Always delicious, we order "to go" frequently. Every thing is fresh and good quality. Their Lentil soup is delicious, I always feel I'm doing something good for my body when I enjoy a bowl. The people are friendly and service wonderful. Highly recommend paying a visit here. Mostly parking on Colorado and nearby streets. read more

Heidar Baba - Family style to go! Delicious! - Middle Eastern Near Me - Pasadena, California

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Great food. Great service. Amazing owners. Highly recommend it. The service is absolutely stellar. The food is very delicious if you like Persian food. I eat here at least once a week. My son loves this restaurant more than any other. read more

Great Middle Eastern food. Fresh, with the perfect seasoning. The kabob is as good as it gets. My husband and I are regulars here. And the owner is so generous and finds a way to make us feel special when we come here. read more

Would of given more stars, but service was nonexistent. Every table there had to waive down the server or go up to the front. I was also confused as the kebob plate has a choice is soup, fries, or salad. Salad was a regular salad with choice of ranch??? Or Italian??? I waited 10 minutes for the server to walk around anywhere near our table to ask for hot sauce. There hot sauce is chalula? Mexican hot sauce in a middle eastern place? First ranch and now chalula? Food was good. Lamb shank and lamb kebob plate. Oh well. read more

Heidar Baba - Middle Eastern Near Me - Pasadena, California

Thank you Heidar Baba for participating in our chamber event yesterday! Your food is amazing. It's so good that I am coming to your restaurant today for lunch! Highly recommend this restaurant to the community! read more

My parents made plans to treat our extended family to dinner, and I wondered if I should even attend after finding out we were going to Heidar Baba. I remembered thinking the food here was pretty bland the last time we came, and low and behold, my opinion did not change. I've had excelled Persian and Iranian food in the Anaheim area, so I kept comparing the tastes of the same items from the different restaurants, and the food tonight fell far below the bar, at least in my opinion. The food also seemed way overpriced for how bland it all was, and my mom said that's probably because there's limited options in this area for people who only eat halal meat, so Heidar Baba can afford to charge more. Today I had the chicken kobideh wrap, which was cooked well but was extremely bland. My mom said the same about her chicken koobideh dish. My dad on the other hand seemed to like his chicken kabob well enough, and my aunt said she liked her salmon, but she only ate one piece so who knows if she was being honest. However, I'm certain my cousin enjoyed his koobideh dish since he demolished every last bite. But then again he'll also eat anything and everything if he's not the one paying. On the plus side, service was excellent, but even incredible service could not make up for the utterly insipid food. To summarize, the food here was extremely bland. But I'm also someone who enjoys spice and flavor, so for those who actually appreciate flavorless and tasteless food, ignore this review. Also, if you've never had Persian food before, then you probably won't notice the difference. read more

Heidar Baba - Chicken koobideh wrap- extremely bland. - Middle Eastern Near Me - Pasadena, California

This restaurant is under new ownership and food is disgusting. Do not order humus. It taste like chick peas only. The restaurant does not practice good hygiene. Very disappointed. read more

I have eat here for the past 4 years and they are truly among the best Persian food restaurants in LA. I remember one night I called late and they were actual closing, the kitchen was closed off, the the owner/manager told me I can still come over. When I arrived he was the only person who was there and saw him was grilling the Kabab and even gave extra food and when I came to pay him he would not accept the money?!. I even tried to give him $20 for tip he would not take it and I had never even met him before and his kindness in staying late for me to make the food and not accept money was something I never forget. Iranians are truly among the most kind hearted people that I have ever come across and they just love people. read more

The food was delicious and the portions were awesome definitely will be coming back for more

I am the customer of this restaurant. Yesterday after few months I felt to have Persian food with few friends. I called and ordered: one beef soltani, one kobideh plate Two ghormeh sabsi with no meat, one chicken Kabab with no rice, and order of trading. It took me one hour to get there in traffic on Friday afternoon and one hour to get home. When I got there my order was packed under my name and Bill of $147, 77. I added a $10 tip added to $157.77 got my food and left. When I got home all the juices had leaked into my car because of inappropriate packaging and a very cheap thin plastic bag. Two rice plates for the ghormeh sabzi were missing. Trading was so thick and seemed old for a couple of days. The chicken Kanab was without any decorations such as tomato or green pepper. Ghormeh sabzi with no beef was full of small pieces of beef. And the worst was their kobideh, I was eating tonight that I felt a hair in my mouth, I was trying to remove it that it was a long black hair attached to a piece of kobideh. I took picture of it and put it back into its original box and saved it into freezer. It was the worst experience I had I hope FDA and other places take more investigation about this place and health department give them a fine. I called them and made complain. She said she was sorry to put my rice and she was willing to give it to me for free if I went back. read more

