Came here with my friends and had bad customer service the attendant Dexter rang me up for just a odd and gave me my receipt and no soda and started helping the next customer and I had to ask someone else for a cup I didn't understand that and on top of that there was multiple visible customers who were upset at the long wait time we waited about 25 minutes and nothing after a while the female attendant stopped calling out orders In frustration and in the photos below you can see orders left open by whoever was sending out orders which from what I seen was the attendant named Dexter I remember this establishment being more on top of customer service and food I don't know what happened to this place except the service went down and at the time of this happening there's no line no rush my friends orders came out really cold and dam near luke warm read more

See all

I hate leaving bad reviews, especially these days, but the visit tonight was just unacceptable. I saw your sign from roughly 15 or so back in line saying that, like other restaurants, you are dealing with short staffing issues. Fine. I understand (kind of). But if you're going to just CLOSE your ordering and leave everyone just standing in line for 20+ minutes and not tell us ordering is closed, that's just not cool. Closing ordering to catch up on existing orders? Ok, maybe if there's only a couple people in line and you let them know, but when the line is 20+ deep stretching far far back, at least come out and let people know you're behind on orders, you're short-staffed, whatever. Don't just leave us hanging in line trying to guess what's going on. After 20+ minutes and seeing only 2 orders come out from the kitchen and no one's order in front of us being taken, I left. Maybe I'll come back, but highly unlikely. Good luck. read more

Baba's is a newer addition to the Riverside food lab (replacing Masala Mischief) that specializes in hot chicken. As it is new to the food lab there was a bit of a line on a Friday evening but I can say with confidence that Baba's was worth the wait. They have a pretty small menu- you can either get a regular sized chicken sandwich, a mini sized chicken sandwich, 2 tenders, or loaded fries. I opted to get the smaller sandwich (which was still quite large) with a side of mac and cheese. My boyfriend got the regular sized sandwich with a side of fries. As someone who is a wimp when it comes to any type of spice I really liked that you were able to customize the heat level on your sandwich. I got my chicken classic with coleslaw and added cheese. The sandwich was the perfect size and the taste was delicious! The mac and cheese wasn't super flavorful but was still really good as well. I got a side of ranch and their house sauce (because lets be real I stole some of my boyfriend's fries and love to dip) which were also really good! Next time I'm back i'd love to try their loaded fries because they looked DELICIOUS! read more

Always a good choice for lunch, dinner, or a snack! Chicken has been always good and never dry. The baba fries are always my go to meal or snack. Small size is enough for one person and the larger size can feed two people or on person who had a big appetite. Staff are always cool and helpful. Does take a bit long to get food but worth the wait. read more

This is a go to place for good chicken sandwiches. Reasonably priced for what you get, and what you get is worth it. Their chicken sandwich is either two or one tenders that is satisfyingly seasoned and juicy, topped with their cole slaw and pickles with their signature sauce. The loaded fries is the definition of loaded with their tender, slaw, cheese and signature sauce. The portions are satisfying and shareable. If you like Nashville styled hot chicken, then you should try it and compare it to others. There's seating areas inside the building and outside with an arcade next door. Great spot for date night and for families. Favorite: baba's hot chicken sandwich combo with mini loaded fries Parking: this is located inside Riverside Food Lab, so majority of parking is side street where you'll have to walk to it Would I go here again? Very much yes. read more

Ordered loaded fries with extreme chicken through Grubhub. Received the order minus the chicken. read more

Baba's Hot Chicken - Loaded fries. - Chicken Shop Near Me - Riverside, California

Great tasting chicken! Crunchy, tender, and great spice. Price point could be better but nonetheless it was a great piece of bird. read more

Baba's Hot Chicken - Baba mini $9 - Chicken Shop Near Me - Riverside, California

See all

It's an I.E thang like Bakers ! Mine as well go to Dave's hot chicken more bang for the buck ... it's alright tho. I won't be back tho.

Poor service in a very dirty food court. Should not have gone there. Trash every where and the employees were clueless.

