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Pasadena restaurant known for helping community gets broken into

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Published  January 8, 2026 5:34pm PST
Pasadena
FOX 11
Pasadena restaurant broken into

Pasadena restaurant broken into

A Pasadena restaurant known for helping the community during the Eaton fires was burglarized over the New Year’s holiday weekend, with thieves stealing a speaker and food items.

The Brief

    • A Pasadena restaurant known for helping the community during the Eaton fires was burglarized over the New Year’s weekend, with thieves stealing a speaker and food items.
    • The break-in is especially painful for staff, including employee Nicolle Charity, whose family lost two homes in the fires and who recently helped serve free holiday meals.
    • In response, community members have stepped up to offer support, reinforcing the restaurant’s mission as both a café and a resource center.

PASADENA, Calif. - A Pasadena restaurant that made headlines by helping the community during the Eaton fires now needs help. The business was broken into sometime between Friday and Saturday. Burglars took a speaker and retail food items.

"We probably would have given them [the items] if they needed them," said employee Nicolle Charity.

Neighbors and Friends is as much a café as it is a resource center. The business serves food, but part of its mission is to receive donations and share them with the community.

FOX 11 featured the restaurant shortly after the Eaton fires, when staff set up a hub offering free food, toiletries and other support for those affected.

All of this happened while Charity’s own family lost two homes to the flames.

The restaurant was still serving free holiday meals last month, making the New Year’s break-in especially painful. "It’s heartbreaking," Charity said.

Word has spread, and the community has stepped up to help. People have been stopping by and asking what they can do. An online fundraiser has since been set up for those looking to help.

Charity said she is overwhelmed with gratitude.

The break-in is not just about the items taken. It also involves a broken window and insurance claims that will likely lead to higher rates. More than that, Charity said, it reopens old wounds — and reinforces the belief that the community will show up to help once again.

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