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I am sorry. I try not to be negative, but this is NOT middle Eastern food. Hands down the worst middle eastern food I've had. Hummus was was watery and flavorless. I tried to add lemon and sumac spice which didn't help. The saffron rice is just food coloring and the kabob had no flavor. I did make it edible by adding lemon, salt and pepper. Do not reccomend...oh and the prices are outrageous! I cannot believe this place is still open with all the other middle eastern places in Pasadena! read more

My place for Persian/ Iranian food. There are places near me but I come 15 Miles away for the combo koobideh with lots of flavorful basmati saffron rice. Only thing I wish they have better bread instead of the commercial pita bread. Best when the owners there themselves. Parking on street or in the rear lot read more

Best value for Money and outstanding food!! I love their consistency... been going there for years and years and always great. Never disappointed read more

Always love food here. Big portion but trust me that you do not feel guilty eating so much food. It's worth it!

BEWARE! Website prices are very out of date. The actual prices are appox. 30% higher. If calling in order ask for the price. I ordered food and when I picked it up the woman at the register said sorry that's the price, the website is not up to date. Then she asked if I wanted a refund and not the food. What!?! I had already gotten the food so I took it, but this will be the last time. read more

After moving to the area I was looking for a good Persian restaurant close to home. I am so glad I discovered this place. All of their food is delicious and I find myself ordering from them atleast once a month. The best part is that they are halal! I highly recommend getting their chicken/beef koobidehs and their beef barg. The portion sizes are generous for the price! We can eat it for a few days straight! This is definitely a good time to support local businesses! read more

Heidar Baba - Barg - Middle Eastern Near Me - Pasadena, California

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Ordered takeout. Barley soup was watered down and lacked seasoning/flavor. It's also supposed to be drizzled with a creamy garnish they either forgot or left out. read more

Love, love, love their koobideh, lamb and beef kebabs. Rice is tasty. Only mediocre item is the pita.

Awesome!! I got the chicken koobideh- amazing portions and excellent quality! The sumac at the table was fresh. I also got the barley soup, which was amazing! I'm not even normally a soup guy. I'll be back!! read more

I am a big fan of Persian food. So when we were invited for dinner at this establishment I was excited about checking out the Persian food scene in Los Angeles. Walking into the restaurant is quite an average experience: the restaurant feels a little bare in terms of the decor. The service was, at best, average: cautious, remote and cold. But the wonderful aromas are very enticing and we can't wait to get our food. I was very impressed with the quality of the food and the generous size of the servings. I ordered the filet mignon kabab and it was magnificent. Washing that down with the traditional yogurt drink was quite a nice combination. Fresh bread added to the experience. My dining companions were equally satisfied with their choices. Food gets five stars but the overall rating suffers from the lack of warmth in the service. read more

Heidar Baba - The Lamb Filet Kebab a la Carte - Middle Eastern Near Me - Pasadena, California

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Highly recommended Delicious middle eastern food, cooked very well and comes in large size and the price is so affordable No wonder why that are so busy right here read more

Disappointing that I need to leave a 2 star review. I've ordered from here for years. Although the food taste is delicious. They do cook their food with authentic flavors. That makes up for the 2 stars. But the service absolutely horrible. The woman who answers the phone is extremely rude. Doesn't even tell you to hold and clicks on you or places you on hold to answer the other line. Like really lady?!?!? I usually use DoorDash to order from them. In the past, I order their lunch special and it comes with salad however recently when I order my lunch special through DoorDash Heidar will not include the salad. I am not sure what the difference would be if I order for pick up or dine in person they include a salad but why not include the salad ordering from DoorDash?!?! someone help explain this to me because I really cannot understand. read more