So this is specifically in response to the person who said this is equal to Howling Ray's, the place I judge hot chicken by. This place doesn't stack up. But it's not all bad. The menu here is tenders or a sandwich, so if you like wings, chicken skin or dark meat you're out of luck. There was a bit of a line but it went quick enough. My food came up surprisingly fast. The chicken and fries had been sitting around for a while, the fries were cold and not crisp. And the chicken was overcooked and dry. The bun was dense and kind of dry and the sandwich was two tenders in there instead of one consistent piece, making their menu effectively chicken tenders and the sandwich awkward to eat with every bit being negotiated to make sure the chicken stayed in. Positives: the service was great and the spice level was pretty on the nose. I ordered hot and it was what I expect hot to be. They use habanero instead of ghost pepper and it's hot enough to make you sweat but not enough to rethink your life choices. It's a great move for Riverside and new so hopefully they'll get it down, but not a substitute read more

Baba's Hot Chicken - Hot sandwich - Chicken Shop Near Me - Riverside, California

Great Mac n cheese. Fantastic service. Good vibe. The hot honey Mac n cheese was delicious

Omg! This place is so good I forgot to take a picture. I ordered the Baba's hot sandwich. The seasoning is so good, and also the quality of the chicken. I'm from L.A and I only wish they had one in L.A I so recommend this place! P.S if you check in, you get a free Mac and cheese read more

Baba's Hot Chicken - Baba's Hot Sandwich and Mac - Chicken Shop Near Me - Riverside, California

The food court area where Baba's is, is really cool. So many options. The chicken was very good. High quality & juicy. I tried medium & hot. They were pleasant and not annoyingly spicy. Crinkle cut fries were great too. The sauces they gave with the tenders didn't have much flavor or my mouth was on fire and I didn't taste em. read more

See all

Do better !! This is not considered a chicken tender ! Was very disappointed in the quality of the service tonight read more

Baba's Hot Chicken - 1 of my 2 chicken 2 Baba's Tenders - Chicken Shop Near Me - Riverside, California

Pretty good spot can't complain can't beat the pricing and the quality of food that they offer. Their service was fast and presentation was neat read more

One of my favorite fried chicken places in Riverside. You have to try their loaded fries at some point! It's definitely a meal. Consider sharing read more

As an IE and southern CA native for 29 years I can humbly call myself a foodie to the severest extreme. It's against my faith to over exaggerate so I won't even to the slightest, but whoa, babas is is another level. If you are looking for a tasty, quality, large proportion chicken sandwhich, this is your spot. It's spicy ( if you want it to be) juicy, and flavorful. The staff and owners are extremely friendly and welcoming and I can confidently and about 60+ sandwhiches in confidently say, Babas is the new staple for hot chicken in SoCal. Yes I have had Daves and all other options in LA. #halal too! read more

Baba's Hot Chicken - Chicken Shop Near Me - Riverside, California

Baba's hot chicken is one of the better hot chicken places I've had! I got a medium spicy, probably could've gone with a hot, but still taste great! The loaded fries were also really good read more

Baba's Hot Chicken - Baba's Loaded Fries - Chicken Shop Near Me - Riverside, California

See all

Are used to love this place! NOT NO MORE! They always mess up my order twice in two days! The chicken tasted like burnt ! I ask for no pickles, and they gave me the sandwich plain and it smell like ASS. I'm sorry but I'm never going back! They are a lot new franchises I am going to give them an opportunity to serve mean because I pay top dollar for this sandwich chicken sandwich! Zero stars. -5 start read more

Baba's Hot Chicken - Burnt chicken, smells like ass - Chicken Shop Near Me - Riverside, California

See all

Quality gone down I used to swear by this place and just went this past Friday and got the loaded fries and it was dumped with ranch and aioli sauce and barely any chicken. Husband got a sandwich and also felt like the quality went down even after waiting 10ish mins for our food. read more

Been waiting for months for this place to open. Well worth the wait! The burger was amazing. Definitely don't recommend getting anything above medium heat unless your into pain and torture... If you check in you get a free Mac and Cheese, so definitely do that before you order. Will be coming here again and again and again and again... you get the point. If you heat Halal meat, this is THE place to come! read more

