We tried this place twice within two weeks. TERRIBLE customer service. The hostess who worked around 3pm on Sunday and the manager (guy with an Afro) were not accommodating at all. read more

I went to Babalu for lunch . They have the BEST guacamole in the city ! It's the freshest guacamole you will ever taste ! The service is a little slow , but the staff is super friendly. read more

A consistent 2 to 3 Star. The service, food, prices and general feel is ... 'yeah, it's ok I guess'. Two family members like the lamb sliders and, since they don't see the bill, like guacamole as an appetizer. Personally I have no interest in returning, but my bride has over ruled that decision nearly a dozen times over the past year or so since I haven't really sought another option near this Poplar location. Pizza Rev is real bad and Pimentos is only a little better. read more

The place is spacious and welcoming. We had several of the tacos and they were delicious. Sangria was fabulous. Table side guac was really really good. Service was great. Server's food suggestions were spot on. Emma kept checking on us and making sure everything was to our liking. Oh and the dessert was spectacular! It was a chocolate cookie with a cream and strawberries! I'm not doing it justice but you have to leave room to try it! read more

My 1st visit and it definitely wont be the last. The taco were great and tasteful and the guacamole was excellent. The atmosphere was very cozy and great service. read more

It's a new place. It's cool. It's fancy. It's clean. My service was great. Food was great. Prices and quantity were not. I could get a lot more food than this for a smaller price, but that tuna sandwich was well worth a little more for the quality it was. It should have included the fries though. $12 for a sandwich, $3 for tea, and still another $2 for fries? I didn't get my money's worth. $18 something bucks for lunch not including tip, and it barely took the edge off my hunger. I figured that going in, because it happened at Madison too. I'm at 4 stars because it was really good. It isn't a tuna steak or a tuna party, but it's thin slices of filet just barely seared like tuna Tataki. Really good. I loved the sour dough bread. The wasabi aioli was made with imitation wasabi. It's made from horseradish instead of wasabi. The arugula was a nice touch instead of lettuce. It was quite delicious, but I could have eaten two of these sandwiches. The order of fries was also small, especially considering that I had to pay extra to get them, but they were some of the best I've had. That's because they're natural, sliced potatoes, and cooked twice. At least I think they were cooked twice. They always turn out soggy and limp the first time, and when you cook them again, they have this nice crunch that Babalu's has. Cool place for date night or to hang out with friends, but not my lunch spot for what I get for my money. read more

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We are delightfully surprised to find this place during our quick trip to memphis. The atmoshpere : super cool, high ceiling, industrial open concept vibe... it definately enable them to apply the social distancing protocol. They also have outdoor seating as well. The food: i love my beef tacos, but it would be great if they add more sauce to it. Hubby's fish taco was good but not enough to wow him. Crunchy Brussel sproud was good but need less oil and salt in it, but we definately appreciate the concept of it. The only thing we truly loved was our blackbean fritters. Lastly, the guacamole,,, its not quite the holy quacamole to our liking. Over all, we will give this restaurant another try if we happen to be in the area. read more

Good food great service. Drake was friendly, knowledgeable about the food and very attentive.

We have been to this location twice, sat at the bar and had wonderful service. The food and drinks the second time was better than the first. We enjoyed the pork, fish and beef tacos. The tamale was good but didn't care for the corn relish topping plus it was cold. We also have had their fries and hummus. We had a couple hiccups but the staff made up for it. Then one of the chefs brought us a giant piece of coffee cake with strawberry cream cheese frosting that was heavenly! They need to put that on the menu, people will come just for that. The margaritas were made with fresh lime juice and were delicious! We really enjoyed the bar staff, everyone there aims to please! read more

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I want to give this place a five but it's just missing something like a signature outstanding menu item. The food is good but not overwhelmingly great. The service is A-1. I didn't get a chance to try drinks but I'll be back. read more

Great food! Fun atmosphere! Will be back to spend a bit more time in the area. So cute!