My new favorite go-to Persian restaurant. I'm more used to Shiraz and Raffi's place in Glendale. Here however, the ambiance is more casual which is more to my liking. *Chicken Kabob (white meat) - Juicy and flavorful. Big chunks of chicken. Geneous portion. I liked the flat cut too, most Middle Eastern restaurants cut the chicken too round. I prefer flat for a change. I wonder if the recipe is Joojeh? *Beef koobideh - Had good flavor but I wish it was more juicier and tender. It was a bit rough for my liking. *Hummus - To die for. I haven't had hummus this great since I lived in FL. So creamy, exploding in flavor. My son loved it too. Delicious hummus. Seriously, well done. I wish I knew the recipe. *Maast-o Khiar - Very good. Great side to accompany the meats. The yogurt used was rich in flavor. Creamy and not too salty. Wish it had more cucumber though. *Included Salad - I didn't like the fact that it wasn't authentic Middle Eastern. It was just a mix of lettuce, tomatoes, raw broccoli and Italian dressing. It was still a decent salad, it just killed the vibe a bit since it's not authentic. I hope they change this up one day. Plates should include Shirazi salad at bare minimum. They're very generous with their portions. You get a very terrific mix of quality and quantity. It leans more toward quality. I was impressed with the amount of hummus received. I may return soon for their lunch specials that seem fairly priced, and to take some hummus home! read more

Passing by the area and my hubby told me there is one of the best Persian foods in California. We stop by, and before you know it, I fell in love with the atmosphere, food is number one, customer service on the top of the line, we will be back for sure, thanks for keeping the culture and the real tast of the food alive. read more

Heidar Baba - Middle Eastern Near Me - Pasadena, California

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I used to be really fond of this place. I imagine they've had a tough time during this horrible pandemic but if the point of Yelp is to let people know what they can expect, here goes: While to food is tasty it's hit or miss that you'll actually get what you ordered. For example, we just got a whole lot of beef instead of chicken. We don't eat beef so unfortunately not only is someone not getting their dinner, a large piece of edible meat is being thrown in the trash. It also took over an hour and a half for us to get the food which meant we had to scramble to feed our kid something else before her bed time. Sadly while this place has always had some issues for us, they've had way more misses than hits in the past few months. If you want good food (and the food that you want) in a reasonable amount of time, go elsewhere. read more

No thank you .. that's all I'll say Mediocre food, ambiance is non excitant and service is lacking read more

Great place to order from , loved everything especially the rice with nuts and raisins yummy

Really good Persian/Iranian food. I've been here twice first time getting the Lamb Sultani and now the salmon Kabob. Everything fresh, and cooked to perfection. Service is great! Shoutout to Paul the waiter! read more

Heidar Baba - Middle Eastern Near Me - Pasadena, California

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3.8 ratings??? I failed to understand how or who rated this restaurant. I ate dinner at Heidar Baba last night and their foods were over priced and tasteless. Their meats are way over cooked and dry. We ordered 4 tea at $5.00 per cup. In expecting a value for $5.00 per cup, our tea was light and no favour as they used one tea bag for 4 cups. Had I known, I could order just plain hot water for free. We wasted $20 for nothing!!! I'll never visit them again. In addition, no customer service at all. No wonder there were only 5 tables were occupied and I should know better to go inside to eat. read more

Ordered combo koobideh entree which comes with beef and chicken skewers, both were succulent, beef better than the chicken. Also got lamb shank a la carte, it was tender and juicy and very satisfying. They serve complimentary salad, pita bread and butter. Overall the food is fresh, nourishing and soulful read more

Heidar Baba - Complimentary Salad - Middle Eastern Near Me - Pasadena, California

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Suprised by the portions being so big which is always a great thing . Got ghormeh sabzi lunch special comes with a drink and fries or side of choice. Everything was really good, will definitely eat coming here again. Also the ice tea isn't sweet which is amazing, usually when I get iced tea at places it's very sweet but here it's perfect. And it's actual tea, it's not bottled iced tea poured onto ice. read more

Heidar Baba - Ghormeh Sabzi Lunch - Middle Eastern Near Me - Pasadena, California

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Good quality food! Food moves because they are busy. Customer service isn't exactly great, but food worth it lunch special is until 4. Don't be intimidated by middle eastern food, for me it's the best food around and I am not middle eastern!!! read more

