We were looking forward to another visit and sorry to say we wish we hadn't returned. They must have a new chef since nothing was even close to what we had on out first visit. The salads are now in thumb nail sized chunks. The pasta really el dente and everything has excessive amount of pepper. We got tired of waiting for the check and had to go up front and tell the person at the cash register that we didn't have a check to which he asked "Did you dine with us tonight". Guess he has a lot of people come up and tell him they haven't dined and still would like a check. We might go back and just stick to pizza and tell them NO pepper. read more

I was in the mood for my favorite meal here, usually the experience is superb however this time was different and I will not be able to recommend this establishment to my clients any longer. It will be a long time before I go there again. read more

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. read more

Spaghetti and meat ball was ok. Sausage and pepper over penne pasta was not good. Amount of sliced sausageabout equal to half a hot dog; peppers were not cooked-raw; amount of sauce was too much- drown the pasta. Service was good. read more

After posting my less than perfect review, they responded by asking me to contact them by email. I did and was never contacted again.

First of all, I am a Babbo fan. I have eaten at other locations. I hope that the management reads this review so that the service issues can be resolved. 1. Show up at 5:45 on a Monday and are told it will be a 20 minute wait. We have not even sat down before they call our and another couples name that were told the same thing. This is good news, however, quite a difference between 30 seconds and 20 minutes. 2. I order a classic martini that is delivered sans olives. I ask the server and he apologizes and brings me the olives. 3. Wonderful fresh bread and oil/ balsamic vinegar is provided, however you are not given bread plates. You dip your bread and drip oil all over the table as you eat it. Bread plates please! 4. We ordered off of the "Chalkboard" menu. Your entree comes with a salad. Said salad comes on a tiny plate piled high. It is impossible to eat without spilling it all over the table. Normal size plate please! 5. Fast, efficient service is wonderful, but, one of my biggest issues is when the entree is delivered immediately after the salad, whereas you have a mouthful of your salad, with 75% left and they are standing over you trying to place your entree. 6. When the person delivered our entrees and asked if we needed anything else, I asked for a glass of the "Babbo" cabernet. She looked at me with an expression that indicated I was speaking a foreign language. When Michael came by later and asked the same thing, I reiterated my wish. He told me that they are out of the house cabernet. Really? How can that be? Michael was excellent by the way. Now, about he food: We both ordered the "roasted" chicken. The general definition of roasted is " a cooking method that uses dry heat, whether an open flame, oven, or other heat source. Roasting can enhance flavor through caramelization and Maillard browning on the surface of the food. The chicken was tender, but pale colored and appeared to be boiled, steamed , or microwaved. No color or caramelization. The Garlic, artichokes and lemon dish was smothered in inedible lemon rinds. I am a firm believer of nothing on a plate that is for garnish only. The good news: The dishes were flavorful. We also had the Wild Marsala Mushrooms. It was very tasty. The prices are commensurate with Olive Garden, but the service at Olive Garden far surpasses this. I plead with the management to correct these issues to elevate this Babbos to a 4 star place like it should be. I will return to see if there is any progress. read more

On Saturday night my husband and I went there for dinner the food is always incredible but the service is a bit lacking. on Saturday it was worse than ever we were seated in a booth over by the bar and a gentleman if you can call him that was our waiter kept slamming things on the table we had to flag him down to get stuff. we were still working on our meal and ask him for it to go boxes he came back with a very small to go boxes with the bill inside one of the lids and then he just stood there. I asked him why he was standing there because you're my last table of the night so I need you to pay your bill and check out so I can go home it was very uncomfortable he just stood there at our table while we were eating waiting for us to pay the bill so he could leave. we paid the bill and because we have such horrible service we gave him very little tip I didn't wanna give him any you should really try and hire people that are more personable to your customers don't know if we're going to go back there ever again read more

Not sure why I continue to order from Babbo- food is delicious- but service always sucks. Last time we ordered take-out, went to pick it up and they supposedly never got the order. This time, waited in the lobby while many hostess' were in the back and left all the work to one cashier. No one picks up the slack. Not very friendly. If the food wasn't so delicious- would not even consider this choice read more