Came in for The Tennessee - Alabama game last week and had an it was awesome o say the least. Our Bartender, Mikayla, was absolutely no doubt very attentive & made sure we were taken care of. she did a very awesome job taking care of us & would definitely recommend her if you had to choose a bartender. For the other bartender she was working with that night, definitely was not the case. wasn't even serving us and we could definitely tell he had a visible attitude or problem with something or someone. Not sure if his name but he had some weird leg tattoos LOL. but not going to let him define Babalu as a whole. i highly recommend their guacamole dip. read more

They have removed some favs from the menu. I no longer have a reason to visit. I will say, though, none of the rest of the options were distasteful. read more

Oh Babalu, how I love you. I've been to the midtown locations about 4 times, and the new east Memphis location 3 times. So glad they decided to open another location in Memphis. It's a lot closer to home, but the wait is still pretty hefty. On average, everyone I have dinner at babalu I wait around 45 minutes. They do have a bar you can sit at though that makes the wait not so bad. I've had a few different kinds of tacos, but my faithful Baba Burger is what I order most. Woah y'all....this burger is mouth watering. I think it may have even won best burger in Memphis?? If not it should have. The buns are sweet, like mugshot buns if you've tasted those. The meat is always cooked to perfection and covered with melted cheese, bacon, avocado, and caramel used onions. My husband has dreams about this burger, and he is a burger junkie. The Rostii potatoes are my favorite side. They are potatoes smothered in teriyaki cheese goodness. I also get the guacamole every. Single. Time. Please don't skip out of the guacamole. The prices are higher than average, but overall I think the atmosphere and quality of food makes it worth it. I mean, we keep going back. The waitresses we've had at the east Memphis location have also all been such a delight. Sweet, lively, and fun. Babalu gets an A+ from me! Oh yeah, and they play I love Lucy 24/7. How cute is that!? read more

Babalu Memphis East - Baba Burger with sweet potato fries and rosti potatoes. - Tacos Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

Ate here last night. Salsa was ok. Chips were great. Guacamole was good but expensive. Blackened fish taco was great. Took a while to get waited on. Waiter said sorry I was in the bathroom! Really! read more

Mya is the bomb!!! If and when I go back she is the server I want. Friendly and attention to detail. Definitely made sure I had a great experience. read more

We stopped for lunch, they have a sign saying they are currently short staffed but our service was excellent. We ordered the table side guacamole which was very good. I ordered the lamb sliders and my daughter ordered 'steak on a stick' (not sure if that is the correct name. We also got a side of the Mexican corn. All of the good was delicious, I highly recommend the guacamole and the lamb sliders. read more

Great time & great food celebrating a colleagues retirement. They have the best homemade guacamole & the Babalu Mojito was on point. The staff was very attentive to our needs. I love that people were not all sitting, some stood while mixing & mingling. It was quite the celebration with great colleagues, food & drinks. read more

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My first time here was a bit of a wait, but well worth it! The staff was friendly as well. We tried the table side guacamole (definitely recommend!), shrimp and grits, and lamb sliders. Everything was well cooked and well seasoned! It's a fun atmosphere and I will definitely be back! read more

Ordered 2 burgers and guacamole to go. Burgers were fine if not a little over cooked but the guacamole was made with unripe avocados. There's no way it would have been served like that if we had been dining in. read more

Babalu Memphis East - Unripe avocado used in guac - Tacos Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

I haven't had a dish yet that wasn't full of flavor. I started with the baba burger , filet om a stick (lots of flavor), now their new chicken enchilada. You should definitely try the enchilada before it is no longer on the menue. The place is very clean . I love the subtle theme of " I Love Lucy " around the restaurant. The servers are very hospitable and sufficient. The drinks are really fun too. You should at least visit this place once. read more

Same thing that you would experience at the Midtown location, including an incredibly long wait. They try their best to get people seated but the wait seems to be inevitable because of the popularity of this place. After trying this place twice, I don't seem to be in LOVE with their food. It's average and it's not worth waiting about an hour for. I think their tacos and the guacamole are the best and it would be my go to if I go again. Also their dessert is pretty good too! I do have to say the waitstaff and management are very nice and happy despite all the people and how busy and stressful it gets. read more

Babalu Memphis East - Fierce shrimp - Tacos Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

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Highly recommend the table side guacamole and chorizo burrito! Very nice server, Natalie. Nice patio, good service, great food!

This place is awesome!!! Love food, service, patio and martini. Adalyn, our regular server is GREAT!!!!

Babalu's is a popular spot located in Overton Square in Midtown Memphis. It's bright, airy, and colorful. Having frequented the Midtown location several times over the last several months - I must say it's slowly become one of my favorite eateries. The table side guacamole is famous and an absolute must for your first time, and every time after that. They have fun specials throughout the week like, Margarita Monday & Happy Hour from 4-6. The burger is really popular and very good. A new favorite of mine is the enchilada of the day - always a tasty treat! Whether it's a large party or just a couple the atmosphere is accommodating for everyone of all ages - Get the Guac @ Babalu's! read more

