The oysters and tacos are amazing. Also Jessica is lovely to talk to and a fantastic bartender!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Fish
MacKenzie
Someone should retrain our server(Gavin). My fiancé asked what kind of cheeses he could get on his burger and he threw his hands up and told him to refer to the menu. It’s fine if you don’t have the answers but there’s a way to respond and he did it poorly. The server at the table next to us was so sweet and literally every other employee I spoke to was very kind. He was visibly irritated and seemed overwhelmed. Maybe he shouldn’t take parties over 2-4 people. One of my friends couldn’t even eat her food it was so cold and had bad flavor and we had to go to another server to get help because he had not given us a touch back. Overall bad experience and it breaks my heart because I had came two years ago and it was amazing. This time was full of cold food, badly mixed drinks, and a server that hates his job.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 1
John Bocko
A fun date night
Ashley Twiss
Stopped here on vacation and was just what my husband and I like. Such a cool and comfortable atmosphere that's modern. The food and alcoholic drinks were unmatched. The alcoholic drinks tasted smooth and not syrupey like some can be. Everything looked delicious that other people had as well. On top of that service was great. We can't wait to go back some time. Totally worth going!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Fish, Babalu Taco Plate
EM
Love this place! Best Latin food in Knoxville!Parking: State Street Garage or pay for street parking!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Paella
Wendy Bridstrup
Lovely place and the drinks were good. Server was excellent. Food is bland, very bland. Fish taco was an unseasoned piece of fish in a tortilla with no sauce or flavored slaw. Chicken taco supposedly was salsa Verde. NO sign of a green sauce whatsoever, just plain chicken. Won't be back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 5
Ice Maxwell
Great
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Babalu Guacamole, Queso
Sylvia Lin
Came here with a group of friends and we got to share a number of various dishes and dessert. Great place to hangout.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Laura B.
We had rented a private area for dinner before opera on2/16/24 ! Hats off to Babalu! Delish food ! Great service ! Love the vibe!
Everything was delicious, but The Steak was outstanding. The pallea was perfect, too. Great quality food at a reasonable price. My only complaint was that the front door slammed constantly, so I'd ask to be seated in the booths in the back next time.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ron Plasencia
This was my first visit and I was so impressed! Great atmosphere, great service, and outstanding food!You have to try the Street Corn!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: The Burger, Steak, Cuban
Paige Huggins
Stopped to get out of the rain and we were pleasantly surprised by the delicious
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Babalu Guacamole
Kendra Clevenger
All the food is amazing. Get the Cuban tho. Trust me.We normally sit at the bar. They seem to always been in the weeds. It causes the service at the bar to be lacking.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: The Cuban, Cuban, Queso
William Pippin
My wife, a friend, and I went for the Oyster Thursday special, half price oysters and $5 martinis. We seated ourselves at the bar. A guy behind the bar asked us if we would like to order a drink. When my wife requested a martini, he said it would be a bit because "the bartender is having issues." I suggested to my party that we leave, but my friend wanted to try the oysters, so he ordered one dozen. When the oysters were brought no sauce was served with them. He then requested horseradish and cocktail sauce, and was told "we don't have horseradish."He then requested some cocktail sauce. After about ten minutes the guy returned with hot sauce, but no cocktail sauce. Who serves oysters on the half shell with no horseradish or cocktail sauce? Moreover, the oysters were the size of a nickel. My friend told him to take the oysters back and that he would not pay for them. No wonder they have 2.5 stars on TripAdvisor and 3.5 on Yelp. The Google reviews are bogus.They agreed to comp the oysters and we left. We all live downtown within walking distance. We will not return to Babalu.
The oysters and tacos are amazing. Also Jessica is lovely to talk to and a fantastic bartender!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Fish
Someone should retrain our server(Gavin). My fiancé asked what kind of cheeses he could get on his burger and he threw his hands up and told him to refer to the menu. It’s fine if you don’t have the answers but there’s a way to respond and he did it poorly. The server at the table next to us was so sweet and literally every other employee I spoke to was very kind. He was visibly irritated and seemed overwhelmed. Maybe he shouldn’t take parties over 2-4 people. One of my friends couldn’t even eat her food it was so cold and had bad flavor and we had to go to another server to get help because he had not given us a touch back. Overall bad experience and it breaks my heart because I had came two years ago and it was amazing. This time was full of cold food, badly mixed drinks, and a server that hates his job.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 1
A fun date night
Stopped here on vacation and was just what my husband and I like. Such a cool and comfortable atmosphere that's modern. The food and alcoholic drinks were unmatched. The alcoholic drinks tasted smooth and not syrupey like some can be. Everything looked delicious that other people had as well. On top of that service was great. We can't wait to go back some time. Totally worth going!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Fish, Babalu Taco Plate
Love this place! Best Latin food in Knoxville!Parking: State Street Garage or pay for street parking!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Paella
Lovely place and the drinks were good. Server was excellent. Food is bland, very bland. Fish taco was an unseasoned piece of fish in a tortilla with no sauce or flavored slaw. Chicken taco supposedly was salsa Verde. NO sign of a green sauce whatsoever, just plain chicken. Won't be back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 5
Great
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Babalu Guacamole, Queso
Came here with a group of friends and we got to share a number of various dishes and dessert. Great place to hangout.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We had rented a private area for dinner before opera on2/16/24 ! Hats off to Babalu! Delish food ! Great service ! Love the vibe!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Guacamole, Bread Pudding, Babalu Taco Plate
Please update your hours. I was there at 8:20 on a Sunday, Google says you're open till 10. I drove 30 minutes.
Restaurantji Recommends
Everything was delicious, but The Steak was outstanding. The pallea was perfect, too. Great quality food at a reasonable price. My only complaint was that the front door slammed constantly, so I'd ask to be seated in the booths in the back next time.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
This was my first visit and I was so impressed! Great atmosphere, great service, and outstanding food!You have to try the Street Corn!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: The Burger, Steak, Cuban
Stopped to get out of the rain and we were pleasantly surprised by the delicious
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Babalu Guacamole
All the food is amazing. Get the Cuban tho. Trust me.We normally sit at the bar. They seem to always been in the weeds. It causes the service at the bar to be lacking.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: The Cuban, Cuban, Queso
My wife, a friend, and I went for the Oyster Thursday special, half price oysters and $5 martinis. We seated ourselves at the bar. A guy behind the bar asked us if we would like to order a drink. When my wife requested a martini, he said it would be a bit because "the bartender is having issues." I suggested to my party that we leave, but my friend wanted to try the oysters, so he ordered one dozen. When the oysters were brought no sauce was served with them. He then requested horseradish and cocktail sauce, and was told "we don't have horseradish."He then requested some cocktail sauce. After about ten minutes the guy returned with hot sauce, but no cocktail sauce. Who serves oysters on the half shell with no horseradish or cocktail sauce? Moreover, the oysters were the size of a nickel. My friend told him to take the oysters back and that he would not pay for them. No wonder they have 2.5 stars on TripAdvisor and 3.5 on Yelp. The Google reviews are bogus.They agreed to comp the oysters and we left. We all live downtown within walking distance. We will not return to Babalu.
Service: 1