This is the best Persian restaurant in terms of tender and tasty meat. Whenever I feel like having comfort food, I come here. Their chicken kabob is so tender and has layers of flavor. I love their rice and grilled vegetables. Whenever I have guests coming to town, this is the place I take them to enjoy the wonderful food. They are always impressed. read more

Heidar Baba - Middle Eastern Near Me - Pasadena, California

Heidar Baba is and has always been my favorite restaurant. The food is consistently delicious and filling, there is always enough for leftovers. The portions are HUGE, so come hungry! I highly recommend the salmon or the shish kabob. There's also a lunch special on weekdays, if you're ever in the mood to save some money. They do dine in and carry out orders too, if you're on the go. They prepare the food to order, and it doesn't take any more than 15 or 20 minutes. Even better than the food is the service! All the waitresses are attentive and 100% helpful. They answer any questions you have about the menu and really try their hardest to give you the best possible service. These girls work their tails off, and they are sweet and kind as well. All the staff is! I highly recommend this restaurant, it's one of Pasadena's best. And they have parking in the back. read more

Heidar Baba - Persian tea and baklava make for wonderful evenings. - Middle Eastern Near Me - Pasadena, California

Great food! Huge portions! Great place to order for parties! Compliments about the food every time!

If you are looking for delicious Persian food, this is your place. The owner and staff are really nice and it makes the experience even better. read more

Food was good and portions were nice and big! The kebabs however, weren't koobideh kebab and mostly your regular standard kebabs.

DISGUSTING!! I loved eating here with my family we were always excited to make a 1.5 hour drive just to come and eat here! The last 2 times were just bad but we thought maybe it's just one of those days.. because they are usually great! Yesterday I went there with my family and let me say, the staff is just very unprofessional and as if they were drunk or something, I ordered dine in and told her I wanted to order something to go as well and she said yes you can order after you finish eating, after we finished they said kitchen is closed and they even LAUGHED about it together? Like wtf honestly, While dining in, when I got my food, the meat was almost white/greenish looking, smelled rotten and after trying a piece I almost threw up! It was literally rotten old meat, their fountain sodas taste like chemicals and these people don't even care! One of the waitresses just stands in the kitchen eating from the counter while watching me complain about her and she doesn't even care, just disgusting. Btw their prices online are cheaper than inside, when I told them about it they said "my boss doesn't care what it's online the prices are here on the menu" lol ok. Nasty place will never come back, get better food somewhere else, better quality and I would even pay more. read more

A noisy dinning room is only worsened by lackadaisical and unfriendly service. I mean come on! How many times do you have to ask for water? The very large portions are nice but the food is just not as flavorful or interesting as other middle eastern places. The Fesenjoon is mediocre, considering this is Iran's signature dish and at $24 you would think it should be stellar...Yawn! The bread is store bought, and the babaganoosh was bland. Considering the rather expensive price for Iranian Street Fair, save your money and go elsewhere. read more

Meh. I'd skip this place. Much better middle eastern and Persian places out there where the service is better, and you get when you order/pay for. Keep driving on Colorado and you'll hit better middle eastern joints. I promise . read more

The best kabob I ever taste, quality and quantity ante always warranty!! Some of the plates are enough for 2 people

I go to PCC and nothing is around but fast food. This place is the best and healthiest option. The food is absolutely great and Ali (the owner I assume) was very courteous and polite :) read more

The soup is so good and the kabab reminded me of home In winter that what I call ( comfort food ) read more

Pretty much after writing my last review on Heidar Baba I received a call from who I believe is the owner Ali. I have to say, he truly does care about his reputation and obviously is very proud of his cuisine. He was very apologetic in regards to what had happened and I understand how something like this could have happened. So, he offered to make it right. I stated in my previous post that what little food we did receive was good. Well tonight we got our order, it was chicken kabobs, flame broiled onions, flame broiled zucchini and a large flame broiled what looked like a hatch pepper and two types of rice. This food was delicious, the chicken was so juicy and succulent, rice was amazing topped with a little butter and crushed the flame broiled tomato into the rice (oh, forgot to mention the tomato above). The onions, ugh, they are just onions, why and how could they be such a tasty necessity with this meal, I just don't know. Well, Ali made sure that Rizzah in Chicago and Massoud in LA are no longer my favorites when it comes to Persian food, I and my wife can't wait to try some of the other dishes Heidar Baba has to offer. Thank you Ali, I appreciate the sincerity and the extra mile you took, all of which you honestly did not need to do. I appreciate the pride of what you do and it shows in the amazing meal we had tonight. Thank you, we will be ordering again soon. read more

Haidar Baba is one of those trustworthy places that one can enjoy any bite of his/her food there. If you are looking for a place that provides you cleanness and health then Haidar Baba is the right choice. Food is the best always specially when it is delicious and healthy! read more

Love their chicken skewer. amazing. and the rice is super fluffy to boot!!