Babalu Memphis East - Tacos Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

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Been here several times but tonight was the best experience so far! My family and I went on "Taco Tuesday" (2$ tacos instead of the regular 3.50$ - such a good deal!). Our waiter, Chase, was phenomenal and super friendly!! I ordered the Baba Burger, which I have been a fan of since I first tried Babalu a few years ago. It is SO good. Best burger in Memphis in my opinion. Food pictured: Baba Burger with a side of fries and in the back was the lamb sliders with sweet potato fries (which my dad said we're amazing!) My mom did the Taco Tuesday deal and got four different types of tacos for only 8$. read more

Babalu Memphis East - Tacos Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

We ate here late Wednesday night while staying the night in the Germantown area on our way through to Louisiana. The place is big and bright. It was around 9 pm (they closed at 10) and they were not busy. Still, we had to wait several minutes for a hostess to come up front and seat us. We opted to sit outside on the patio since it was a nice night. We first ordered the table-side guacamole which is a MUST! Probably the best guacamole I've ever had, and its made fresh right in front of you. We also ordered the lamb skewers, crab croquettes, Mexican street corn, and sweet potato fries. Everything is brought out from the kitchen as soon as it is ready to preserve freshness, so our dishes arrived at different times. Since this is a tapas style restaurant, its perfect so we can immediately start sharing the dishes. The crab croquettes, Mexican street corn, and sweet potato fries were all delicious! The sides were very large and we still had leftovers after splitting them between the two of us. As for the lamb skewers, I had previously had great lamb chops a few days before at another tapas restaurant (see my review of Mojitos in Louisville, KY) and have generally always liked lamb. The lamb skewers at Babalou's, however, were quite disappointing in my opinion. They were basically a little bit of ground lamb meat on three toothpicks. Not only this, I personally was not a fan at all of the flavor. Overall, Pamela took great care of us once we were seated and, aside from the lamb skewers, the food was all excellent! read more

Upon arrival very busy but greeted and told of 30 min wait, which we agreed. Had a Luna Rita at the bar to wait and was seated in a little under 30 mins - noticed the loud din of noise while waiting and it only got louder at our seats - our two top was between two birthday parties of at least 18-20 people! Nevertheless our waitress was prompt and helpful - food was great get the beef short rib, so good. read more

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This is a great go-to restaurant. Seafood is good--love the redfish and shrimp tacos. However, very disappointed they got rid of the duck tacos. Those were my sons' favorite item. read more

Just a personal problem but the tacos are way to small for the prices. Other than that it is great and has good flavor too!

Tacos were a little too hot for me but leave off the pico if you don't like it too warm. Very good guacamole and chips. It is very hipster and a cool place to see. Great atmosphere. Will go here again. read more

Had lunch at Babalu - got the table guacamole and it was amazing! The chips were perfect to scoop the tasty guacamole with. The guacamole was very fresh and had a great flavor. I ordered the steak tacos and they were also amazing. My daughter ordered the salmon Caesar salad and it was perfect. This was my first visit to the East Memphis Babalu and I will definitely return. Our server was Lisa and she was awesome! Wonderful Saturday afternoon lunch! read more

Babalu Memphis East - Handmade Guac - Tacos Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

Took my mom and aunt for lunch and we all grabbed several tacos for taco Tuesday. The steak was delicious, the seared tuna on lettuce cup was wonderful but the vegetable taco did not rock my world....at all. It just had no flavor. In the past i have had the pollo, redfish, carnitas and short rib. I enjoyed them all. The guacamole done table side is a must. The chips have a good crunch and salting. I could eat the whole bowl but i refrained and let the others share. I enjoy a good margarita and they used to make a nice jalapeño margarita but now they say they make it with Serrano. It was not as spicy as i have had in the past but it was fine. My mom really liked their special cocktail of the day....tropical mule. I did not see it in the menu but if you come across the black eye pea hummus....try it. It was one of my favorites! I hope it hasn't left the menu. read more

The ambiance of the restaurant is bustling and busy, but in a good way! The guacamole - made table side - is one of the best I have ever had. We shared it with a group of four and there was plenty to feed us. We also had the classic white sangria, and the seasonal blueberry lemon. Both were great during happy hour. For entrees, we had the salmon with Brussels sprouts and the baba burger. Both I would recommend. I got fries with the burger and requested a side of the aioli to dip my fries in, 10/10! read more

