Babalu

IC Sharks’ was closed, so we went searching for another place that could accommodate my Bloody Mary craving. This place is really cozy and a great place to relax and watch football on a Sunday afternoon. The bar staff was extremely friendly and the drink prices were very inexpensive.
My girlfriend and I also had some food here which was also excellent. all around great little dive bar.

Absolutely love Babalus! We always get a great meal and great service. They have the best chicken wings and amazing ranch. The fish spread is amazing as well! I have never had a bad meal here. I could list a ton of amazing items they serve. The breakfast is also fantastic! This is really our go to place for a great experience and great food!

Service was ok. Only because our server received endless support from the other server. The other server was awesome. Not our first time here but our last.
1. With a 14.00 mediocre and cold grouper sandwich, a free side would be nice. I believe it was $ 1.95 up charge for anything other than the potato chips.
2. No letting one use a Groupon on the «specials» is ridiculous. The specials aren’t that special. This is just an editorial note — I didn’t have a special.
3. I saw one small roach. I know all restaurants have them, but might want to look into this as it was in dining room. Ending my meal seeing a roach skitter across the floor was disgusting

I love coming here on my lunch break from work and I can’t get enough of their burgers. From what I understand they grind their burgers fresh so it’s never frozen which is why you get to choose how you want it cooked from rare to we’ll done. I always opt for the medium which they do to perfection.
With their burgers you can get a choice of 2 sides and I love the seasonings you can get on the fries. My favorite is the garlic parmesan topping.
It has the look and feel of a dive but with real emphasis on their food. They have daily specials including all you can eat crab legs on saturdays.
I’m conclusion, I’ll definitely be back… maybe next time I’ll be brave enough to try the better than sex cake.

Another neighborhood place that’s not bad by any means but nothing really stands out.
Four of us went in for dinner. The vegetarian had cheese fries… can’t mess that up. Another did ayce fried tilapia and fries. It was better then I expected. Not to say it was so good I’d actually order but it was better then I expected.
The man and I shared broccoli cheese bites and hot wings. I do like their broccoli cheese. bites but since they’re shipped to them frozen and all they do is fry them they don’t get much credit for that but I do like them.
The wings are always good here and I like that they come out crispy and hot. Can’t go wrong with them.
As for the service. .ugh. the service. Same lady working behind the bar that had apparently for 50 years and it shows. She argues. complains and bitches about everything. Mumbles under her breath if u ask for something extra. Really I don’t need a grouchy old lady who never had a decent job getting snarky with me. I will avoid the bar area if she is working there again as the other younger servers seemed much nicer and willing to help.
We go for the bloody Mary bar on the weekends and the guys sure enjoy that with all the fixings. They seemed to have stepped up their breakfast as well as its been quite good and everyone in our gang of 8 jas been pwrfectly. pleased with it every time.
Of.course.the bloody Mary’s might help that! :)

Try the broccoli bites! I thought the food and ambience was great. Although, the fries came out very mushy! I would still come back though!

Well I’ve been coming in here for 35 years (makes me a geezer huh!) and I will honestly tell you I never had the Thursday night special (fried Mahi) taste as good as it did last night. The plates of fish kept coming to the table, piled high, service by Holly was spot on, always another beer ready in her hand (yes she’s been waiting on me a long time too and knows what I drink) we never had an empty plate or glass in front of us.
Anyway– I always recommend the burgers here, these are my favorite wings in St Pete, daily lunch is always good, really you can’t miss with the food here. Chip has it pretty much down pat and the daily crowd is evidence of that.
This place is a St Pete standard. Not Bern’s but pretty darn good. Been there dozens maybe even hundreds of times and I’m still coming back.

Good happy hour. Good burger. Fair prices. Not a bad place but nothing outstanding. Seems like everyone in their new each other’s names like Cheers. Nice local place.

First visit. Loved this place. The steamed shrimp were just right. House special recipe wings were very tasty. Several in our group had burgers and all have a thumbs up. I had the grouper sandwich which was very good too. We will return. Service great also. Update to reply from Chip: had the house special Buffalo, Bleu Cheese and garlic

Cute little place. Dog friendly. Pretty good food! I’ve been here a couple times and I bring my dog every time, they are very friendly with him. Their burgers are delicious!

This place is great. It’s nice to see a casual restaurant with an obviously smart owner. They offer simple, no nonsense food (and lots of it) at a decent price with servers who like their job so much, they’ve been there forever. Something really right is happening here.
There’s a full bar with happy hour that runs late and offers a deal for everyone at the table, no matter what they’re drinking. Food specials change daily and are crazy inexpensive. This time I had a pound of local steamed shrimp with two sides. (Biggest shrimp I’ve ever had — and perfectly steamed). And two margaritas. $ 27, people. Plus a big tip for our sweet sever Holly. Mom and Dad both had the red fish and loved it.
I travel to St Pete twice a year, and we always come here. It’s funny because I’ve never have ordered from the menu in all the times I’ve come, only the specials board. People too often leave bad reviews at places and for me, it’s great to enjoy our lunch that much, I wanted to share. We’ll be back always.

.gosh. What big piles of snow crab you have! Jameis and the Bucs win against Dallas Cowboys. Victory dinner at bBabalu’s. Um, they have AYCE snowcrab claws. We’ll have 2 orders please. This place reminds me of a great diner. Great staff, extensive tradional American food options, but we’ll executed by a helpful and knowledgeable staff. A bloody Mary bar is next to the regular bar where you get your ice and alcohol and then go fix your own. Options range from regular or spicy tomato juice, pickled okra, celery or horseradish can be added. Prob 10 more options!

