Gabbi's Mother's Day Brunch

(IMPORTANT NOTE: This entry was originally published on May 10 then updated on May 21 . . . and then a little bit more on May 29. Scroll down to "Part III" for the update.)

Part I

A lot of people have been searching lately for information on where to take their mom for a Mother's Day Brunch. I don't know of any Mexican restaurant in Orange County that has a specific Mother's Day Brunch deal but I'm taking my own mom to a Mother's Day Brunch one day early and we're going to Gabbi's. We're going there after she tried the food at another Mexican restaurant a while back (I won't say what place it was except to say that it's name does not start with the letter 'T') and after eating the food there she said, "I'm going to kiss the ground at Gabbi's when I go back next."

If I get some good photos I will post them here later on but when I was there a few days ago meeting up with an LA Times reporter Gabbi told us they were about to bring back some old menu items as well as introduce a couple new items based around the squash blossom which is now in season. Below is a picture of the ceviche from that visit:

Part II

Photos:

So here's the pictures taken at our one-day-early Mother's Day Brunch:

Still no sign (picture taken May 10, 2008)

I tried out the new squash blossom quesadillas:

Mom got the grilled shrimp salad which she said is "like heaven:"

And then we got the flan for dessert:

Also, by popular demand Gabbi has brought her tropical quesadilla back to the menu. It's one of my favorite items there.

Part III

It might seem like I've been talking about Gabbi's a lot lately but this should be the last update in a while. I had three somewhat related visits recently, concluding about a week ago when I met up with Andrea Adleman from the Los Angeles Times and Griffin Tamura from Griffin Eats OC. The visit was largely so Andrea could get pictures for her report which will appear in The Guide, the pullout entertainment section which appears every Thursday in the Times (yes, even the Orange County edition), on May 29. Griffin's report appears here. During that visit I was able to get some better photos and here they are:

Tropical Quesadilla

Squash Blossom Quesadilla

Coconut Tres Leches

Gabbi's Flan

Click HERE or on the 'gabbi's' label below to see our complete coverage of Gabbi's Mexican Kitchen, including dozens of photos . . . and an expla­nation of why they don't have a sign.

Part IV

The Orange County Register today (June 5, 2008) has a whole article about the desserts at Gabbi's, including a couple recipes. CLICK HERE to read it.

Part V

Since Google keeps sending people to the wrong page when they search for "Mexican restaurants in the Orange Circle" I have to explicitly state here that Gabbi's is the ONLY Mexican restaurant in the Orange Circle . . . although there is another one just outside the Orange Circle.