Main Street's brick storefronts carry stacked Chinese and Vietnamese signage, and The Brothers Sun filmed a driving scene along it.
What Downtown Alhambra looks like
Main Street runs as Alhambra's downtown commercial strip, lined with tall queen palms and Mexican fan palms between one and two storey brick storefronts. Newer three and four storey mixed use buildings, ground floor retail under apartments, break up the older blocks toward Garfield Avenue. Storefront signs stack English lettering over Chinese or Vietnamese characters for most of the run, with backlit and neon signs over restaurant entrances.
At 1000 East Main Street, keeps its 1941 Moderne storefront. A scalloped stucco parapet curves over the corner entrance, and a neon sign shows a waiter rushing a burger. A block off Main at 17 South First Street, rises in glazed terra cotta and multicolored brick, an Italian Renaissance facade from 1929 now fronting a dance hall. Near Garfield Avenue, the storefront at 43 East Main Street shows decorative pillars and ornamental urns behind a partly removed later facade.
West of Atlantic Boulevard, Main Street becomes Auto Row. New car dealership showrooms run about seven blocks to at 1811 West Main Street. The franchises include Acura, BMW, Honda, Kia, Nissan and Toyota. Broad glass showrooms and open lots replace the two storey storefronts of the blocks nearer Garfield Avenue.
Sidewalk tables sit outside restaurants beneath an ornamental street clock. Dim sum, Shanghainese and Vietnamese menus post alongside American diners and chain coffee shops on the same blocks.
Shot in Downtown Alhambra
Netflix's The Brothers Sun filmed a driving and motorbike sequence on West Main Street. The scene passes , the seafood restaurant chain outlet on that block.
The Brothers Sun, 2024
West Main Street
Charles's driving scene and a motorbike sequence in the Netflix series run along West Main Street. The route passes The Boiling Crab, the seafood restaurant chain outlet on this block.
What Downtown Alhambra can double for
Bolsa Avenue in Westminster, California
Bolsa Avenue's Little Saigon has the same run of one and two storey strip retail signed mostly in Vietnamese, without Alhambra's mix of Chinese storefronts alongside it. Bolsa Avenue's blocks sit back from the curb behind parking lots, so a tighter sidewalk level frame reads closer to Main Street's storefronts. Try searching Vietnamese strip retail storefronts now.
Flushing's own Main Street is a bilingual Chinese commercial strip of two and three storey buildings with stacked signage, at a much bigger scale than Alhambra's blocks. Flushing draws heavier foot traffic and a subway entrance that Alhambra does not have, so a quieter block or a narrower crop keeps the comparison honest. Try searching bilingual Chinese stacked signage now.
Argyle Street's storefronts carry a mix of Vietnamese and Chinese signage over one and two storey buildings, a similar scale to Alhambra's Main Street blocks. An elevated train runs over Argyle Street itself, which has no equivalent here, so keep it out of a wide shot standing in for Alhambra. Try searching Vietnamese Chinese storefront signage now.
Alexandra Road in Richmond, British Columbia
Alexandra Road's retail plazas carry dense Chinese signage over one and two storey buildings, though the buildings themselves are boxier suburban plazas rather than Main Street's older storefronts. Keep the palm trees out of frame, since Richmond's climate and street trees read colder and greener than Alhambra's. Try searching Chinese signage suburban plazas now.
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