Trip to the US: Lunch at Babbo's Pizzeria, Stanford Shopping Center

After checking into the hotel, we headed out for a bite. It was around 4pm at that time & we weren't sure what's good around the hotel area & what restaurants/diners are still opened at that time. It was supposedly our lunch by the way...

One of the nearest malls is the Stanford Shopping Center. The shopping centers here are unlike the malls that we have back in Malaysia. It's more alike the strip malls - no aircon & individual shops/restaurants. It didn't really matter that the shopping centers here do not have aircon since the weather's cool during this time of the year :) The outdoors is like 16C aircon back home!

After going around for a while, we decided to just try out Babbo's Pizzeria. The little Mediterranean/Italian restaurant looks simple, quaint, & the variety of food served here looks more appealing compared to the other restaurants that are still open.

The small entrance into the restaurant

They have a bar inside

Wood-fire oven & open-concept kitchen

That's where they make their pizzas ;)

This restaurant is apparently opened since 1989. It's part of Hungarian-born Paulette and Lazlo Fono's local dynasty, the sister restaurant to Bravo Fono, also at the mall. [info taken from paloaltoonline].

Not sure if this is the owner...hahahaha...

Part of Babbo's Menu

Appetizers & salads from $8.95/serving

Fish & seafood salads from $18.95/serving

Focaccia Sandwich from $15.95/serving

Pizzas from $14.95/serving

Babbo's Specialities from $20.95/serving

Mains/Entrees from $15.95/serving

Complimentary bread (with cheese sprinkled on top)

We were served with this first, & it's something to keep the customers going if they're feeling hungry while waiting for their food.

Caesar Salad ($11.95/serving - with chicken +$5.00, with prawns +$6.00)

House Caesar dressing with anchovies, Parmesan cheese, garlic croutons

Here's a large plate of fresh & large leaves that are really juicy! The salad's loaded with cheese, which made the supposedly healthy salad quite "fattening"...hahaha...the garlic "croutons" are basically really toasted garlic bread - fragrant & nicely seasoned...but kinda hard (although yes, they're crunchy) :) Anchovies were REALLY salty though...hahaha...the portion of salads here are good for sharing especially if you're a small eater/if you're a typical Asian like me :D

Pizza Babbo ($15.50/serving)

A Mediterranean Special. Feta cheese, oven roasted tomatoes, mozzarella, pesto & black olives.

Wood-oven "personal size" pizza - DELICIOUS! If you love cheese, this pizza is ALSO LOADED with cheese...hahaha. Although this pizza didn't have any meat, but the taste of the pizza is just nice - a medley of flavours: sweet, savoury, sourish (from the tomatoes). Their personal pan is twice the size of the ones we have back in Malaysia...it's like our regular-size pizza.

Lunch for 2 persons costs $36.34

It's a tad expensive for the items that we ate, but thank the overall taste, service & experience is good.

Yup, that's all the both of us had! We weren't THAT hungry & I guess we were still trying to get adjusted to the time & culture there. If you happen to be in Palo Alto for work or leisure, this place isn't too bad to pop-by for their salads & pizza (especially if you love cheese! They're extremely generous with cheese).

Babbo's Pizzeria

717 Stanford Shopping Center

Palo Alto, CA 94304

USA.

Tel: (+1)(650) 321-1488

Business hours: Daily 11:00a.m. - 10:00p.m.

Ratings:

Presentation: * * * 1/2

Price: * * *

Environment: * * * 1/2

Taste: * * *

Service: * * *

Overall:

Noms,