On a positive note they offer the sandwich and loaded fries in two sizes. The mini size is a prefect size meal for me. The mild still had a spicy kick to it which was a little surprising, but I like spicy so I was okay. The place is a food court setting so it's very casual. You have to find seating that might be available, but there is an outdoor section too. The coleslaw and Mac and cheese tasted very good. The chicken sandwich was unbalanced and was just a chicken strip in bread. The thing that bothered me the most about this place was the service. The young man that took my order is probably not great for a customer service position. I was there with my mother who is partially deaf in one ear. He didn't bother speaking up and didn't have patience to explain the menu since it was our first time there. He got irritated and rolled his eyes when I had to repeat what he was saying because my mom couldn't hear him. My son ended up not eating his meal because the loaded fries has something he didn't like. It would have been a better experience if the employee took the time to talk to us about the menu. There was no one in line behind us and no one in front ofso he wasn't even super busy. We most likely won't be returning customers. read more

See all

Firrreeeeeeee I'm in love with Dave now so spicy mmmm better get your chicken sandwiches here

Overrated. I used to like this place but it's just gotten bad. I stopped going for a while because it would be good but then upset my stomach. Today 10/29/23 I took a chance & yet again it was upsetting. Waited about 10 minutes to get my order taken , didn't get my food for about 30 minutes, & was immediately dissatisfied when I opened my food. The box had greasy fingerprints all over it, the fries were covered in a lot of sauce , there wasn't a lot of chicken probably only about a tenders worth. It was just so disappointing. read more

Baba's Hot Chicken - Baba's Loaded Fries - Chicken Shop Near Me - Riverside, California

Babas was delicious! I love fried chicken sandwiches and theirs easily catapulted to the top of my list. I had the medium and my husband had the mild. Both were absolutely delicious. Baba's also offers a Yelp check in deal (one free Mac and Cheese), which was delicious. read more

Terrible spot. Long wait time for soggy chicken and fries. Food tasted like it wasn't seasoned at all, it was very bland and wasn't enjoyable. 100% would not recommend read more

I had a problem with my order(I got somebody else's) after I drove home is when I noticed and I live 30 minutes away. I left a review and I was reached out by an employee really quickly after posting my review. They wanted to know about the issue and what they could do to fix it. Made me feel like a VIP and took care of me. Will be coming back. Thank you ! read more

Flavorless chicken with spice level being very rudimentary. They just pack a lot of ground up peppers and chilis but it had no "seasoning" no flavor . You can put spice on a shoe and it's still going to taste like a shoe!!! Needs flavor . My sandwich was so greasy that it tasted like it just sat in the oil for awhile after it was cooked . We really enjoyed the artisan soda . read more

Jada was awesome great service I got the mini chicken sandwich with the mac & cheese medium it was perfectly spicy next time I'll get the hot but it was absolutely delicious. I even burned my tongue a little because it was so damn fresh what a concept. Yeah you have to wait five freaking minutes and the food is fresh and hot. Serve with a great attitude. Thank you again Jada. Rock on Baba's G read more

Came here for the first time yesterday. The portions are huge, however beware of the different spicy level. I got the mild and boy was it spicy. Got the fried pickles they were delicious!!!!! The outside crispy yet the pickle inside still had a snap it it. There is a nice patio with plenty of social distancing and don't worry about the hot weather they have fans with misters. Staff is very friendly!!!! read more

See all

The flavor was not there for me, I like Nashville hot style of chicken sandwich. You know a lot of spice. However, it's not a terrible sandwich all the staples where there, pickles the setup but I really think Babas needs to add some smoked flavor, some heat, some spice for more stars. read more

Babas Chicken is exactly what the IE needed. Bringing the Nashville Hot Chicken heat to the city of riverside with the menu being simple, everything is definitely perfected! You can't go wrong with anything you order. The Babas chicken sandwich has everything you look for in a fried chicken sandwich, the crispy outer layer is perfect and flavorful & the chicken inside is juicy and not dry, the slaw has a little tiny heat to it but everything works very well together and the flavors are all balanced. The comeback sauce well that speaks for itself, it will having coming back for more lol @Stay_Grubn read more