*Overview* Wow! What a fantastic place to dine at. I haven't been this satisfied with a restaurant's service in YEARS. Babbo's is a nice-sized Italian eatery comparable to Olive Garden, but with much better food and service for a better price. It was my second time coming here after about 4 years, and my boyfriend's third time. We came slightly before the dinner rush started, and were sat as promptly as possible. It is worthy to note that the staff were all working hard under pressure, getting to-go orders ready as quickly as possible, and still managed to see guests off, collect payments, buss tables, and seat guests. It's very important to understand that restaurant staff is always under pressure and doing their best, so, it was impressive that we were sat despite the stress. *Server/Menu* Our server was very friendly and incredibly knowledgeable about the menu. She brought us bread, and let me tell you, that bread is truly some of the best bread we've ever had! The menu is very easy to read and understand, and we were so excited by how many options the menu offered without being overwhelming to choose from. The menu categorizes the food accordingly, and has plenty of deals like salad + pasta combos, build your own calzones, and a few others. It also notes that most of the food items can be made vegetarian, which is a godsend for my boyfriend and I as we are vegetarian and this type of inclusivity really brings in business for the vegan/vegetarian community! *What we ordered* In total we ordered: -the three cheese mac n cheese (cheesy, not overcooked, full of spices and portion size was perfect) -the mushroom and asparagus pasta (savory, delicious, totally cooked the asparagus correctly) -the build your own calzone (giant calzone, awesome ingredient selection as everything tasted like it was super fresh) -the new mediterranean salad (HOLY YUM- this salad was fresh, salty with a little sweet, and the pepperoncinis make the final twist for this dish by far) -cheesecake for dessert (NOT a measly-sized cheesecake- the berry sauce is a must as it brings the dish together. we LOVED this) *cocktails/drinks* It's also worth noting that I have a deep love for Bloody Marys, but I don't drink so I always order them virgin. The bartender who made mine must have been an angel, because she made a very tasty, classic, not too salty but savory Bloody Mary for me and I couldn't be more enthused about the quality of it and the price. *Service* Our food came very quickly despite the rush. I feel for those cooks back there scrambling to make orders fresh, correct, and on time, and we were not disappointed one bit. My boyfriend did not read the entirety of the description for the three cheese mac n cheese, and was surprised by the bits of bacon and sausage in it when it arrived. We felt terrible, it was totally on us and our negligence, but when we requested the dish be remade vegetarian, our server was more than happy to take care of it and it was brought very quickly. This is huge for us- after years in the service industry I know how much of a pain it is to take a dish back and remake it myself, so her kindness and promptness meant the world to us! *customer base* Last but not least, it was interesting to hear our server greet other customers and serve other tables that were clearly regulars. A good indication for how a business is running is the amount of returning customers a business will see, just like any other "client base." The customers we overheard were joyous and communicative with our server and had clearly been coming for a long time. So, to recap, the service is fantastic here, the food was truly delicious, and we felt like we were paid attention to, like family, and our needs and concerns were valid and met. No restaurant is perfect, mistakes happen, people have bad days, and sometimes it's a little loud and you have to wait a bit. Don't let bad reviews turn you off for one of the best Italian restaurants in the valley! Give this place a chance and invest in some serious cheese. We will be back and look forward to being regulars :) - Amanda + Austin read more

This place has great food! Tonight it was online order/pick up only due to the covid19 going on. Line was very long, waited 2hours from order time to pick up but these guys were doing a great job especially given the circumstances and short staff..... the people in line were very rude and impatient tho. Gotta expect a wait time people, be kind & patient!! Definitely recommend and worth the wait!! read more

I came in again after a few months of being away and was delighted to see that my favorite server Zebulon was behind the bar now! He did a wonderful job, moving from bar tending and take out orders and even a few tables. He really does it all!! And we of course had the same excellent service and in our option an award winning smile from Zebulon the entire time. He truly makes this place worth coming back to! Great food and great atmosphere!! read more

Good food. Little cold in restaurant but food was good. Little slow in getting food to table. Austin was ok waiter but not best. Wait 20mins, not bad for Friday night 6pm. Enough food on plate to take some home. Will go back here before going to big box restaurant Italian chain. read more

If I could put ZERO STAR that would be my rating. My husband had brain surgery and had some complications so I thought to take the kids to have a nice dinner to have some huddle time. And what a RUDE, INCONSIDERATE waiter we got named Nicole. I asked for extra balsamic vinegar and olive oil, she said...MORE??? Told me she have 5 tables to take care of and came back with 5 bowls of dipping sauce to make a point ( i guess). I told her it is a little bit exaggerated and do not appreciate the attitude. When I asked to speak to supervisor, I got Britney and swear, Nicole is the BEST WAITRESS they have. Then if that is the case, why we ended up this way for a simple request of sauce. It is definitely a DISAPPOINTING EXPERIENCE when you are trying to have a nice dinner with your kids. read more

