Babita Restaurant

Intimate, Elegant, & the food is so incredible you must experience it for yourself! We found this «diamond in the rough» for our Wedding Anniversary & everything was amazing! We had the soup (excellent), Ceviche Margarita (awesome), Sangria (tasty), Chicken Enchilada Mole (chocolate/​cinnamon delight), Chicken/​Shrimp Elba (tangy/​spicy tequila-​lime extravaganza)!
Fine dining is really at its best in this small, classy, & delightful hidden gem in San Gabriel! This is easily the best gourmet hispanic cuisine you will ever find in Southern California! Make reservations, they only have 30 seats to fill for dinner each night!

An incredible, un-​fussy, real, fine dining experience!
Do yourself a favor and just ask Chef Roberto to bring you whatever he wants. You will not be sorry. We had the most delicious, fun, four hour meal, complete with wine and tequila tastings, with the worm to munch on, if that’s your thing.
The scallops were sweet and buttery. The ceviche perfectly delicious. The beans, smooth and flavorful. The warm, hand made, corn tortillas were soft and satisfying, perfect to spread a thin layer of beans, topped with a morsel of swordfish and a drop of the incomparable, fresh salsa.
The duo of soups was surprising; a side by side bowl of roasted scallion and roasted mango soups with two rustic, croutons and a decorative swirl of cream.
Dessert was presented as a wine-​soaked, poached pair, with a semifreddo encasing walnuts and dates, bathed in a goat’s milk dulce de leche, powdered sugar on one side and a swivel of a fig, balsamic reduction on the other. Pure heaven!
If you plan on dining for a long period of time, bring a cushion, the chairs are very hard on the backside.
Settle in, look at the photos in the hallway, and be entertained and delighted by Chef and his wry sense of humor, as he lulls you into a culinary dream from which you hope to never wake.

4 – 4.5 stars. Most of the Unilocal reviews for this spot are highly accurate: an unexpected, cute little find in an area that is predominantly Asian food-​themed.
I took a client here and we ordered a variety of appetizers and mains for lunch. You will enjoy the fact that this is not your typical greasy Mexican eatery. The food seemed to be constructed carefully with attention and expertise. They do have guacamole, which I found to be a bit funny given this is a nicer spot but I suppose guac whips past all different price points.
No issues or hesitations at all with this place. Well, except that they are closed Mondays =(
I’ll be back here for certain!

Don’t let the exterior fool you. This is not your typical Mexican restaurant. Upscale «mexicuisine» prepared by chef Roberto and his wife. And he is a true chef. Presentation rivals any upscale, white table-​cloth bistro in the heart of the city. This was also an Elmer Dills choice.
I ordered the «soup of the day», which was a half-​and-​half bowl of roasted jalapeño soup on one side, and a chile-​spiced mango soup on the other, garnished with edible flowers. I also had the chicken mole enchiladas. The mole sauce was sublime, with the perfect combination of chile and chocolate, and a rich dark brown color. Mama never made mole that good. My friend ordered a grilled swordfish topped with a jalapeño chile relleno, stuffed with Oaxaca and cotija cheeses. And the house made flour tortillas… I wish I could just sit there and eat them fresh, with butter.
And this was just for lunch! I can’t wait to try it again during dinner. The white table cloths and intimate atmosphere (maybe 10 tables in the entire restaurant, making your dining experience quite personalized) would make for a very special date night.

This was my first visit to Babita and the food was phenomenal! There was so much flavor in every dish we ordered and the quaintness of the restaurant made it a warm and friendly experience. I highly recommend this restaurant for a taste of latin gourmet dining.

The best Mexican food in the area. Little hole in the wall place. The chef comes to the table and explains the specials. He is pure genius. His seasonal Chile relano with pomegranate is absolutely brilliant. Well curated menu. Daily soups are out of the world. Today we had a split plate of papaya and spinach cream soup (take on sweet and spicy). Did I say the chef is a genius?