I can't give this restaurant full 5 stars. Food is good. Pricing for dinner on the high side ($20 for chicken kebob dinner) but that is not the reason for the 3 stars. The wait is long and service is NOT with a smile. I called and upon not hearing me they hang up (they don't give your phone a chance to connect). I called again and they hang up again with one hello only without giving you a chance to connect (I can hear them and when my phone goes to my head phones there is a slight delay). I did this the third time and same thing; one hello and then hang up. Why bother picking up the phone any way? Clearly they don't want the take out business. We ended up going to the restaurant and ordering but we sat there and sat there and sat there, for the food to be done. I would not go there again. There are other good kebob/halal places. Sorry. read more

I went to this place since it first opened, and watched it grow for over 15 years. I loved their food, so I took my family and relatives there before. We haven't been there for a while, and last night my mom and I went back to enjoy a big meal. We ordered Burberry rice with chicken, and dill rice with lamb. We were excited, until we get our food. There were only one tomatoes only on burberry rice. They didn't put grilled onions and lime wedge like they used to do. Dill rice is just by itself, and no longer have chopped parsley. My mom asked for onion so the waitress brought some big chunk onions. Imagine eating rice and dry meat, without any sauce or condiments? I have been to quite a few Mediterranean and Persian restaurants, and all came with some salad, tomatoes, and lime. We then asked for a box to go for left over. The waitress nodded, and said ok. But she stop at the counter and chatting with another employee about personal stuffs. There were only one other family in the store. I have to asked another waitress for a box. We will not go back again. read more

Food: EXCEPTIONAL Portions: HUGE Pricing: WHAT A DEAL I've tried so many Persian restaurants and none of them can compare. From the owners who so warm and generous, to servers are very welcoming!!! There are so many options on the menus, from beef to chicken kabob, shish kabob, to burgers, soup, salad, the list goes on!! My mouth is watering. The meet is so juicy and fresh. The portions are huge, so much rice and protein. I eat here every week!!!!! read more

Decided to try Heidar Baba out for lunch, I got the white chicken lunch special. It comes with a chicken skewer, rice and a roasted tomato. I got a salad on the side. It was really delicious! I've tried my share of middle eastern restaurants but this is definitely my favorite place. It's clean, the staff is extremely friendly, the food comes out fast and it tastes fresh. I was blown away how tender the chicken was especially for being white meat. Two thumbs up for this place. I'll definitely be back! read more

Heidar Baba - Middle Eastern Near Me - Pasadena, California

We went there on a Saturday night after the Huntington and were seated right away but because of a couple of parties, the servers looked overwhelmed. We got our own menus to look through then eventually got someone to ask for our order. Unfortunately we weren't both ready at the time and asked to wait. It took a little while to get someone else to take our order and we thought we were on our way. We got our salad relatively quickly but the entree took a while. In fact one of the servers came by and noticed we still didn't have anything and went back. All told it was at least an hour before we got the koobideh. The food was good and a huge portion so plenty for a second meal or to split between the two of us if we wanted. After the meal was over we ended up finding someone to give us the check because we got the impression that was going to take a while too. Overall we liked the food but it was a pretty long wait to get it. I'm chalking the wait up to the party so I'd be willing to give them another try read more

I have been going to this restaurant for many years. I have always gotten the best quality food, the most friendly service, and in a comfortable environment. I bring so many people to this restaurant because of the reasons I described above, even family from Iran! They agree that its a wonderful restaurant. I hope I get to visit this place for many years to come. read more

I read the reviews and had high anticipation as I entered this modestly appointed facility.Friendly staff,slow,service..the meal averaged 30.00 each .one lamb koobedith,one beef and,a rack of lamb...a bit high..I have eaten at several kabob places..wish we liked it more..but alas average is the best I can muster read more

