Babbo Italian Eatery

First let me say my husband had a great experience. The place was very loud — way too loud. The service was lacking considering it is a dining establishment and not fast food. I have a dairy allergy and asked for a salad with no dressing except lemon juice and olive oil. I got a Cesar salad twice and then a dry salad. It seemed no one understood the words coming out of my mouth. My husbands food was good and even though it was barely luke warm he said it was edible and good once we took it home and heated it up.

My friend moved on to this side of town and wanted to know where we should go for her birthday. I threw out some nearby options, and mentioned this place although I hadn’t been in before.
We arrived and had a short wait. When we ordered our food, I explained to the server I was a vegan and could not have meat, dairy, etc. and was going to get a dish without the creamy alfredo sauce and wanted garlic and olive oil instead. She gave me a puzzled look and said «that sounds kind of… gross».
Cool. What do you recommend instead? The options she gave were not vegan.
We went back to the dish I originally asked for and she said «do you want cheese on it?» –_​–
In the end, my dish came out without– and I was happy.
Sadly, she never came back to give us refills or offer dessert. I wasn’t wowed by the service, or the food. The atmosphere wasn’t too great either. A bus boy was walking around looking for things to clean and a sassy hostess walked up and literally snapped her fingers at him and pointed at a table to clean. Just kind of sad to witness as a guest.

Always good food. The complimentary olive oil and bread before the meals is an awesome touch. I usually get their jumbalaya which is awesome. Most importantly my wife has never been disappointed. See you soon.

Tried this restaurant twice unfortunately was disappointed both times. To me for the price of the food for the portion size you get is ridiculous. Since you don’t get a salad with your expensive meal, I ordered one, figuring I’d split it with my friend. I mean after all for $ 5 bucks for a side salad this thing should be huge! NOT!!! IT WAS lettuce on a tiny saucer sized salad plate. I almost sent it back, I did have to complain to the server. That was ridiculous!
Being Italian myself, I find this Babbo’s Restaurant insulting to Italian people, seriously! First of all Italian food is not expensive to make and secondly Have you ever been to a true Italians house for dinner? There is NOTHING skimpy about it, they feed you!!!
Step it up Babbo’s you have a heritage to uphold and a dedicated market of neighbors who were excited about your Restaurant coming to the area. Please don’t disappoint Our patronage.
The atmosphere is nice. But I’m sorry the food is just average and the lack of serving a salad in the price of the expensive meal is greedy.
Thank you in advance for seeking true Customer satisfaction, your neighbors/​Patrons will appreciate it! I will try it one more time in the near future with high hopes of seeing somewhat of a change for the better.
Thanks again for responding to my sincere and honest review. What can I say, THAT’S ITALIAN!!! :)

We enjoyed eating dinner here last night. It was busy because they have a spaghetti special Tuesday nights. The wait wasn’t too long at the time. My husband enjoyed the spaghetti and (huge) meatballs! I had a delicious chicken chopped salad. It had lots of good items like peppers, cheese, chicken and salami — and the dressing was really tasty, not over vinegary!
We will go back, as it is in a good location and the hostess and our server were very friendly. They were nice to the elderly people who were there. I like the atmosphere.
It is a small place but they do have a nice patio and also can accommodate larger groups in one corner of the restaurant.
Our bill was reasonable thanks to the special. It’s not too often we can go out to a sit-​down place for a little over $ 20.
I say give it a try if you haven’t been there yet.

The meatballs from this place are amazing… The tuesday special got me here, now I come whenever because I love the place

If I could give zero stars I would. Came in on a Saturday night & there was no wait. I guess that should have been our first clue we were in for disappointment. They sat us right away. Our waitress came right away to take our drink order, but didn’t come back with our cokes for more than 15 minutes. People came in after us & got their drinks & bread way before us.
I ordered the lasagna & the menu states it is worth the wait, the waitress told me 30 minutes. I was ok waiting, BUT my thirty minutes turned into over an hour! 4 different tables came in after us, ordered, got their food & left long before our food came.
After an hour & 20 minutes, our food FINALLY arrived. What a HUGE disappointment. The lasagna marinara tasted like it was straight tomato sauce out of a can with no seasonings. I was telling my family how it was not worth the wait not realizing our waitress was behind me. She asked me if I didn’t like it & I told her no & that it wasn’t worth waiting over an hour for. All she could say is «is it hot?» No apology for the wait, never asked if I wanted something else.
My husband got some type of Alfredo & paid extra to have shrimp added. I think the shrimp had been boiled & had no flavor.
We will not be back & too bad because it is fairly close to where we live. Maybe only if we want bread because that was the ONLY good part to our meal.

