Baby’s Eatery and Palabok

In Excelsior, between Avalon and Persia, there were 3 Filipino restaurants. I say were because I’m not sure if Goldilocks is open anymore. Regardless, as of last month there were 3 — Pampangenua Cuisine for a sit down wait service experience, Goldilocks for a cafeteria style but with name plates, and Baby’s for the people who know what they want.
From my perspective, if you are the least bit curious how can you not want Baby’s? From the open window getting you a great whiff of all the food, to the complete lack of information when you enter, and never an empty seat in the tiny place, Baby’s has to be good. Right, lady wrist deep in crab?
Unless you really know what you want, just order it. They’ll have it or you can see it. Usually the regulars have some sort of soup, or getting some seafood dish. If you like variety I suggest asking for a combination — they’ll grab a plastic container and fill it with rice and your two choices. If you have questions, just ask — the staff is very friendly and were very patient as I had a lot of questions and kept adding to my order.
I usually get the adobo pork because I LOVE adobo pork. I like Pampangenua’s better, but if I’m in a hurry or being cheap this will more than do. I’ve also tried the longaniza sausage (bright red and full of flavor), a stewed chicken, and most recently tried binagoongang baboy: pork in shrimp paste. I’ve been curious to try this dish and glad I tried it at a smaller, affordable portion than getting a full sized dish. While great fresh, by the time I got home the now shrimp-​flavored pork wasn’t to my liking. Still glad I finally tried it, and that’s what I love about Baby’s — it let’s me increase my Filipino palette without dropping a lot of money.
Before you go, always consider picking up some lumpia and/​or turon. I believe the lumpia are 4 for $ 1, and the turon are a $ 1 each. See, affordable. The lumpia are pretty good, and the turon is a delicious snack. It also led me to utter the phrase «No dog, that’s my turon!» when I got home.
If you want something consistent and «safer,» stick with Pampangenua. When you’re ready to try something you still don’t know what it is or how to pronounce, come to Baby’s.

Fantastic food. Every. Single. Time.

Super small spot in the mission. Got some food to go. It was ok. Nothing to brag about, sad to say. Had the adobo and caldareta… i think…

I told a friend that he should try this place since I ate there once in 2001 and the food was great. We went there today and what a disappointment. We both had pork adobo with steam rice and a side order of small lumpias. The rice luke warm and lumpy. The pork adobe was cold, flavorless, contain raisins (never had raisin in other pork adobe) and it lack sauce. The lumpias were soggy. I know its a small place and you take your chances where you sit. I literally had peoples butts in my face! A big turn off was that one of the cooks was using a toothpick while stirring behind the counter.

Do not come here. to all you new San Francisco people. I repeat do not come here. I was waiting for bus 14 and was waiting and idk for some reason I don’t like this place. The chicken adobo was out. Mice crawling every where !!! I mean they are black and grey just eating and they have mice. Ewwwww!!!

OMG! I bought hella food from here cuz it taste good but i was really upset when i bought turon because i saw hair inside it. Its nasty and disgusting. Also im pregnant i just feel like i just wanna fucking throw up. I’m really glad that this shit happened now than later cuz i was planning to order food from here for my baby shower but thats not goin to happen anymore. Its disgusting. I dont trust this place.

Great place for quick filipino food! Owners are very friendly as they always give me a few extra pieces of lumpia or turon! I usually order their lumpia when I am hosting a party. $ 25 for 100 pieces. Great deal. Save the hassle of preparation and frying but I must say the lumpias used to be twice the size!
Anyway, lumpias were a hit at my party. I just changed the dipping sauce to sweet chili sauce instead. I don’t like the sweet and sour sauce they provide.
CASH ONLY!

This is place is literally a hole in the wall eatery.. I usually walk by this place when walking through Mission Street. You will have to pay attention when you are looking for this place, because you can miss it. If you are hungry for an authentic Filipino food this is the place to go, I had ordered the party platter lumpia and it is always great. The barbeque on a stick are my kid’s favorite. We always do take out when buying here, because the place is very small and we prefer to eat at home feeling less cramped than eating in this very, very, small place. I won’t put down the size of the place, so I will not deduct a star. Overall the food is good.

Horrible service, I asked for my call-​in order 4 times and was ignored every time, they then proceeded to help customers who came in after me. I ended up leaving, I will not spend money at a business who ignores their patrons.

The place us tiny, but the prices and delicious food are the real draw. The BBQ skewers are packed with yummy marinated meat, chicken or pork. It’s worth squeezing through to pick what you want. I suggest taking your food to go and then devour all that goodness.

I like that it’s small family owned business and they have tons of different dishes to get. The lumpia is expensive. 4 for $ 1 and are okay. They were hot and fresh so they tasted good, but I’ve had better.