I keep giving this place a try because I love the food, but the service suuuuuuucks! Every single experience I've had here, no matter how delicious the food and drinks, has been overshadowed by the very severe lack of service. I don't know who runs this location, but I feel like they're doing a very half-assed job. If you decide to eat here I hope you like waiting. Maybe 30-45 minutes for a table for dinner during the week. Then you sit down and wait maybe another 10-15 minutes for your server because apparently they're in very short supply over here. I waited AT LEAST 15 minutes for my first round drink and it was wrong. Then waited another 5 for the correction. App took about 15 minutes as well and it wasn't even the guac. The worst though was waiting 20 minutes for my check. No one should ever have to literally be walking around looking for their server to get their check. That was absolutely unacceptable. This all occurred on Monday. I decided to come in for a drink while I waited to meet someone for dinner at different restaurant. I've now been sitting at the outside bar for 17 minutes and not a single person has spoken to me. A group of women came and sat down next to me and have ordered two rounds of drinks and appetizers and received them and I still haven't been spoken to. This place seems alarmingly understaffed for a Thursday night. Literally the only thing that saves this place is the food, because I have absolutely awful service every time I'm here. And that's extremely disappointing. read more

...let me start by saying this has been one of the most beautiful weeks for dining on anyone's patio, even home, but we decided to hang out here on Wednesday night and had an amazing time... I have recently started transitioning my diet from an "all-you-can-eat of whatever" kind of attitude to being more conscious, and Babalu doesn't dissappoint. I'd already scanned the menu before I got there because I'm very easily distracted by my love of food. I'm adopting a more Flexitarian lifestyle and had not eaten meat in a couple of days, so I decided on the Calamari and Broccollini. The calamari was seasoned just enough and the portion was more than what I expected it to be without it being over the top, if that makes sense. The sweet and sour sauce was the perfect compliment. The creamy goat cheese melted over the broccolini just enough, and I fell into my comfort zone, you know the one where you rub your feet together a little because the food is good, oh, you know...I was impressed since it was my first time actually tasting this magnificent vegetable. I've always wanted to try it and this was the perfect opportunity. Ivan, our server, was awesome. He'd tended the bar one day I took myself to lunch and did everything he could to make my spicy mojito as spicy as I asked. This is where I give it 3 stars, but commend Ivan for going above and beyond...I'm not a fan of wobbling tables for dining, and our table wobbled like the New Madrid fault got a little jolt, but it wasn't just ours. Ivan got a stack of the restaurant's coasters and stuck those bad boys under there and got us going, though!...Come on y'all, Fix It!! I also realized either I get the wrong drinks everytime I visit them, or I'm accustomed to every other establishment's drinks being so sugary sweet, I never enjoy theirs. I had the Cuban Daiquiri, mind you, good, fresh flavor, but not a bit of sweet. I'm one of those who doesn't favor the taste of alcohol and a buzz over at least a semi-sweet taste. But of course, I'll try another when I go back. Too many options on the menu for me not to, so why would I not!! See you again soon Babalu East!!! read more

I was very pleased with my experience at Babalu. We began our meal with an order of guacamole which was assembled tableside. It was extremely tasty. The guacamole was served with housemade tortilla chips. Delicious! I opted for the three taco deal. I selected the oyster taco, the fish taco and the pulled pork taco. The oyster taco was pretty good. It needed a lot of salt. I think that perhaps they should salt the oysters rather than just the cornmeal breading. I also had the fish taco. The fish taco was fine. Nothing was wrong with it, but it was not that special. I did not enjoy the pork taco. The meat filling was rather tough. So given my so-so reviews of the tacos. Why did I give this place four/stars? I think it was A combination of things. First, there was our great server. I think her name was Kayla. She was extremely friendly and just made the evening special. Additionally the ambience was a plus. We ate out on the patio and it was just a beautiful evening and a nice crowd. Plus the guacamole was just so amazing! Perhaps that was what did it for me. In any case all these factors made for a pleasant evening. I really like the spot and I will return. read more

Service was great! Atmosphere was noisy. My food was just average... We started with their table-side fresh made guacamole which was excellent. I ordered pork belly taco, chorizo taco, and Cuban sandwich. My pork belly taco was a big disappointment! All I tasted was a sweet slaw. No pork belly taste at all. In fact, I opened the taco to see the inside and noticed a tiny piece of pork belly that was lost amongst the other ingredients. My chorizo taco was a little bland compared to other chorizo I've had, but ok. My Cuban sandwich was also a disappointment. Very little pulled pork and only a sliver of ham was added. The majority of the sandwich was pickles with a hint of sweet...another sweet taste that consumed the overall taste. Another person at our table had the tuna tacos and said they were great. Overall a decent place but will not go out of my way to return. read more

Brad was awesome !!!! Food always on point . Guacamole of course is consistently delicious.

My daughter gravitates to Babalu when she is given the option for a dinner pick. We all really like it. My wife and I came with my daughter and her husband. Guacamole is always top notch. The Spanish meatballs are excellent. Babaritas are a favorite. read more