Birthday at Babita! Sounds like the title of a classic Doris Day/​Rock Hudson movie but actually describes a magical evening celebrating the birth of Unilocaler extraordinaire Gary I. Six of us gathered at this lovely dining room for a delicious and entertaining dinner thanks to Chef Roberto Berrelleza, who interspersed his amazing dishes with hysterical one-​liners and jokes and stories that made our meal unforgettable.
The setting: an intimate feeling with white linen, beautifully folded napkins, fancy without being stuffy.
The wine: a fantastic wine list featuring some of the best Mexican wines that will hold their own with wines from anywhere in the world
The dishes: classic Mexican dishes, impeccably prepared. During pomegranate season, you must order the famous Chiles en Nogada, the national dish of Mexico: roasted chilies stuffed with a divine mix of fruit and pork, lovingly topped with a rich creamy nut sauce and sprinkled with pomegranates. Long live the Red, White and Green!
And the ceviche sope Witusi was an incredibly fresh, tangy twist on this classic appetizer.
But the tortillas! These may be the best tortillas ever. Take a little piece, dip it in the sauce from the Chiles en Nogada, and you will have one of the most delightful morsels of food you will ever experience.
Babita would be an excellent selection for second or third date or for celebrating an anniversary or birthday. Call for reservations:
. Street parking.

Great Mexican cuisine in my opinion the best in California although this is the first time that I Unilocal this place I have been here at least 4 times this year. The food is delicious very flavorful the service also great and owner operated the Chef takes great pride in his dishes. The best place to come on a date night you will not second guess your choice.

It’s hard to find authentic tasting upscale Yucatan food and this place has it. It’s very small and unassuming, but the food is top notch and unique in flavor. The service was great. Don’t be confused or put off by the décor for one second! The staff and the food is absolutely exceptional.

Celebrated a birthday with my girlfriends here last month. Such a great ambience when you have a lot to talk about! Very private and quiet place to have dinner. No loud annoying drunk people or loud music…
Perfect place to catch up with friends!
The dishes were exquisite! OMG every single thing we tried was unbelievably amazing!!! Will definitely come back!
We tried the following; chips/​home made salsa, sopa tres quesos (3 cheese soup) yellow peppers filled with salmon, a huarache (Nopal with ceviche on top), enchiladas de mole con pollo, sope, and THE SANGRIA! OMG you will not be disappointed!
The owner/​chef and his wife are very sweet and accommodating! Definitely a fan of this place!

This restaurant should be a destination. They are friendly, they accommodate your needs (kids). I’m pleasantly full and planing my return before i leave. You will not regret it! Just come.

The best authentic Mexican restaurant hands down because the chef is amazing. The place is very intimate and unassuming. Walking in you wouldn’t expect it but this is easily a five star culinary experience. Chef Roberto is amazing and he usually will come out and interact with guests which really adds to the experience.

I am an absolute fan of this place!
OUTSTANDING! OFF THE CHAINS!
It is the best Mexican food EVER… every dish is made with the utmost tender loving care!
I cannot even start to describe how good it is… you MUST go there and experience PURE DELIGHT!
You have to have their Ice Cream with Jalapenos and Tequila… No Kidding… it is out of this world!
Yes, it is a small place — husband & wife team — but most professional. It should have a Michelin Star!

One of my favorite restaurants ever!
A single dinner service and an intimate ambiance that combines hole-​in-​the-​wall with something classier makes this a favorite place for a low key celebration.
The food is delicious, complex, intense, and beautifully presented. It’s not the quickest from order to eating, but the intense and sublime South Mexican flavors more than make up for it.

I went back, during lunch time recently, and had the salmon with a zucchini relish — delish!

Very delicious authentic Mex Food! By far most authentic and you can taste the fresh ingredients! The chef is very friendly he comes to talk to you about what’s the best of best in his own menu created by his creations.

This tiny hole in the wall that you would likely miss if you weren’t looking for it, is one of the great Hidden gems of San Gabriel Valley.
In the industrial section of San Gabriel next to a Wienerschnitzel, in a slightly rundown building with the blue door hides some really great food!
It has only 24 seats in the main dining room of this Zagat’s highly rated White tablecloth and napkin restaurant.
Owner/​Chef Roberto will likely come out to tell you what what he’s serving today in addition to the regular menu. He’s a really great guy as well as a fantastic cook.
I always start with the soup. Sopa Nueva which is almost always a dual soup.
It’s a very viscous soups with one side sweet the other savory like pumpkin and mushrooms. They are always fantastic!
Rather than go into the details of one of of the many meals here. Let me just say that this is a place that you need to experience.
Everything is always fresh and cooked to perfection.
I usually order whatever he’s making that day and supplement it with something off the menu that I haven’t tried.
I have not been disappointed!
Simply the best Mexican restaurant I’ve ever eaten in.