Very nice eatery with outdoor fogata, full bar and quaint seating. Staff was very inviting and attentive. My wife and I noticed that this just sprung up on the corner of Southern and Signal Butte so we thought we'd give it a try, what we didn't realize was it was on their opening night. We took our three kids, 4,2 and 1 and at first thought maybe it was a little too fancy for families with small kids, but the staff was more than accommodating. Monday and Tuesday nights they have specials on their amazing spaghetti and meatballs and if you get there before 6pm you can also take advantage of their happy hour. We were able to feed our family with a plate of spaghetti and meatballs two happy hour pizzas and the amazing dipping bread with olive oil and balsamic all for $15. This is without drinks or sodas and expect to pay between $8-$12 a plate if you don't get the special. Either way the food was well worth it, the bianca pizza was awesome and had just the right amount of garlic for us married folk but if this is a first date you might want to play it safe and stick with the pepperoni. We will be making this a monthly tradition. read more

How do you go to dinner order a calzone and it comes out burnt and the manager seemed to be OK with serving it to you? When something was said it was taken back to get remade then it comes out wrong again! They put the wrong toppings in it and didn't even have the decency to apologize! The server kind of laughed like oh no big deal. Then we get the bill and they charged us full price for it. WOW!!! Let's just says this was a pretty bad dining experience. I hope they don't do this to all their customers. read more

How often do you go to an Italian restaurant that gives you the option of zucchini noodles. Great food! Great prices! I highly recommend this restaurant read more

My husband and I love Babbos the food is delicious they could charge higher prices and we would pay. The staff is fabulous, friendly and quick. When we have company we run them over and buy them dinner, they have all been pleased even Grandpa. Everyone should stop by and try them you won't be disappointed. read more

My husband and I went in on Monday night and we did have to wait a few minutes for a table as they were busy. When we sat down, Nicole came up and introduced herself and my husband asked if we made it in time for a happy hour wine, she said if she put it in now, we got it, so she took our wine order and put it in. The food was amazing and Nicole's recommendation of the Brussel Sprout and Beet Salad was the best. You could tell she was busy, but our glasses stayed full and she always seemed to make a point to stop by our table to check on us. It is nice to see that even when a restaurant is busy, the food and service is top notch. Next time we will need to try the Spaghetti and Meatballs everyone got. read more

Usually one of my favorite spots to eat, but today the service was extremely slow. Food was just average. Could just be a bad day.

Stood in this place for 10 minutes after hearing them tell the people in front of us they would wipe a table down for them, and then literally doing everything but that. read more

Second and last time for me. First time, made reservation for eight family members to celebrate my wife's surprise birthday dinner. Six arrived on time and were seated, waiting on our arrival. We arrived to greet our family tucked away in the corner at a table for 6, at the most. The waitress moves us to the middle of the dining room after pushing together a bunch of smaller tables. I asked if we could sit at a larger table off to the side. I was told it was reserved for a large party. I told her WE were the large party she was expecting. No go, smaller tables were her solution. After messing up two orders that now had to be cooked, we waited..... and waited.... In the meantime, I've got two waiters yelling out the different dishes like it was an auction! "Who gets the spaghetti with meatballs?", "Who gets the... Really? You can't figure out a way to note what meal gets served to which guest? Amateurs........The "other" large party never shows. Second time, last night. Same theatrics.... "who gets the...." 30 minute wait for food to arrive, was told "it's busy". You don't know what busy is. amateurs........ read more

This is a cozy little place, set up in a perfect spot for a restaurant, for it is surrounded by a few fast food joints. No one wants fast food all the time, so this nice little addition to this busy complex in this area, it is perfect! This is not a huge restaurant; it's more of a smaller, cozy, relaxing kind of place. I never go here during the dinner or lunch rush, for it can get quite busy, coming here later in the evening is usually better. I enjoyed their chicken alfredo with a nice glass of Moscato while a friend of mine enjoyed one of their cold sandwiches. The food came out pretty quick and the service was really good. The food was decent, not the best but not the worst, I think the alfredo could have had a little more flavor to the sauce, but it wasn't bad. It's a different place to eat and if im in the area im sure ill go back. read more

Worst restaurant that I have ever been too. The service was horrible. The food is even worse. Do yourself a favor, and never visit this restaurant. My girlfriend used to like the restaurant a lot, not sure what happened to the service. Never been to a restaurant that would not trust them enough to eat their food. Never like to see a business fail, but this place is awful. read more