Heidar Baba - Middle Eastern Near Me - Pasadena, California

The service is good. It is a bit stingy at times with the jalapenos, basil and bread but most of the times its ok. The food is good but a little pricey for a single kabob lunch special. Would be nice if they provided radishes, onions, and a grilled jalapeno peppers as standard. read more

Heidar Baba - Group photo - Middle Eastern Near Me - Pasadena, California

BEST PERSIAN HALAL RESTAURANT!!! My experience at this restaurant was also amazing. There is plenty of parking in the back, you can access it from the alley behind the restaurant. Right across from PCC. GREAT food. My favorite is the chicken kabob plate. Their mast-o-mousir is to die for. Literally crave it all the time. Plenty of seating. read more

Food was good however their service was really bad. The girl asked me what I wanted to drink and didn't ask my friend and just walked away. Ummmm hellloooo there is someone else sitting right across from me. No one asked how our food was or brought us refills on our drinks we seriously had to flag someone down. In addition, getting our check took forever and I think you have to go up to the counter to pay. They really need to work on their service. But as far as the food goes good lunch specials which includes salad with your choice of dressing. The rice and chicken was flavorful. My friend loved her salmon. You get a nice bang for your buck. Good food but will need to hire people who actually have a personality! read more

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Heidar Baba is a wonderful Persian-Iranian restaurant. Come HUNGRY friends. Anahit, is the talented woman who designed my garden. In the fifties. When she occupied the lovely house that she now rents to me. She tells beautiful stories about her late husband, her travels afar and the birds that grew from a nest in my grapefruit tree. What a magician she is. My garden loves her. My aloe plant (charlie) quivers in fear at the mere sight of my ANYTHING but green thumb. (I once killed a cactus.) Every fruit-bearing tree in my back yard is all of her affections come to fruition. Who benefits? Me. Figs, white grapefruit, lemons, kumquats, loquats and don't even get me started on the shrubbery and flowers! So I say: "Anahit! I am taking you out to dinner! Anywhere you want to go!" "Oh no, save your money!" She says modestly. But she smiles as if a ladies night out is just the ticket. So I open my car door for her, make sure that her seat belt is fastened and make for Colorado Blvd. (Anihit does not have a daughter nor do I have a mother) Anahit wants to eat Persian food tonight and knows just the place! Luckily for me, she is from Armenia, knows middle eastern food and will order for me what I would never know how to in the foreign terrain of Persian menus. We took advantage of the free parking in the rear after spending about five minutes trying to figure out how to enter the lot. How? Just keep trying! The ambiance is charming here. The music playing? Beautiful and exotic. It reminded me of the "gypsy Kings". The soft lighting accented the dark woods of the restaurant. The open stainless-steel kitchen behind the bar is fun to watch. Especially when the flames are biting the air where the grilling magic happens. Anahit ordered a sprite to drink and I a coffee. Persians, I love your freakin coffee! *adds to my "loves their coffee" list* -Next to the French, Cuban and Italians. Bread with butter and a small plate of pickles and veggies were delivered. (on the house) What a neat pickle! It was VERY exotic. I can not describe the flavor to you as these are not herbs that I am familiar with! Sorry! When I was torn between ordering the yogurt with shallots or the yogurt with cucumbers, our darling server brought a substantial-sized sample of each for our trying. They were both fantastic, but I went for the shallot. ($3.95) -Even more thick and creamy than my beloved Greek yogurt. This is a remarkable dish. The invisible hint of shallot? Is perfect to balance the lemony-rich yogurt. (five stars) Anahit advised me to order the beef kabob for an entree which comes with a choice of soup or salad and rice. ($11.95) She also tells me to stick with the salad. I do what I'm told! I spoke with the chef about my wheat allergies and was assured that there would be no wheat or gluten in my food. The salad consists of garden variety vegetables. (three stars) The whole grilled peppers and tomato that we were served next? This is a mammoth portion of something delightful and unexpected. I love fresh things like this. (five stars) But here is what I really didn't expect and why Anahit is smiling right about now. Who is going to eat all of this food! An army?!! Ten armies?!! Our server hands me a plate that looks to weigh about ten pounds. I'm not exaggerating. 'No way!" says I. (anahit is now laughing) Anahit sprinkles a seasoning on her food and offers a little to my palm to try. It was a red tart seasoning. Similar to plum? I liked it. And i like to try new things! The ground beef kabob (four stars) is hard core. (insert Jersey accent) Very highly seasoned. Almost overwhelming for my primitive taste buds. Now the yogurt and Basmati rice pay off, to balance each bite of dramatic flavor. I put down about one tenth of the beef kabob and rice. No mortal could ever take down a mountain of food this monstrous. Feed the whole family with one entree here friends. While I loved the food, the service, the company and the ambiance, the flavors of the beef kabob were a little intense for me. The next time around, I might try something a little milder for my tame palate. We finished the night with a scoop of rosewater ice cream. (five stars!) It was my very favorite thing other than the good company that I was in. The dense and creamy rose water ice cream filled with dots of pistachio, was the perfect punctuation to my dramatic entree. I'll be back as soon as I have a football team to feed. But I will never dine here without following it up with ice cream. Or thinking of Anahit. Or smiling for either reason.:-) read more