This place has awesome food. I went last night for dinner, and everything was good, from the sopa to the sautéed mushrooms to the barbacoa to the dessert. The barbacoa in particular was mouth-​watering good, with the meat so fluffy and tender and soft that it just peeled off and fell apart perfectly when I bit into it.
The chef-​owner was very friendly, too, and came out to chat and explain the different menu items.
Love this place!

DROP EVERYTHING THAT YOU’RE DOING RIGHT NOW!
come here to get the Chiles en nogada! It’s their seasonal special. When I took a bite into it, I was in heaven. Seriously!
The presentation and flavors of the entrée was great. The chef himself came out with the dishes we ordered! There was all this sweetness bursting out of it from the pomegranate and it was drenched in goat cheese. *perfect combo!* It’s not spicy at all.
The restaurant itself is very small, but very nice on the inside. I had no idea this restaurant existed and I’ve driven by it on several occasions. Located on the corner, you won’t be able to miss the bright BLUE door. This restaurant is definitely on the FANCY side. Perfect place to take a date. :)
The cost for one plate is around $ 26– $ 28 dollars.

It’s a cozy little restaurant that you can easily miss. Once inside it looks like a house converted into a restaurant and really defines a mom and pop restaurant.
The service was very warm and the food was pretty delicious:
Appetizers:
Guava and Pea soup: ⁵⁄₅ — You must get this… simply amazing
Calimari Steak with Habenero sauce– ⁴⁄₅ — It was big pieces of calamari. Very spicy!
Main course:
Chicken with Shrimp in sauce: ⁵⁄₅ — So tender and flavorful
Seasonal Chile Rilleno with Pomgranite — ³⁄₅ — All the other people in the restaurant ordered this and loved it, but the flavors weren’t quite right for me.
Overall I enjoyed my meal but I will take 1 star off because it was rather pricey ($ 100 for 2)

I’d recommend this dish. It is a specialty plate the owners suggest to their clients. It is a Stuffed Chile Relleno. The white sauce is delicious and the Cranberries on top is the perfect touch.

An unassuming, whole-​in-​the-​wall, literally «mom and pop» restaurant serving Latin American-​inspired creative cuisine. The chef/​owner regularly comes out to chat after your meal. The dishes are refined and taste like French-​Contemporary style fine dining, albeit of Latin American flavors. Most dishes taste exquisite, are quite expensive, and come out extremely slow. Be prepared for a very long dinner if you come in a larger party.
#FOOD
Recently I came and had the SOPA NUEVA (soup of the day), in which I was served pureed jalapeño and guava, side by side like Yin & Yang, for a delicious, unique, sweet and savory concoction.
My table ordered a GUACAMOLE appetizer as well. It was made fresh, and came out about 30 minutes after ordering. It took unacceptably long, but tasted very high quality and fresh, which seems to characterize Babita quite well. #DELICIOUSLY-​SLOW
My entrée, the COLOSSAL SCALLOP & FILET MIGNON, came out about 1 hour after ordering. I requested medium, but the texture was medium well. The beef was still tender, though, although a bit dry. I would probably get medium rare, if I ordered this again.
In the past, I’ve once ordered the seasonal CHILES EN NOGADA, which I recall tasting very rich, decadent, and a mix of sweet (with pomegranate seeds) and savory. Babita plays with sweet & savory a lot in its dishes, and the Chiles en Nogada is a great example.
#EXPENSIVE
Most of the appetizers cost around $ 10 – 15 each, and most of the entrees cost around $ 25 – 30 each. If you order an appetizer plus entrée, you will most likely be pretty full. If you order only an entrée (and snack on the complimentary chips and salsa), you will probably be satisfied and not too full.
I definitely intend to return to Babita for more, however it will have to be reserved for special occasions due to the cost.
Reservations highly recommended.

