Dining in Glendora

Not all foothill communities are the same, and to satisfy my curiousity, I decided to visit Glendora over the weekend. I had never been there, and knew that many people had spoken about moving there, and being able to find affordable housing. I knew they had a main street similar to Monrovia's, and wanted to see for myself. I rolled in on a Saturday afternoon, a time when I would have expected to see some activity. As I drove up the street, I looked at the shops on either side...they were even more authentic than I had imagined. And by "authentic" I mean unchanged for 40 years...I'm sure this isn't true for all of them, but I am speaking of an overall impression. People speak of Monrovia seeming like a small town, but I half expected to see a tumble-weed roll down the street.

My initial excitement turned into a mild curiousity, and hunger drove me into "The Vault", a long-time eatery that looked better from the outside. They were serving after 2 p.m., so I wasn't going to be picky. Well, as it turned out, they didn't pay me much attention, and barely wiped the table off. To their credit, they serve a decent sandwich, but all the loud noise, from slightly raised voices to the crashing of metal from dismantling some sort of buffet table had me wondering if they had forgotten that anyone was still trying to eat. The waitress spoke in whispered tones, and apparently her dollar tip from the last diner wasn't important to pick up off the table at any point during my meal. The last straw was the running of the vacuum before I had finished even my first half of my sandwich. Next time I'll get mine to go!