Babbo has a great food/​menu, good prices, good service and a good location. What more to say?!
The atmosphere is very nice, with an outdoor patio, as well. Being on the corner of Signal Butte and Southern, it wasn’t too noisy.
They have an excellent Monday nite spaghetti special with a price that exceeds expectations!

Came in for Monday spaghetti and meatballs. Got here at 4pm as if you come after 5 you will wait.
The dishes came after a lengthy wait, and we begin to eat. I gave the dish 5 stars for taste but 1 for the food temperature. Lukewarm at best.
Not sure why, because other orders that came by were steaming.
Will chalk it up to server break and will try again.

The food here is amazing! So much to choose from the menu. Services is wonderful! The waiter was polite and friendly. The food on the other hand was just delicious!

Look bitches, I did not order my wedge salad «deconstructed». The wedge is structural, textural, and (the least of my concerns) presentational. It is not just chopped lettuce. Also, if I did get the horseradish ranch, as I requested, it was weak sauce. Creamy pesto pasta? Ugh. Over-​cooked noodles and gooey cream sauce with green flecks.
Better than Olive Garden.

Went for the first time on a Saturday night.
There was no wait & I did think the restaurant itself was clean & nice .but that’s where my positive remarks stop !
I ordered a gargazola chopped salad & goat cheese pizza. and a coke
My coke was warm with very little ice .the food took 30 min to arrive.
The salad was wilted and had horrible pieces of chicken in it.
The pizza was like no other goat cheese pizza I’ve ever had. terrible!
My daughter’s pizza was super greasy & my husband’s food was OK.
I asked for some ice & more napkins that never arrived.
I was disappointed that our dinning experience wasn’t better because I’ve been looking forward to trying this place. But after all that & a $ 60 tab we won’t be back.

So let me start out by saying that this placed is always packed on Monday or Tuesday’s for their 5.99 spaghetti meatball special. Which is a pretty good deal for the price point.
On Saturday night I went in with a few friends of mine for a birthday dinner and we were waited on by a really nice girl who recommended some great wine and apps. After a few minutes a manager came over and poured the wine at our table and was super friendly. We all ordered our food after a few drinks I got the chipotle chicken pasta which was to die for! My friends shared a pizza which looked really good. I had mentioned it was my friends birthday and the sever brought of a menu and said we should pick out a dessert. We all decided on getting the pizza cookie which was good just wish you got some more ice cream there was three scoops and four girls so we had to share.
Over all great experience for our first time in there not on a Monday. The only draw back was the music was pretty strange for an Italian place. Pretty sure at some point we were listening to a Spanish guitar love song lol! We will be going back again. For the good food and price point you can’t beat this place when your looking to go out and don’t wanna drive into town.

This is our «Goto «restaurant! Have been to this location numerous times in the 4+ years of living in A J. Have Never had a bad dining experience! Clean ., Friendly ., prices are reasonable and the food is OUTSTANDING!
The waitstaff provides a very enjoyable dining experience! Recommend highly for any special occasion meals or just a night out! Definitely a spot to take your out of town visitors, business associates, friends and family. Beautiful outside area to enjoy your meal by the fireplace. Will definitely continue to frequent and recommend!

mediocre, nothing special, server was a kid who knew very little. Food was bland, uninspired and it wasnt cheap. Probably targeted at the Rubes who come for the winter from the upper midwest. Wont go back

Had italiano sandwich, oh my god if you could finish it you’re doing good its huge. Absolutely delicious big huge chunks of fresh mozzarella, and there isn’t any chips are to die for. Our server was named Amber and she did a really nice job. Next time I go I’m going to try the pizza it looks delicious

This place is probably the closet Italian restaurant to where I live. The service has been good for all the times when I have gone there. Always welcoming, friendly, and available.
However the food is just 3 stars. It’s not very authentic, which is fine. I’m in Mesa not Italy. But even so, it is particularly good.

I highly recommend this place.
The lunch special is delicious and the waiter was excellent and the manager was great.
Is that vague enough? :-)

First time here. I enjoyed my dinner a lot! Ordered the Alfredo Supremo with chicken. I ate the whole dish… which was bad because it put me into a food coma.
The décor is nice and the service was great for us having a party of almost 20.
I will return.

We are Babbo regulars solely due to the proximity to our home. The restaurant is always clean and the ambience nice.
We primarily take out from this location to avoid the constant influx of rude elderly snowbirds. Otherwise, your meal is certainly with a degree of danger from all the oxygen tanks in close proximity to the kitchen flames! I jest… kind of.
The fare is standard. Not the best Italian I have had, but not the worst. We stick to the same items all the time: the 3-​cheese Mac & Cheese, the asparagus with mushrooms and the fetuccine alfredo. We have tried sandwiches, but there is usually too much vinegar and my spouse is allergic.
Overall, Babbo is a welcome change from the IHOPs and other lame, overpopulated chain establishments.