I will start out with the positives for this place. The food for the most part is pretty good and they do have a great kids menu with quite a few choices. Now the negative, I ordered the roasted Brussel sprout and beet salad which was pretty good. However, it was pretty small considering the $10.50 price tag. In my opinion it is too small to garner that price. Yes, I could have ordered the large size instead of the regular but that still does not equate the huge price for a small sized salad. Which does not include any protein such as chicken, steak, or shrimp. I could have added it and added another $4.75 to my already high cost salad. However, I am not accustomed to paying $15.25 for a tiny salad. Needless to say I will not be ordering this salad anytime soon. But, I will return and gladly order something else, because as I stated earlier in this review the food is pretty good. read more

A trendy, upscale"ish" restaurant on the east side? Finally! Loved the food, loved the decor. Now just needs some a clientele under 60 ;')

I would give it no star if I could.. I went there with my boy friend this evening, I ordered a quinoa and kale salad. My dish came without quinoa in it.. I asked our waitress if she brought me the right order, she started trying to explain what quinoa looks like..I said I know what quinoa looks like..she picked up my fork and said here..she picked up a chickpea in my salad and told me she is positive that's their quinoa!! OMG, I could not believe it!!! I asked her to check with their chef..she came back several minutes later and said they ran out of quinoa....Seriously??? Do they even care to serve what people order?? I just can't believe that's how they operate at that restaurant, it actually makes me wonder if I was the first customer they ever tried to fool.. watch what you order there!!! read more

I came here several weeks ago, and overall was pretty impressed. It's a very nice establishment with a huge menu, that is very reasonably priced for what you get. My mom and I had pasta dishes, and they were both around $10 and for the amount of food I received and the quality, I was pretty impressed. Also when I checked in on Foursquare, we received a free garlic spread. That was sweet!! I would have no problems going back here in the future. Oh also, they have an open kitchen. I love that aspect of restaurants. You can see how clean the kitchen is. read more

This place is an incredible well-kept secret, until now. As good as any Italian restaurant anywhere. Unpretentious, inexpensive, awesome happy hours, unbelievable shrimp fra diavolo pasta dish. Also, I don't know who the bartender is or even WHERE he/she is, but that person makes some of the best and BIGGEST happy hour $5 martinis I've ever seen. Did I say inexpensive? Incredibly inexpensive! read more

My girlfriend I were looking for an Italian place to eat when we drove by Babbo's. Really good food and very good set. I would recommend this place. read more

Stopped for lunch with my wife and ordered the 12" pizza, garlic and meatball. Not the worst i ever had, but sure brought it to mind! Very dry, no oil, marinara or other lubricant... sort of like a piece of cardboard with some very dark brown meatball (about 1/8" thick) sliced on it. Flavor not even passable, we ate only half of it and brought the rest home (for whatever reason) and promptly threw it away. Iced tea was $2.75 each, total bill close to $20. Won't eat here again, at least won't order the pizza! When we questioned the waiter, he answered that they had just changed the ingredients, was sorry but no comp or discount. $20 wasted. read more

Not such a good experience! Stopped to get my father that is in the hospital food and the gal at the bar was less than pleasant. Never had some one bring me my food, check or change for that matter and not say can I get you anything else or thank you. One would assume when you place a to go order that they would include silverware and you wouldn't have to make sure it was in the bag. read more

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 read more

New area so it's super busy; however, they handled the rush very well. The food was great. Try the fried ravioli.

