Babbo Grande, originally located in Hillcrest has transformed into Babbo’s Bar and Grille, now located in University Heights. I have never been to Babbo Grande before, and based on the reviews online, it seemed like their signature dish is crepes.
From their menu (apology for the blurred images, you can also see the menu on their website) , you can see that they feature a variety of food: frittata(open faced omelets), sandwiches, crepes and pasta. They also offer a $5.55 special, which is available from Monday to Friday. I was struggling between the special and the breakfast plates. At the last moment when the server came over to our table, I decided to take a leap of faith, and ordered the Babbo Breakfast, which is the most basic breakfast plate that comes with choice of bacon, ham or sausages, eggs, toast and a side.
While waiting for our orders to arrive, I looked around the restaurant and found that although it opened only a few months ago, it did not look like the place was a brand new restaurant. After researching on the web, it was once another restaurant, Gulf Coast Grill. I guess they must have bought the place, and redecorated it. Although not brand new, the atmosphere was quite nice.
They have an outside seating area, where you can enjoy your brunch outside in the beautiful weather. Inside the restaurant, it was divided in three areas. As you can see, at the farther end was a seating area with few tables and booth seating. Then there is the bar seating area, and the stairs lead to another area with tables and booths near the half-opened kitchen.
It is a quite welcoming, comfy place for brunch. I really like the half-opened kitchen, that you can take a “peek” at what is going on when the food is getting prepared.
Finally, our food arrived.
My scrambled eggs were a little overcooked and it did not come out fluffy or as tasty as I had hoped. There were more sausages than I was expecting. I think it was because the sausage was sliced then fried, so it was hard to keep them moist and tender. I wish they cooked the sausages without cutting them to slices. My wheat toast was also a little over-toasted. However, I really liked the potatoes, as they were flavorful with spices and onions. They handled the potatoes really well and it was not the normal dry pieces of potatoes just lying on the plate that you wouldn’t care to finish. They were the kind that you can’t stop scooping into your mouth, and you want more.
Darren had the Spinach Frittata which was composed of scrambled eggs with spinach, mushrooms and bacon with cheddar cheese. He wished there were more mushrooms because he loves mushrooms and there could have been a tad bit more cheese. His toast also seemed to be cooked better than mine. Darren, the potato lover, also enjoyed eating the potatoes and finished them off. It looks like he liked his meal more than I did.
Overall it was not a bad dining experience, I enjoyed the atmosphere of the restaurant, and I’ll be honest that I would not come back for the breakfast plate (except for the potatoes). After reading reviews online, I regret that I did not have the crepes instead. I do want to come back and try their crepes sometime.
Babbo’s Bar & Grille
4130 Park Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 546-7100
www.babbosbarandgrille.com
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