Good place. Been here a couple of times with friends. Good portions and great taste. Healthy choices. Also ordered for family gathering of 20 for Easter. More geographically correct for the occasion. :-) Would be back. read more

Fresh, hot off the grill, big portions, great price. An asset to the PCC student and faculty community. Family oriented. On our regular visit list. read more

The Best Persian Restaurant in the San Gabriel Valley and Pasadena area. When you go to Persian restaurants they give you grilled tomato slices, onions cut up and chopped bell peppers. This place gives you a WHOLE MOTH$F$%$CING ONION, BELL PEPPER AND TOMATO GRILLED TO PERFECTION! The meat is so tender, succulent and juicy. I was seriously blown away by this place. I went to the Huntington Museum with my cousins and we saw this place, its a little small restaurant but the food is incredibly good! It is 100% halal and much better than Azeens Afghan in Pasadena, if you want great kebabs in Pasadena, look no further! Heidar Baba Kabob has the best sirloin steak beef barg! read more

I love Mediterranean food, I mean like I'll drive 53.5 miles out of the way for good - really good Persian food. With that being said, please know that his review is a bit painful for me to write. Inasmuch as I understand that every restaurant has it's "off" nights, I believe that all employees are a representative directly of the business as a whole. That the success of a business is only as strong as their weakest link. So it begins with our arrival anticipating amazing Persian food. It's a small quaint family run business located in Pasadena in a strip mall sort of setting. Okay, it is a strip mall. Who am I kidding. Anyway, we order sodas, iced tea and waters. All come promptly. Entrees are ordered next. I had the shish kabob (beef) and it was cooked well and flavorful. It was accompanied by rice, a grilled tomato and a grilled green pepper. My friends ordered the chicken, shish kabob, curry chicken and the koobideh. All of which are decent and reasonably priced. The food was very mildly seasoned and not what I'm used to. I prefer the kibbutz style koobideh :) We substituted the soup and salad for hummus. I've had much better Middle Eastern food, but you'd have to travel to the Westside of town. The food was not the issue. The level of professionalism and lack of proper payment notification is what concerned / bothered me. We were a party of (5) five, we all had different dishes and attempted to pay by credit / debit cards. At which point we were told it is not possible. That they can only take (1) one credit / debit card and the rest must be in CASH. Yes, this too sounded shady to me. The waitress then after much conversation with us decided to go talk with the "head waitress" who then advised only (2) two credit / debit cards and the remainder in cash. This is a group of legal professionals debating with wait staff as to their processes, procedures and the lack of logic involved in their decision to only allow (2) two cards maximum. Seeing that no one was going to gain headway with irrational thinking individuals, everyone expect for me had cash ( I never carry cash). They all paid me and I put the bill on my credit card. I will not be returning here as there are MANY other options for better Persian food on the Westside of town, that accept credit / debit cards and will NOT squabble with the customer over semantics. This is why they received a (2) two star rating. Had the food not been decent, I'd have provided an equal amount of stars that would have been more appropriate. read more

Don't know where to start..... This place is unbelievable!!! chicken kabob!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Service on point!!!!!!!!!!!!!! read more

whoever took my order on the phone needs to workout her communication skills. I was confused by some plate names and instead of informing me about them she sighed and rushed me to order with a rude "hellooooo".... Not everyone knows your dishes, people. I personally enjoy tour food though i'm not an expert. next time don't open to the general public if you are not willing to share your culture... read more

Meat. Rice. Persian Tea. S'all I need when I'm here. My friend and I are great fans of their shish kabob and their chicken kabob. We stay away from any of the kabobs that are ground meat of any sort because why eat ground meat when you can have hot juicy succulent pieces of chicken and beef? One of us will get the shish kabob and one will get the chicken, and we'll share our meats. When you order one or the other, you get your choice of either soup or salad. Usually, I think the soup is a barley soup, the salad is nice and basic. After that, you get your giant plate with your meat and an Enormous Mountain Of Basmati Rice. The rice is absolutely lovely, but I often feel like I'm drowning in it. At least you know you won't run out of it. Their baklava is delicious, and their persian tea is very wonderful. I do wish they got more customers regularly. Some nights, they get enough traffic, but other nights, they're pretty empty. That's okay. More meat for me! read more

I ordered the chicken kabob white meat. The portion size was so big! It was juicy and the rice was so good! Definitely will be back to try the beef. I eve have left overs for tomorrow! read more

