Gaby's Bakery & Deli — Restaurant in North Brunswick Township

(Update below)

Very tasty picaditas (different versions available, spicy ones are especially good...with sour cream to balance out the mild spiciness), torta cubana 😋 (minus the jalapeños, for those of us who don't tolerate medium+ heat very well), and burrito de bistec encebollado 👍👍

Cheesesteak (with optional fries on the side) is done quite well here, too.

They have yummy strawberry shakes (though a bit on the expensive side, tip: ask for little/no ice to be added) as well as assorted bakery goods that make for good desserts.

In the mornings, you can get yourself a cup of delicious "champurrado" to warm yourself up. Really hits the spot!

My mom (who's not really into sweets) loves to get these little miniature decorated cakes there whenever someone has a birthday. Just like a regular, frosted/decorated cake, but the size of a regular-sized cupcake. So cute!

They've also been known to sell iguanas [seasonally?], if that's your thing (and I don't mean as pets...). Sister-in-law LOVES them.

UPDATE (following our phone order, a few months ago):

Sadly, we don't buy from here as often as we used to before. The food and breads are still good (though not great)...just not good enough to compensate for the hit-or-miss level of service.

Eventually, had to speak with the manager after an incident with a really rude/sour employee while trying to place a phone order, which had been preceded by other instances of poor customer service (on more than one occasion). She (the manager) was very kind and understanding, which helped.

She also said that the employees are great when the management/owners are there so it's hard to tell who the problematic employees are without customer feedback. She assured me she'd pass the comments on to her parents/the owners, but no other, specific actions were mentioned; so, while I felt better after talking with her/bringing this to her attention, I didn't really leave with the full confidence that this wouldn't happen again.

If they could install cameras to keep tabs of how the employees are treating customers "while the cat's away" and employees knew they'd be held accountable, I'd feel better about going in more regularly again. (Sad, really, because it seems to be a matter of "one rotten apple" and not a bad bunch, overall.)

In the meantime, I'd rather drive to El Ranchito nearby or even to one of the other two Gaby's locations, and leave going to this location as a last resort (rather than taking a chance, unnecessarily, on any more nasty surprises).

On a rare occasion that I did venture back in for a mini birthday cake (after having spoken with the manager), they happened to have an event upstairs, which made the parking lot a nightmare and the music was way too loud -- loud to the point where you could hear it from the parking lot and both hear it and feel it (the vibration) downstairs, on the main level, once inside.

Had I felt inclined to order something to eat, definitely wouldn't have wanted to stay there to eat it.

If they're going to do events upstairs and still keep the bakery/restaurant section downstairs, would highly recommend that they invest in a better/more sophisticated sound system -- one with more evenly-spaced, high-quality speakers (Bose wireless speakers, maybe?), so as to distribute the sound more evenly without having to turn up the volume that way, to compensate. (Can't imagine trying to enjoy food downstairs with such a racket or how anyone upstairs could manage to have a conversation without hurting their throat and/or having their hearing affected.)

A festive environment is great, but an obnoxiously loud/noisy one isn't.

It's a shame to see this place -- a family-run business that's expanded and become a part of the neighborhood -- apparently prospering in one regard, yet going downhill in overall...

If I could rate the restaurant a zero it would be a negative one. The food and cooks are decent if you wake up hungry. But let's talk about the angry cashier, the women that are taking your order don't even greet you. I noticed that you were giving us an attitude that I can handle because I'm not letting a Gaby Bakery worker ruin my day. My husband ordered a Mexican breakfast and my daughter and I ordered something simple. Our order comes out and we are waiting for our husband's order. 20 mins past by and it was still nothing. After another 10 mins and I get up and ask the cook if a Mexican breakfast was ready. The cook is clueless and he asks the cashier the woman tells me I didn't order that and tells me a whole different order that I didn't order. I'm staring at her at this point because in the first place why are you yelling second how are you telling me what I ordered and not ordered? Overall, I can go on and on but my point is if you can't work in customer services or at least be nice your definitely...

This place relocated a while back to a bigger location in north Brunswick. Now the when you walk in you have a bakery with all types of Mexican breads, jello, flan, and other treats to the immediate left, in the back left there’s a juice bar, they offer freshly squeezed juices, and to the right is there restaurant area with seating in the middle of the place. I ordered a green juice, Mexican breads and jello, tacos dorados, and enchiladas verdes. Everything was great and best part for a great price! The tacos dorados (flautas) there were (4) of them for $10, the enchiladas verdes with chicken were $10! Like there’s no where you can go nowadays without paying about $15 per meal. This place is great, good atmosphere, offer just about everything...