Baba's Hot Chicken - Chicken Shop Near Me - Riverside, California

overall I would say the sandwich is of quality & has pretty good taste! I got medium level spice which wasn't very much spice in my opinion. to give a comparison if you've been to howlin ray's I usually get the hot level there which is just perfect so at baba's chicken I would prob go for the highest level of spice next time. I would've rated it at least a 8 or 9 out of 10. definitely plan to come back & it's fairly quick with the service! read more

Baba's Hot Chicken - medium level spice nana's chicken sandwich combo - Chicken Shop Near Me - Riverside, California

Had to try this place to see how it compares to crimson coward. It was a close second. The chicken was really juicy and had a kick to it. I got the mild chicken sandwich. The fries were probably the best and that ranch is amazing. They give you this other sauce which I'm assuming is thousand island, it was a great combination with the chicken. It was missing a little something tho, can't put my finger on it. It's a must try nonetheless. Also, you get free Mac n Cheese when you check in on yelp. The service was okay, wait time was not that long. I would definitely recommend. read more

See all

Baba's chicken is an experience. The anticipation, the talking yourself into handling the heat, other people encouraging you, and Ultimately diving into a tasty meal. I went within the first month they were open and understandably still figuring out some kinks in their system. I'm sure those things have been figured out now. I ordered a regular sandwich but they only had the smaller sized buns so a swap was made. I encourage you to go with the sliders. My eating experience was so nice with a petite have held sandwich. With all that sauce, heat and flavor, I'll glad I didn't have to sorry about items falling it off my sandwich because it was so large. My one comment would be the powdered seasoning. It is very different than other sandwiches in the the powdered seasoning alters the texture from what I expected. I look forward to trying a hotter level next time and sample the Mac and cheese also. read more

Baba's Hot Chicken - Chicken Shop Near Me - Riverside, California

Classic sandwich never disappoints. Fries are big and crunchy, could be a long line depending on the time. Overall best spot at the lab.

I ordered online and put extra sauce and they put absolutely no sauce, it was dry. It's so dry I couldn't even eat it like really. Also they did not put all the ingredients I wanted. Will be going to Dave's Hot Chicken instead it's way better. read more

Had it a couple times when it was catered to events and it was pretty good. The Chicken Sandwich was pretty good. However, I went on Friday and it was one of the worst experiences. Line only had 4 people including me but I waited 25 minutes in line. The lady was pretty rude and she even dropped the water cup and still gave it to me. I had to wait an additional 20 minutes for the food and I saw it sitting on the back counter for 5 minutes and I had to yell at the guy to get his attention before giving it to me. I got the chicken tenders and they were so small and not filling. I don't advise going here, if you're at the Food Lab choose anything else, there's plenty of other delicious options. read more

For a $17.99 chicken sandwich, it should be at least good and prepared with care. That was not the case here as evidenced in the photo. read more

Baba's Hot Chicken - $17.99 for this joke of a chicken sandwich - Chicken Shop Near Me - Riverside, California

Let's get one thing straight -- I love, love, love fried chicken of any sort. So even before going into the Baba's experience, I was already sort of pre-biased into wanting to like the place. Truth is though, it didn't matter since I found their food to be that good. It's hot chicken, so you know what to expect in that regard. What I found exemplary was their choice of crinkle cut fries, their chicken strip sizing -- not so massively huge that I'm stuffed when I'm done, and the flavor of their mac & cheese. It's good! The only quibble I have -- and it's a decidedly minor one at that -- is their dipping sauce is a touch on the mild side. Not mild as in not spicy, but mild as in it's mostly mayo and not much in terms of seasoning. I find even Raising Cane's to have a much more seasoned sauce. But given how seasoned their chicken is -- which of course blends into the sauce as you dip and eat -- it mostly works out in the end. I do wish Baba's wasn't so popular! I remember in the early days when they first arrived at the Food Lab, there was hardly ever more than a couple of people in line at any given time. Nowadays, you can expect to be at least 4-7 people deep in line unless you catch them at a good time. Bummer for me but extremely good for them! Between Baba's and Hottie's, the folks in Riverside are very well taken care of when it comes to hot chicken. read more