The food here is authentic Persian cuisine and huge portions to last for days. The only item that I normally love, but will not order again from this place is their Tadig. Tadig is the crispy rice that forms on the bottom of the pan while the rice is cooking and is usually crispy, buttery, and with a light chewable crunch. The Tadig here is almost unconsumable (unless you have an iron jaw and strong teeth) It's really thick, greasy, and extremely hard like shrapnel. The only reason I gave this place a 3 Star is based on their online ordering and lack of customer service and staff. They don't seem to have a direct website to submit an order for pick up (aside from yelp) and we didn't want to have to go in and order, as it was a large order and we would have to wait. Also tried to call it in, but they seem very rushed and don't communicate well. So it was just easier to place the order online. When we went to pick it up, we took notice that the prices were cheaper in the store? When we asked to speak to a manager, the man behind the counter indicated there were no Managers there, just a few staff members. When we asked about why it was more to order online, he said maybe they need to make a few bucks too. They being Grubhub, WTF! Not cool, we picked it up, not Grubhub. He threw in a small side of stew. However, we paid $9.00 more for the convenience of ordering online to pick up ourselves. Makes no sense. So BEWARE, if you order online to pick up yourself, you will be charged more for everything you order. read more

It's hard to give a bad review for a place that serves you huge portions of food. This place might as well be a buffet for the insane amount of food you get. A lot of restaurants these days don't give a good value for what you get. You won't feel like you got ripped off eating here. I ordered the Chicken & Beef Koobideh plate. It came with a soup & salad first before you get your actual entrée plate! All the plates comes with grilled peppers, tomatoes, and an abundance of basmati rice (see my pic and other pics from other Yelpers) So skip breakfast and eat lunch here or skip lunch and have dinner here. Or take your leftovers to go and eat for several more days after your meal! Either way, come hungry! read more

Heidar Baba - Middle Eastern Near Me - Pasadena, California

It was horrible the food had no flavor at all and it was dry and the service was horrible I am truly disappointed in this restaurant I would never go back and y'all shouldn't either read more

Ok, I hope I don't offend anyone with this review, but I just wasn't a fan of the inhuman portions offered here. Food: Even as the complimentary appetizers were served, I knew I was in over my head. Sure, they give you the standard hummus and pita, but they also bring out a platter of pickles, a piece of raw tomato, a fourth of a raw onion, some jalapenos, and what I think was basil. What am I supposed to do with the raw tomato, onion, and basil??? We ordered an additional appetizer, the must o musir, a bowl of yogurt and diced shallots (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/oKmKXq_HCri6F6C46g5EAQ?select=u9ZwQbnbyfL9Jl3Sl1KHXw). This I enjoyed; it heavily reminded me of my mom's interesting take on spinach dip. My entree came with barley soup (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/oKmKXq_HCri6F6C46g5EAQ?select=H12ab60_JEx8hQZZ46rpow) which I liked for the high fiber content. It has this sort of minty aftertaste that was unsettling to me, though. I almost fainted when my abaloo polo entree arrived (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/oKmKXq_HCri6F6C46g5EAQ?select=sgxFZUJ4-BCPyimaRXwLyw). This thing probably weighed more than a small child. The dish consists of grilled onions, tomatoes, and green peppers, grilled chicken chunks, and absolutely delicious saffron jasmine rice sprinkled with sour cherries. I found the veggies and chicken completely flavorless, but the rice was so delicious. Since I obviously had to take most of this home, I had an opportunity to eat it again the next day. The meat was still almost completely flavorless to me. Service: As Michael C. said, the service is " a bit lacking." Atmosphere: This place is usually pretty empty and has plenty of space for enormous groups. That said, I feel like their staff can't really handle huge crowds. Maybe they aren't used to those sorts of situations? The interior is quaint and subdued with plenty of carved wood. Synopsis: Even though the portions could feed a small country, I don't think it justifies the price. I nearly had to force feed myself the rest of my chicken chunks and rice for days after. Not pleasant if you don't absolutely love what you're eating. Perhaps this would be a good place for meatatarians to feed. read more