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Good Persian food in Pasadena. WEBSITE: http://www.heidarbaba.com ADDRESS: 1511 E. Colorado Boulevard Pasadena, CA 91106 (626) 844-7970 or (626) 844-7979 Across the street from Pasadena City College Nearest cross street is Hill HOURS: Call to confirm. Not listed on website. FREE WI-FI: Ask for password SUMMARY OF CUISINE: Heidar Baba's cuisine is halal Persian kabob, so you're not going to get any pork and the animals are slaughtered in a proper way. Sorry to include that tidbit. No alcoholic beverages are served here either. A husband and wife own this restaurant and they are really sweet people. If you go on the weekend it is pretty expensive. Four of us had lunch on a Saturday with sodas and the bill ended up being $96.00 including the tip. Yes, it was expensive, but two of our group had the filet mignon barg and I had the salmon. The filet barg is $18.95, salmon kabob is $14.95 and koobideh (ground beef mixed with onions) is $11.95. The entrees are served with basmati rice, grilled tomato, chili and come with a choice of salad, barley soup or fries. Monday through Friday they have lunch specials and the prices are about a third less. When we were seated they immediately brought us pita bread, butter, basil and pickles as an appetizer. I believe the wife was the chef yesterday and the servings were huge. I think each serving could easily be split because there is just so much food. I guess the barg (filet mignon) was a total hit because my husband and our friend inhaled it. My son was not thrilled with the koobideh. He usually likes koobideh, but I think it was a little too spicy. My salmon was great. I asked for them to substitute my rice for grilled vegetables and ended up getting both. Our server spoke English well, but something must have gotten lost in the translation between the server and the owner/chef. I ended up eating a little bite of the rice and it was very good. The atmosphere in the restaurant seemed authentic. A lot of the decor was Persian and the music was definitely Middle Eastern. It is very spacious and you feel like you can have privacy because there aren't a lot of tables crammed into the space like other Persian restaurants in the surrounding area. It is mostly booths with high backs. Parking is in back. It is kind of a tricky lot to get out of, so I would highly recommend backing into a spot if you can. Hopefully, they don't have the same parking ordinances as Glendale where you get a ticket for that. They also do catering. read more

Heidar Baba - Free Wi-Fi too - Middle Eastern Near Me - Pasadena, California

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I work in the Pasadena area and this is my go to spot for Persian food!! The portions are huge so it always lasts me two meals, at least! The food is delicious and the service and workers are great. They have lunch specials during the week which also last me two meals! Comes with a salad and they even give you bread to go. Would highly recommend! read more

Heidar Baba - Gheymeh lunch special and an a la carte order of beef koobideh kebab - Middle Eastern Near Me - Pasadena, California

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My family and I have been getting food from Heidar Baba for years. It's delicious and the portion sizes are amazing . My mom loves the grilled tomato and grilled chili that come with our platters and we are all obsessed with the barley soup. They are also always so kind and efficient over the phone. Definitely recommend! read more

Heidar Baba is such a gorgeous and charming restaurant. Their soup is incredible! So much complex flavors. The service is impeccable. I had the lamb with rice and a roasted tomato. It is the most juicy and flavorful lamb I have ever had. Cooked to perfection!!! Do yourself a favor and bring your friends here this place is wonderful. The ambience is like sitting in a story book. Please come visit Ali! Tell him I recommended you! Enjoy! read more

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