Thank you Chip for your response. We will be in to eat again.
I apoligize for the harsh review. It was just that we were taking someone new out to eat with us, and we were all talking up Bobalu. then this happened to none other but the new person we took there.
We will be back.
Sincerely.
Bob Pupillo

They deliver!!! Great meal delivered fast and friendly!
We ordered the Liver and Onions as well as the Meatloaf with mashed spuds on the side. Very tasty! The meatloaf reminded me of my Memere’s!
Thank you Babalu!!!

Good, reliable food and service. The big guy burgers, 5 oz burgers, chicken sandwiches, fish sandwiches and fries are awesome. I have plenty of menu items to work through! Delivery is free, which makes this an easy choice when I don’t feel like going out or cooking. I also love that they normally have online ordering and can’t wait till they bring that back :-)
Chip-I’ve been in St. Pete and a Babalu’s customer for 2 ½ years!

I’ve enjoyed Babalu off-​and-​on since the early 1990’s. Yes, it is a genuine DIVE.
To me a dive is best defined as: family-​owned, a bit low-​brow in appearance, a bit removed from the «popular» radar, but consistently puts out affordable and amazing food.
If you are just expecting your average «bar» food, you will be pleasantly surprised. The menu is extensive, but I’ve never been served anything here that was substandard.
Frankly, I don’t get excited much about chicken wings. Whoa! Their garlic chicken wings are really unique and excellent.
All of their many different burgers are great as well! Plus, the nice surprise is Babalu offers several other dishes that fall far outside of the typical «bar» food category. In the mood for some real comfort food? Try the meatloaf. You will not be disappointed…
I’m a bit of a seafood snob and can be quite picky. No mystery fish here! Babalu does seafood tasty, affordable, and RIGHT! They clearly let the diner know what specific fish they are ordering: mahi, red snapper, tilapia, etc…
Other restaurants offer fried and other «mystery» fish dishes leaving the diner to just guess or have to ask exactly what type of fish they will be eating… and always at a much higher price!
Babalu also offers a lot of great daily specials, giving the diner even more choices than just the main menu.
Fair warning: This place can get really busy during peak hours, with a small and packed parking lot. You will likely have to park down the side street, but their food is well worth it.
Babalu is a great North St. Pete secret and has been pumping out excellent, affordable, and consistent food for decades!

Not to shabby great food great service very slow but it was the lunch rush. Hint call your order in ahead lol
Other than that not too shabby

The first word that comes to mind when I think of my eating experience at Babalu’s is «Spitfire.» I have to say that Chrisan immediately made me feel at home and put a huge smile on my face. She treated me like she’d known me her whole life and has a true spitfire personality.
The comfort food on the menu immediately reminded me of diners in Texas and helped take the edge off of my homesickness. I ordered the Country Fried Steak. The only part of the dining experience that was lacking was not all of the food elements came out at the same time. Call me a purist, but I love to soak up my egg yolk with my toast and I was half way through my eggs before my toast came out.
My dining companion partook in the Bloody Mary Bar (read: a ledge with mix and garnish including pickles and celery), while I had a cold draft beer as my hangover remedy. The beer was the perfect mix of cheap and frosty. The Bloody Mary was stiffer than my back after I pass out on a floor from one too many shots.
We skipped the dining area and headed directly to the bar in the back. The interior is covered with old school double-​intendre signs. It’s very comforting to find a place that doesn’t take itself too seriously and doesn’t mind giving customers who are there to drink a nice chuckle.
Synopsis: there was banter, booze, food, and a great time was had by all. I’m new to the Tampa Bay area and I can definitely see myself taking a trip over the bridge to become a weekend regular at this divey diner.

So it’s nothing too exciting to look at, inside or out but their food is good.
I’ve been here quite a few times for breakfast and the Bloody Mary bar. I’m a sucker for a good Bloody Mary, and they have a great Bloody Mary bar. They have all the fixings which helps make a bloody go from good to great. Now don’t miss understand, they don’t have over the top stuff like mini burgers and chicken fingers coming put of the Bloody Marys or even bacon but the do have an assortment of olives and various pickled veggies and spices to add. Delish!
On my last stop for brunch, I had the eggs Benedict and my friend had the chicken and waffles. My eggs Benedict was good, I would definitely order it again. My only complaint was that the potatoes were over cooked which made them a little dry. That was the same issue with the chicken and waffles, great flavor but it was over cooked which made the chicken a little tough. We asked for extra maple syrup gravy and that fixed the problem and it was really tasty. My breakfast has always been good, this is the first time I has items that were over cooked.
I’ll be back, great service, the food is usually pretty good and the Bloody Marys are tasty. :-)

Not a fan…
We started with an appetizer of wings, ya they were good but nothing special. Our waitress was really all over the place, didn’t really pay attention to us, and didn’t remember basically anything we said.
I ordered a hamburger and Brandon has the buffalo chicken sandwich… Which was recommended by our server… Hamburger was not the greatest, and the chicken sandwich. Well Wendy’s has better buffalo chicken sandwiches in our opinion.
We heard a ton of great things about this restaurant but honestly didn’t have a very good experience, I can’t say this place ranks high on my list of places to return to.