My husband and I have gone into this location many times. Before I had my son, we would sit at the bar and talk to a gentleman who was just married, I don't recall his name, but he was great. Very knowledgeable about beverage, sports and remembers repeat guests! Haven't seen him in some time, sadly. This particular visit , last Tuesday night, was a disappointment. We walked in and we were poorly greeting by a shy young hostess, we could barely hear what she was saying. She seems confused and looked to the manager for assistance. He was too busy on his phone to help. We asked her for a booth near the bar , and she accommodated our request and asked if we wouldn't mind waiting until they were cleaned off. We stood up near the hostess stand for almost 10 minutes while the dirty tables sat untouched and still the manager was on his phone! Once we were seated our server greeted us and got our drink order. Our server was great, very attentive and professional. Don't remember his name but he was younger, tall, skinny with brown hair. My husband ordered a salad and I ordered the baked manicotti. While sitting and waiting for our food there were many servers standing around the kitchen window having personal conversations, which I was totally ok with, until I could hear a girl cursing! I wouldn't of been surprised if the while restaurant didn't hear her as its not that big of a place. The manager didn't seem to notice as he was now SEATED AT THE BAR ON HIS PHONE. At that point a server walked up to the manager and informed him of a miscommunication with a table. He said to her "ugh, ok, I'll be over in a minute". As the server walked away he complained to another server that he had to deal with the problem. The server he complained to said " I know, I don't like to bother you with my problems, I like to handle things in my own." This server was extremely loud and the entire time we were there was very concerned with showing his coworkers the hive of bees outside on the patio! The last thing that blew my mind was, the manager had asked the bartender if she was able to take some additional tables. She replied that she would rather just do the bar top as she has many martinis to make. He seemed to get frustrated with her, and walked away, without helping her. She has a half a bar of guests and I watched her make about 6 martinis. As a manager in the industry myself, maybe I expect a little more when being served, but, I was extremely disappointed in our expiernce and the lack of assistance from the Manager! The food was great, as always, but at this point I don't know if I'll return to this location. read more

It's been a couple of weeks since we went here, but last time the wait staff was slow as hell, forgot to bring order items and half our food was cold because they let it sit up there until the rest of the order was ready. Additionally I ordered marinara sauce with my spaghetti and I was under the impression it was just a simple tomato sauce, apparently they use the base of what's cooked off from their meatballs (which are beef and pork) I'm allergic to pork so while eating it I realized my stomach was starting to hurt really bad so I ended up going to the bathroom and was sick for an hour and half in there before leaving and I was still in severe stomach pains for like 2 days after that. I told the waitress I was allergic to pork too because I asked her what was in the meat sauce/ meatballs and I said I needed to have the regular marinara sauce. So needless to say I won't be back. I can't the risk of having an allergic reaction again to the stupidity of the wait staff read more

Fodd was ok. We went to try the special, monday and tuesday all day, spaghetti and meatballs for6.99. You also get the house bread with that. Looking at the menu, the prices were okay for an upscale eatery. Lunch specials were about $10.00. Was seated quickly, waiter was prompt, friendly and our food came quickly.. Might return, im just not really an upscale type of person.. Was clean and quiet, AC was on so it was nice to sit and relax a bit.. read more

My wife and I eat here about once a month. It's one of our favorite places to eat. The food is delicious, prices reasonable, and the management is attentive. The homemade tiramisu is amazing btw. We are glad to have a great place to eat that is so close to our home. read more

I dropped in today to have a decent meal, tired of the bbq and burger joints in this area. Iwas so happy to find a clean and welcoming restaurant that was not blasting loud music. Instead, the music was hip but not" bubble gummy", smooth but not drowsy. This is important to me because ambienace and atmosphere help my dining experience. I want to enjoy my conversation and be relaxed. Anyway, the Manager greeted me and sat me promptly. The bar was quaint but enough. I didnt feel closed in. The wine list was more than I anticipated. Im no wine snob but there were several selections of Pinots, Reds, Chardannays etc... I had heard of from various Regions. The Staff was attentive but not pushy. I started with an Arugula and White Bean salad, which was very good; tangy and sweet and ample sized for a salad. I then chose the Italian Sausage and Pasta; it was spicy without spoiling the other flavors in the dish of Bell peppers and spices and onions. The marinara sauce was perfectly balanced between chunky without being too soupy. I will definately return thanks to the very good service, the atmosphere,the variety of drinks and winer, the delicious menu and appetizers, and the potential for this being a regular spot for taking a date while in Arizona. BTW, there is ample parking and access for all. Too bad the rest of the shopping center isn't as nicely kept as Babbo Eatery. read more

We had a disappointing evening on our wives night out. Sangria tasted like diluted wine vs. wine punch. When we asked to exchange the drinks for something else, the manager on duty rudely greeted our table demanding to know what was wrong with our, "TERRIBLE" drinks. Sadly, replacement margaritas were not any better. We started off with the bruschetta trio and were unable to distinguish the different types apart. They all looked and tasted same!!! We knew we had already upset the staff with our drink fiasco, so we decided to let this slide and hoped that dinner would save the evening. Dinner was good, but our waitress was nowhere to be found for drink refills, or to pay our bill. We had to flag someone down for both. We tipped her over 20% and left. read more

Love this place! We haven't had a bad dish. Atmosphere is perfect for a small Italian restaurant. I'd highly recommend it - great happy hour! read more