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Full disclosure: I'm Persian, so I've eaten at a lot of Persian places. I recently went with my boyfriend - we started with kashke-bademjan, I ordered a dough with a barg (filet mignon) plate with a soup to start and my boyfriend ordered the koobideh combo (beef and chicken) with french fries with a fountain drink (diet coke). They brought out a can of coke for my boyfriend. The complimentary sabzi plate included literally two pats of butter and 5 leaves of basil. The pita bread was stale. The kashke-bademjan was dramatically underseasoned and lacked flavor. My soup was also underseasoned and lacked flavor. My barg, rice, and grilled tomato was very good (hence the two stars). My boyfriend's beef koobideh was dramatically underseasoned (so much so that the chicken koobideh was actually more flavorful). They never brought his french fries. When they brought the bill, it included "fountain drink" which is more expensive than the can of coke they brought. When we pointed this out, they said that the fountain was broken so they couldn't bring us a fountain drink. Then we kindly asked if they would then charge us just for a can of coke, and then they obliged. Bottom line: I would consider getting just a barg plate, to-go. Nothing else is worth eating there. read more

Parking: Plenty of free street parking and in the rear. Service: It was a bit imbalanced. The staff was very attentive in the beginning, but nowhere to be found later on. Food: The food was actually pretty good, but it took FOREVER to come out. Maybe it was a particularly busy night for them, or the food I ordered might have been a special item that takes longer to cook? I ordered the shrimp kebab plate and the ghormeh sabzi, and if those are expected to take longer to cook, then that definitely should be announced in the beginning. Portions: HUGE Overall, I was mostly bummed by the wait time. I feel like their kitchen needs to be streamlined better? But this place seems to do good business, so maybe I just came on a night when they were overworked? read more

Amazing restaurant. We flew in from Michigan, and came here. It was awesome! In LA and Orange County, there are a lot of rival Persian places. However, if you want a quiet place that doesn't serve alcohol and has really good halal food, come here. read more

The restaurant has a nice modern look. The food was nice and charred, just the way I like. This is the first time I've had Persian/Iranian food so I can't comment on how authentic it was, but it was certainly tasty. Vegetarian Rating: 3/5 Had Some Options read more

I have no idea how these people can give this place 4, even 5 stars! Let me start by saying that I am not only Arab, but love middle eastern food. I ordered the Chicken Kabob meal ($12.95), and with this comes my choice of soup or salad...I opted for the salad with Italian dressing. The waitress asks me if I want "white meat or dark meat" and that there is an extra charge for white meat. WHAT?!?! Who makes kabobs with dark meat anyways? NOBODY! It's just not done! You always use white meat, so whatever, I suck it up and pay the fee. On the table is what we call in the Arab world as "maza," an assortment of muchies and what not. They gave me one raddish, one skinny pickle spear, one individually wrapped pad of butter, one pepperoncini and a quarter of a raw onion. What am I going to do with a quarter of a raw onion? I then get one piece of thin, flavorless, cold pita bread, cut into quarters. First I get my salad. It is not only overdressed, but it is bagged salad! A restaurant using bagged iceberg Ready-Pak salad is unacceptable! And then they throw a piece of raw broccoli in there right on top for good measure I guess. That was odd. Finally my meal comes, and it looks pretty good. In fact, the chicken was moist and not to bad, although it lacked a lot of flavor. It is colored yellow from the spices, but very little of that spice actually impacted the meat. They do however, give you 40-pounds of basmati rice. The rice was tender and fluffy, but again, lacked flavor. They need to utilize salt and pepper more. It would have made the rice much more enjoyable. I was the only person in the restaurant and the service sucked. Literally, I was the sole patron and my glass never got a refill. I had to literally stop eating and walk to the counter to ask for more iced tea. I never saw my server except for when I ordered and when my food was delivered. I was on a time table, so I had to again, get up and walk to the counter to get my check. All in all, I was disappointed. The food lacked flavor and corners where cut where they shouldn't be. The service was horrible and there was no excuse. If you know of a better middle eastern food place, I would suggest going there. read more

Food is great and authentic but the service is horrible. Not all the servers are awful, hence I go and have lunch there. But most of them have these 'beach rest face' (like this -_-) and you have to wave and yell for their attention. I've been there twice waited for 20minutes to get a menu... Left in frustration and hunger. read more

Really glad I finally tried this place a couple of months ago. It's right across from the PCC campus. I really enjoy the chicken kabob (dark meat) with the pepper and tomato. The shish kabob is good, too. It does take ~15 to 20 minutes to get your food since it is cooked on an open grill. Rose water ice cream with pistachio is amazing. Our server Simin was very cherry and pleasant. Definitely go back again soon. read more