Pretty much tried all the various dishes here and all of them satisfied to delight the palate. Always ordered to go since the place is small, too tight to eat in but what really counts is the food. Wish they open on Sunday.

4 for $ 1 Lumpias are THEE bomb. Sometimes if you get $ 1, they give you more than 4. Can’t get any cheaper/​better than that! Their sauce though, heavy coloring. One drop on your finger and it’s stained!
(Please excuse me for not knowing the names of food)
–I’ve had the chicken adobo here. It taste like teriyaki chicken…
–There’s this meatloaf with hard boiled egg in it. Sometimes dry, but it’s ok.
+Meat skewers are gooood.
+If you come near closing, the guy gives you free fried banana or some other fried variety. (Trying to rid of what’s left) But he’s also nice enough to give extra lumpia: D
Misc:
–CASH ONLY!!!
–Owners there are super nice. Though they look angry sometimes, they aren’t mean.
–VERY cramped space. You could say it’s so cramp that you and another customer would look intimate.

Their food is really delicious, especially the lumpia. It’s the best I’ve tasted so far. My only complain is the place and the price. It’s expensive and they give out very little food. And the place is small and not a good place to hang out if you wanna eat with friends. I recommend just buying food there if you’re gonna get it «to go».

I used to get my food catered by them for many years. All was great for the longest which is why in fairness I am giving them atleast 3 stars. It all started with ordering lumpias. I ordered 300 lumpias 2wks. before for my daughter’s 1^st birthday. They said they would have it ready and I just have to pay in advance, set a time for pick up so they can just bring it out the day of. I AM ON A TIME CRUNCH so I called 30 minutes prior to let them know I am on my way. The man tells me that there was no order on file. Mind you, this was already paid for in advance. Now he gets crackin’ with the order and that it will be ready in 10 mins. I called again 10 mins and it was still not ready as they have over 300 lumpias to cook. To make the long story short… It took total of almost 45 mins. to get everything and some of the lumpias tasted old and stale. This last major screw up sure broke the camel’s back. I have decide to finally drop them for good as they have serious lack of communication between the owner who takes the order and the staff… S-​U-​C-​K-​S!
Because I believe on giving people the benefit of doubt, I tried to let things slide but this was not the first screw up. Previous screw up: 1– They gave my order to someone else who decided to up their order. The staff was thinking they would have enough time to make more BUT then they ran out of lumpias so now my order was short AND had to wait longer since it was not ready.
2– The owner lost my order and they don’t have enough lumpias AGAIN…
It’s sad but sometimes it’s just best to go elsewhere. They are not worth the aggravation!
Props to them. They FINALLY stopped taking orders over the phone as per staff «OWNER tends to misplaced order slips!»…YIKES!

I’ve never tried Filipino lumpia before. When a coworker brought some in, I was amazed by how delicious these little rolls are. I couldn’t get enough and at this point, I’m ready to have this restaurant’s lumpia for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s so darn good and addictive.

A little mom and pop hole in the wall. Extremely cramped, and at most 3 tiny tables for one in the whole area. Also need to move aside for people to go in and out.
This was a little treat of mine since middle school! Walking down here and ordering some lumpia as a snack before trotting back home in that big backpack of mine.
The prices for lumpia remain the same — 25 cent a piece, and if you order a few dollars worth, they’re always very generous and throw extras in the bag for you :)
Note that they don’t have a menu, so you might need to know tagalog to order the other dishes. OR you can just point at the items that you want, which I’m too shy to do: P lol

If a person were to step into Baby’s Eatery with a bad cold, they’d have every reason to suspect it was nothing special. The décor is plain to the point of being nonexistent, the food is greasy looking and sitting in steamer trays, and the interior is cramped and a bit dim. I know, because I was that person. I desperately needed some food before a swing shift at my old job and I thought something that translates approximately to yolo, went on in, and got a steaming to-​go order of Adobo and Lumpia.
Surprise twist: The food is fantastic. It’s like Yamo from an alternate universe, where the cooking is Filipino and you don’t have to wait forty minutes for a damn seat. Everything from their pancit bihon to their ube buko is fanfuckingtastic. Enough cannot be said about their Lumpia that you can order in large quantities for other events: they are the best.
Now, whenever I walk by and get a whiff, it’s all I can do not to be drawn in like a moth to a bug zapper. Now that they have a fancy new sign over their rather unassuming exterior, I’m hoping they’ll get more business and extend their hours so that I can enjoy them when I’m drunk hungry, too.

