Babylon Cafe

Is this place even still in business? Was there a few months ago on a Saturday night and there was a grand total of 6 patrons. Food is hit and miss (hit, lentil soup; miss, just about everything else.)

The owners Saad and his wife Kelly was so welcoming and they treated me nicely. I liked the restaurant because it has a middle eastren touch, the furniture and the music.
Saad suggested I should try the grilled fish platter because he were sure that I would like it. So I tried it and it was delicious. The food was cooked in a middle eastren way which reminded me of food that I tried in Lebanon.
He also offered me a hooka on the house and the hooka was okay, not bad. Nonetheless, I haven’t seen a good hooka place in Atlanta. But I give 4 stars to Babylon Café for the good food and the customer care.

Truly great food. Everyone must order the SAMAK MASQUF (fish). Puts El Felix’ red snapper to shame. Everything was on point and Kelly and Saad were phenomenal hosts to make sure we had our food and drinks in a timely manner.
The baklava ice cream was a true delight.

It was a warmer weekend and we decided to get out for dinner in midtown. After going to 2 places that had ridiculous waiting times, we headed to Babylon Café. There was only 2 other tables of customers when we walked in at 7pm. We were a little hesitant but since we didn’t feel like driving again in search for another option, we decided to sit and order.
Our cheerful Russian server promptly seated us with menus. My husband and I requested for hot water and she left with that request. Minutes later she returned with 2 cups. She apologized for the delay as it was a first that someone ordered hot water and the kitchen was not prepared for it therefore had to quickly boil some for us — that was nice and honest.
My husband and I ordered a Beef and chicken shawarma respectively. At first look, my husband commented that it was a little small. Halfway through he said it was bigger than it looked. We chose the salad to go with our dish. We both love the salad, it was tangy and crunchy, very refreshing. While he liked his beef, I felt mine was a little bland but it’s not inedible.
After dinner, we order a carrot desert. It came warm and soft and the liquid around it was rose infused, very nice. We took it home as we were too full. If you are allergic to nuts, tell the server to put the pistachio crumbs aside.

I would’ve loved to have given Babylon a higher grade but the service was sub par.
It’s operated by a husband (chef) and wife. The food is on point. Very good. The chef even came out to greet and solicit feed back.
The service and wait staff on the other hand receives poor marks. Brash, rude and very pushy to get you out of the door. I understand if you’ve got other reservations to fill but the delivery is key.
I wouldn’t recommend coming here with a large group or party. Keep it 2 – 4 people and you’ll have a better time.

Really awesome food, especially for this area. Pretty good service – our cups got empty for awhile, but that was remedied.
It’s a little pricey, but the food definitely tastes homemade.
Nice ambiance. Weird parking situation. I would definitely go back!

I am a middle eastern man, and I can tell definitely this restaurant is one of the best meditranion rest. In atlanta…
Thank you Saad & Kelli, Kenzi, Sara for everything…

I rarely write reviews but our recent experience here was so bad that I had to write something. Some of the food was good but some staple dishes just seemed off. The biggest problem with this place though is the service. Our waitress barely understood what we were saying and ended up calculating the bill all wrong. It seemed like something similar was happening at another table too. And the manager or wife was extremely rude as well. Our whole dinner experience was really unpleasant. Will never go again and would never recommend this place.

The hookah itself is five star hookah. My boyfriend and I enjoy sitting on the couch at the far corner and play checkers while we smoke hookah and drink coffee. The Service is good. Staff is very attentive. Saad is very friendly and always ensures that the hookah is perfect. The coffee is phenomenal. We are happy to have this as one of our regular go to spots.
The only negative point is they constantly try to sell you menu items that you’re not interested in.

The entire waitstaff was wonderful we got the 3 for $ 14 appetizers it was delicious. The owner came to the table and gave us a breakdown of the flavors and was very attentive we will DEFINITELY return and will recommended Babylon to anyone for good food and a wonderful hookah experience.

Babylon Café is one of my favorite places in Atlanta! Each and every time I go there the food, atmosphere, and service are excellent! If you are wanting to try something new, but still want the feeling of a home cooked meal this is the place to come. Every menu item I’ve tried (which gives me several options as a vegetarian) has been wonderful, but the lentil soup – addis – is my favorite. It is no surprise that Babylon has received accolades from publications across the city.
The owners, Kelly and Saad, are extremely welcoming and make you feel like family from the first moment you walk in the restaurant. After my first visit, I have been greeted and welcomed by name. It is evident that they take pride in their business and want each guest to have a wonderful experience. The hookah is also the best in the city – Saad really has a passion for it and enjoys teaching newcomers the art of hookah!
Babylon Café is great for a quick bite, a night out with friends for dinner, drinks and hookah, or a place to come and relax – you can even catch a chess match, or backgammon lessons with the owner. Don’t miss this neighborhood gem!
For others who have been there and haven’t had this experience… it is definitely YOU!

The service sucks here very disappointed in the owners wife. She didn’t know how to treat her customers. Saad the owner is a very nice guy however after being regular customers we will not be coming here anymore.
After this review me and my party of 4 were standing outside and the crazy wife came outside and said that why would we go behind her back and post this on social media. She called me a pussy and that we were cheap. I will tell everyone that I know how horrible this woman is to her customers. I feel terrible for saad the owner who is very nice person. Then she told us to get off her property or she will call the police. This place will not last in business for too long if she stays in there.

