Good Eats In Alhambra

Baccali Cafe and Rotisserie is a bustling restaurant on busy Valley Blvd. in Alhambra. We stopped by for dinner on a recent Friday night and the place was certainly abuzz with patrons. It’s got a large and modern interior with a semi-industrial look and feel to it. The booths are quite comfortable, perfect to sink into while perusing the rather vast menu. Like many of the Chinese “coffee shops” you’ll find in the San Gabriel Valley, Baccali’s offers quite a diverse selection of food. Everything from a ham and cheese sandwich to Indonesian fried rice is on the menu. I decided to go with the rotisserie chicken. Afterall, it is called Baccali Cafe and Rotisserie, right? My boyfriend chose the Korean beef short ribs. Both dishes come with your choice of either spaghetti or rice (they’ll also substitute with french fries if you ask), and mixed vegetables. Within a few minutes of placing our orders, out came two very large plates of food. My half-chicken was lovely to look at—golden,crispy skin, juices flowing on the inside (I know you can't really see this from the photo I took so you'll just have to take my word for it)! The chicken was indeed tender and juicy but I thought it might have been over-salted just a tad. And though I liked the selection of mixed vegetables-zucchini and carrots-I thought they were a little too drenched in butter for my taste. The spaghetti might have been a tiny bit overcooked but I enjoyed the sweet tomato sauce that accompanied it. Despite these shortcomings, I managed to eat the entire half-chicken without any problem My boyfriend liked the short ribs which he ordered with fries but didn’t think they were terribly spectacular. He was impressed with the amount of meat on his plate though. As you can see from the photo, there’s quite a lot there.
If I had to rank Baccali’s on a scale from 1 to 10, I’d give it a 9 for value (my meal was $5.95 and my BF’s was a “whopping” $9.95), and a 7 for effort.
It’s definitely a place worth trying for some Asian style comfort food in a comfortable setting.

Baccali Cafe and Rotisserie
245 W. Valley Blvd.
Alhambra
626-293-3300