Ano na? *punto*… Ano na? *punto*… Ano na? *punto*
Who am I kidding??? I don’t even know what the above means, much less know how to write it (Thank You Google Translator). Besides, «IF» I knew how to write that I wouldn’t have to do the «point and ask» method to figure out what were in the steam trays at Baby’s Eatery and Palabok…
On Saturday, 3.5.11, I had a ravenous craving for Kare-​Kare (my Filipino go-​to dish). Since I had to stop by the Wells Fargo on Ocean Avenue, I decided to stop by Baby’s Eatery and Palabok (Goldilock’s down the street just doesn’t cut it). I had the case of the Lazy Saturdays, so I didn’t come until 5 PM (closes at 6 PM).
BE&P is the epitome of a Mom & Pop, hole-​in-​the wall restaurant. It’s SMALL (even smaller than some walk-​in closets), CRAMPED (3 tables) and SEMI-​CLEAN (by hole-​in-​the-​wall standards – I didn’t see any flies flying around the food) serving home-​style Filipino food. Filipino cuisine is NOT for the health conscious. Although very comforting, most of the dishes are extremely rich and fatty which may clog an artery or two. So, this is not everyday fare unless you want to be on the Fast Track to getting a Triple Bypass.
BE&P doesn’t have a menu posted and all the food is showcased in the steam trays. I eat Filipino food on occasion and most things looked familiar but I couldn’t pinpoint the exact names, so I had to do the novice «point and ask» method.
You can either order the entrees in small or large sizes or as a combo rice plate. CASH ONLY!
Because it was so late in the day, they sold out of the Kare-​Kare and only had 4 – 5 items left so I ordered small orders (8 oz. container — $ 6.50) of the following:
F O O D:
*BINAGOONGAN (Pork in Shrimp Paste): OK.
The pork belly was fork tender and fatty. It was stewed in a salty, tangy and very pungent shrimp paste sauce. You definitely need to eat the Binagoogan with white rice to help balance out the boldness of the salt.
*PORK ADOBO (Braised Pork in Vinegar & Garlic): ARTERY-​CLOGGING GOODNESS!
Savory, Salty, Tangy and Garlicky with a Kick! You can tell the pork adobo had been simmering on the stove for a long time as the vinegar and garlic had infused into the layers of the pork belly. The layers of fat created a melt-​in-​your-​mouth tenderness to the pork, as well as, showered the meat with rich porky flavor.
This dish is was extremely fatty and it’s a good thing there was a good amount of vinegar to provide a burst of acidity to help balance some of the richness. There was also a good amount of black pepper to give your taste buds a kick.
Fyi, a small entrée can easily feed 2 people. The Pork Adobo lasted 3 meals because it was so rich and I still have the Binagoogan (enough for 2 meals) sitting in my fridge which will be going to waste. :X
If you’re looking for cheap home-​style Filipino food to feed your soul without having to make a trip to DC, I highly recommend paying a visit to BE&P!

I’m all for hole in the wall spots. I’m all for supporting my countrymen. But this place will not be revisited.
My brother has been wanting to try this place, all b/​c of Unilocal and everyone’s rave reviews for it. I was actually excited after reading all the reviews and knew that palabok HAD to be ordered, b/​c it’s their namesake afterall.
First off, this place is literally a HOLE IN THE WALL. Honestly I don’t know how they pass their safety inspections. The place was full with the table right by the door taken and a line in the small aisle. If a fire had broken out I fear for the people in the back that were rolling lumpia. Not only that, but the poor lola who was at that front table. Everyone in line had their butts mere inches from her face and food. YUCK!
So my brother is not fluent whatsoever in Tagalog, neither am I, but I have enough in my vocabulary to get me by. So he asked for palabok and there was miscommunication going on b/​c he got the idea they didn’t have any?! Like what? isn’t palabok in your name? So instead he got the chicken adobo and rice. We also both got ukoy. It was my turn and I tried again and asked for palabok. She understood me and I looked and looked for the palabok sauce… b/​c it was no where to be seen. She dished out the noodles and I still didn’t see any sauce… until she reached UNDER the counter and dished me up some palabok sauce. Really? UNDER the counter? UNDER the cooktop? oh my! And for all that we spent $ 17. HOLY WOW!
I tried to give it the benefit of the doubt, brought it home and had high hopes, thanks to Unilocal.The adobo didn’t have enough «sabaw» sauce to my liking and tasted more like soy sauce than the vinegary goodness that adobo is. The palabok sauce was oily and very tasteless. The only star was the ukoy but even then it was cold, I’m wondering how long it had been sitting under the heat lamp? Sure travel time should be equated into cold factor, but we literally live 5 minutes from here and it should have at least been warm when we got home. Nope. Cold.
Another place we don’t need to wonder about. More power to them for staying afloat all these years. I was just NOT impressed and neither was my palate, nor was my wallet.