemonade, triple sec and fresh lime.

A variety of horchatas, fresh aguas frescas and Mexican Coke are offered, as well as a Cochata made with Trejo Coffee cold brew mixed with horchata.

We sat near the kitchen along a banquette with colorful Mexican blankets hanging on the back wall.

A basket of extra crispy chips in a chip warmer and salsa were delivered to our table. The chunky brick red colored salsa is made the night before with roasted tomatoes and tomatillos. The fresh guacamole is made each morning using serrano chiles, chopped pistachios, lemon and chopped onions, offering an appealing crunch.

We started with the Brussels sprouts, quesadilla and street corn. The Brussels sprouts are dusted in corn starch and flash fried before dazzled with a red chimichurri sauce. When the street corn arrived in a bowl, we noticed perfectly grilled corn kernels cut off the cob and topped with chipotle cream and popcorn.

What makes Trejo’s quesadilla different is that it’s stuffed with crispy deep fried chicken, Mexican slaw and chilies. It’s served with a tangy, hot chipotle crema dipping sauce.

Trejo’s is known for their street tacos, so we ordered a couple for the table. On the menu there are multiple meat, vegetarian and vegan options. For meat lovers they make slowly cooked carnitas with red onions; brisket; and steak asada tacos. For seafood tacos they make blackened salmon, Baja fish and spicy shrimp. They also make a grilled chicken with achiote, slaw and pico de gallo.

I was curious about the young jackfruit taco. Where else can you order a jackfruit taco? It arrived in a soft corn tortilla with Mexican slaw, avocado cream, crunchy tortilla strips and pico de gallo. Jackfruit has become a new superfood in the vegan world. It’s a healthy and sustainable meat alternative that offers sweet and earthy flavors. It tastes a little bit like pineapple, hearts of palm and kimchi.

The vegan Mexi-falafel taco has three falafel balls made of beans, chilies and spice and are topped with shredded kale, pickled pink onion swirls and dollops of cashew cream.

The grilled chicken is served with grilled lime wedges, sliced onions, peppers and flour tortillas wrapped in foil to keep warm.

The table next to us ordered burritos, which are massive here and come in five varieties.

Needing a quick dessert before the show, we ordered the cinnamon churros. They arrived hot and crispy around the edges  with chocolate and strawberry dipping sauce.

Danny Trejo and his team are soaring high with another successful cantina. $$ 1556 N. Cahuenga Blvd. (323)461-8226 and 37 S. El Molino Ave. (626)792-4441. Trejo’s Tacos – 1048 S. La Brea Ave. (323)938-TACO and Trejo’s Coffee & Donuts – 6785 Santa Monica Blvd. (323)462-4600.