It’s my birthday and slave girl said it’s on her. Oh hells yeah, let’s find something super expensive! Ok, just kidding. Really though, I just wanted something nice and somewhere we wouldn’t usually go to. We have passed by Babita many times but never had a reason to go in because the $$$ from Unilocal scared us a little. Well, it’s birthday dinner and truly, I have never had a real Mexican cuisine before. That’s how we end up here.
Up on arriving the front door, I was still a little worried because it really looks like some kind of residence extension. Can this really be a restaurant? The moment I opened the door, all worries went out of the window. It was cozy with dim light inside and Christmas music were playing. I was excited and ready for some amazing food.
After the Chef/​owner Roberto came out to tell us about the special for the day, I went lazy mode and asked for Mexican omakase. say what?!! You didn’t think it’s possible?! Well I did and Roberto told me to just sit back and relax, he would take care of me. As a true chef and passion for food, he did. We had 4 courses with wine pairing by his design, ended the night with the best desert ever, a vanilla ice cream with habanero in it on top of a chocolate flan. While all of his food was fantastic, I do want to mention, his soup of the day is truly to die for. He changed it all the time based on what he can get. The one we had was half mushroom and half guava. It was full of flavors as if you are eating them except in liquid form. The texture was also interesting, one was smooth while the other one was, well, guava! And the presentation of the soup beats the fancy latte any day.
We got to the resturant around 7:30, we chatted with Roberto, then his daughter Elba (Shrimp and Chicken Elba is a must try btw), we didn’t leave until 11:20. And they closed at 9. Can we say one of the best birthday dinner ever?
A final note, $$$ wasn’t all that $$$. Appetizer runs about $ 10 an item, dinner goes around $ 25 a plate. Well worth it.

It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but wow, instead this small dining place sure has great food and a very homey feeling. The owner is the chef and his wife handles everything else.
My boss is a regular here for years and for his 25^th anniversary with our company, it seemed fitting to celebrate at one of his favorite restaurants. Definitely try to come a little earlier than noon for lunch, since there is limited seating here.
We started with some fresh guacamole, ceviche sope, and fried bananas. Complimentary fresh chips and salsa were brought to the table. The guacamole was so creamy and fresh, but beware that the small cup of salsa that accompanies the guacamole gives you a kick in the butt. I was saving room for my entrée so I didn’t try the ceviche, but I heard it was very delicious. The fried bananas felt like a dessert, with crème oozing from the middle of the bananas and a slightly caramelized exterior.
I ordered the steak picado, which were seared steak tips in a combination of garlic, white wine, tomato and bell pepper sauce. It also came with a side of what looked and tasted like black beans pureed in a mini tostada on top of spanish rice. Very tender steak. So good that I didn’t have any left to take home (there goes portion control)!
I also have to mention their sopa nueva. My boss let me try a spoonful from his order and it was very rich and satisfying. Dual soups in one bowl kind of an order, you are told not to mix the two at any point of your visit. One side was a mushroom with roasted potato kind of soup and the other was a rich fig soup. Both very complimentary, surprisingly. I definitely want to come back to order one of my very own!
They also ended the meal by bringing a flan dessert with candle. We toasted to my boss’s milestone and to many more and shared the very decadently yummy flan.
This definitely is not your burritos and tacos kind of place. Expect carefully crafted dishes made as if you were dining in the chef’s own home with the warm service of being in such company!

Extremely easy to miss, this place is on a corner in San Gabriel. You would not expect to see a fine dining Mexican restaurant here but yet, it is there. It looks like it could be someone’s house and once you step in, it still looks like someone’s house. It’s extremely dated but it really makes the food stand out. Hopefully they’ll modernize the restaurant one of these days.
Sopa Nueva — From my understanding, this soup changes everyday. They try to pick one savory soup and one sweet soup so the combo we had was mushroom and peach. The presentation is gorgeous. Love the «yin and yang» look. The taste is also interesting since you have the duo of sweet and savory. I would share this with 2 – 3 people. It’s not something you can eat a lot of.
Ceviche Cope — Nice, crunchy and fresh, it’s a nice starter. I like the ingredients and herbs that were used. It’s small so it’s about 1 – 2 servings.
Sauteed Colossal Seascallops — Giant scallops with squid ink, very good. Yes it will turn your teeth black but the flavor is phenomenal. The delicate scallop really marries well with the salty squid ink. Not for the first date, but then again, maybe it should be.
Fresh Red Snapper Sauteed — Delicate fish cooked well. It was a bit lack luster but it wasn’t bad. If you’re not very adventurous, I would say this is a good safe dish but nothing special.
++The fresh tortillas are so good. The texture is totally different and I love how they use both white and blue corn to make it so again, you get the «yin and yang» play.
++Did I mention their fresh chips and salsa? The salsa is spicy and delicious and the chips are hot.

I was treated here for a b day dinner. I was told it was featured in LA times as one of the best Mexican restaurant in LA. I had to try it. Was it good? Yes. Was it the best? Not sure. Since it is not your typical tacos and burritos.
I got the enchilada with poblano sauce? Sort of sweet taste to it. The mixed tortilla was good. Half blue corn and half yellow. Def’ interesting. Not your average Mexican dining exp.
Everything tasted home made and owners were friendly. My thoughts? Give it a try if you havent.