One of my favorite places for dinner and hookah. Excellent service, great food, and great baklava!
Ordered the plate with hummus topped with taboula and beef shwarma. Very good combination of flavors. My friend ordered their pizza. Amazing pizza with a thinner crust anr all the ingredients are fresh!
Hookah is flavorful and lasts a while.
Dessert… Baklava! Baklava! Wow… So good. Topped with ice cream. The Baklava is fresh and is one of my favorite Baklava in Atlanta

I’ve been here several times now and sampled a lot of their food (and hookah flavors). Just yesterday I tried their chicken shawarma pizza and I’ve also had the shawarma wrap and the chicken kufta meal several times. Obviously I like their chicken. I’ve also had the falafel, hummus, lentil soup and more, and never been disappointed. I haven’t tried the desserts but my friend says they have the best baklava in the Western hemisphere and he swore by their ice cream. Then he went vegan. Sad story. They do have a big menu for vegans, just not the ice cream. As far as the hookah, this is the best lounge I’ve been to with their variety of flavors and the quality of their pipes. I saw a huge pipe last night that I can’t wait to smoke. It was the size of the Burj, no lie. I think I saw Tom Cruise trying to scale it.

Just tried the new chicken swarma pizza on Iraqi bread! Wow! That’s the best and most flavorful white pizza I have ever had!

If you are looking for a review that sums up this wonderful café look in the June 2015 edition of Simply Buckhead issue 31 pages 49 – 51: 76. This review hits the nail on the head. Babylon is the perfect place to have a delicious meal and relax. I suggest you try it. You won’t be disappointed.

Water has cardamon, never had this before and it honestly have the water such an amazing and refreshing taste.
There were 12 hungry men, so there wasn’t much time to take pics… we ordered several of the platter items. Rice was simply amazing, perfectly cooked. The shawarma, chicken skewers, and kabobs were all delicious, perfect marination and juicy.
The hooka was extremely smooth, and we enjoyed several of the flavors ranging from meeta paan, chocolate apple, and mint orange.
All of the qualities one expects from a middle eastern restaurant, this place hit the nail on the head.

We came here to celebrate my friend’s birthday because she wanted mediterranean food and hookah. The food was average. The wraps were huge and definitely priced right. The kebab I got, however, seemed pretty overpriced. It was decent, but a little dry and I’ve definitely had better/​more flavorful.
The biggest issues I had with this place were the service and sharing policies. My boyfriend and I were going to split a combination platter and an appetizer or two. The server informed us that it would be an additional $ 4 to split the meal, even though you don’t get any more food (which I have a problem with in general). My friend whose birthday it was jokingly said «You shouldn’t have told them you were going to share!» to which the server input «No, if we see you sharing food, we will charge you $ 4.» So that made for a really awkward moment because she was so unfriendly about it. We ended up getting separate dishes because it seemed silly to pay more money for no more food. I was afraid to even give my friends a taste of my food in case they tried to charge us for it.
We had a similar experience with the hookah. There were only 2 – 3 people of our group that actually wanted to smoke, but she informed us that only two people could smoke and we would be charged for additional people that used it. This, again, was very strange to us since we received no more coals or tobacco with the additional person. They also split our table in half to put the hookah on the floor so two people were separated from us. A very strange setup.
Finally, it was a Friday night and we were one of two parties in the whole restaurant, yet for some reason the service was absurdly slow. One person asked for beer prices twice and the waiter forgot both times… so we just never ordered any…
Again, the food was ok, but there’s much better/​cheaper/​friendlier mediterranean food in Atlanta so I probably won’t be coming back here.

We had a disappointing experience here tonight. We came with high hopes because of the positive Unilocal reviews, but were not happy with our meal.
The appetizers were actually pretty good — we enjoyed the hummus and creamy babaganoush. I also liked the lentil soup.
Our entrees, on the other hand, weren’t that great. My chicken shwarma plate had dry, bland chicken. Also, the «seasonal vegetables» my dish came with were basically just onion, tomato, and bell pepper as garnish — definitely not substantial enough to be positioned as veggies the dish comes with. My friend wasn’t impressed with his falafel sandwich either.
The service was pretty disappointing too. When we told the waitress we were not happy with our meal, she didn’t offer a replacement entrée, complimentary dessert, or anything.
Sad, but we won’t be recommending this place to anyone.

My experience at Babylon café is not much to write about. Serving Iraqi-​middle eastern foods this place doesn’t set its self much higher than it’s competitors.
For drinks we ordered water, and much to our surprise we were served a really refreshing cardamom infused water.
The food here is the usual middle eastern fare, kebabs, hummus, tabouli, shawarma etc.
I had a beef shawarma and it was just alright, nothing special. The beef was very chewy and some bits where too big to eat with any sense of manners. The sandwich/​wrap on the whole was just very acidic, pickled for the most part. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I’d like.
For dessert we had Knafa, which was very good and infused with rose and orange water I believe and what looked like pistachio and almond crumbles around. It was so flavorful, not too sweet and smelled really good. It is the extra star.
Down to service, when we tried to order an appetizer for dinner we were told that sharing would include a $ 4 up charge. I mean come on. The appetizers were already around $ 5 and up in the first place, why not order 2 right? I don’t like greedy management.
Then came our bill which we had a scoutmob deal to use on, turns out they don’t allow the scoutmob unless ordering an entrée and the shawarma sandwich is just a sandwich and not an entrée even during dinner. Ok.
I just found the whole experience to be a Nickel and dimed one for food that wasn’t even that good. I say let the food sell itself and leave sales tactics out of it.