Babalu

Visiting Memphis and came here with my sister and daughter. Everything was delicious. We had short rib grilled cheese, rösti potatoes, Babalou's chopped salad and roasted brussel sprouts, Cuban torta and juke joint juice.

Completely forgot to take pics but you won't be disappointed. The service was phenomenal...our server wasn't pushy and offered suggestions. The ambiance is very laid back and chill.

There is a gratuity added to all bills after 9 during the week so keep that in mind when you visit.

Babalu has been around a while and each visit has been pretty consistent. Food and drinks are always good, friendly staff, and good tacos, can't forget the guacamole. The guac is prepared table side and I don't know what kind of mojo they use, but the guac is amazing. I prefer it with veggies and chips, dont forget to add bacon to the guac. It is LIFE CHANGING! I order 3-4 tacos and depending on my mood I will order the following tacos: pork belly, chicken, carnitas, steak and shrimp. I have enjoyed the tamales when they were on the menu, Baba burger, fries, street corn (off the cob).
This is my favorite location and the original Babalu. I will travel for food and this is one place I like to keep on the roster. They also have great cocktails!
If you are in the area, stop by and visit!

Parking situation: Parking garage and street parking when you can find it. The parking garage is the ONLY reason I will continue to visit. I hate having to drive around countless times looking for a parking space..I will drive right on back home!

10/10. Lizzie aka MJ service was amazing. We had the short rib entree, short rib taco, guac, Mexican corn and Brussels were great! The Brussels if you like/ can handle a little heat was by far my favorite. Also their chips with the guac are super hearty and yummy! I'm from Texas so raving about guac and chips must be its pretty spectacular!

Definitely less fried/barbecued option.

Food was great! Service was decent. Our waitress never came back after taking our order. Food was delivered by someone else, who we had to ask for drink refills. 20% was automatically added to our group of 8. Should've went to the young man who brought out our food & drink refills.
-Do not recommend the baked queso (flavorless)

Well I have this five just recently and I like it, so I came back. today we're just gonna have a couple of drinks. Service is great as always. Today is the weekend so it's very packed. And the ambience it's really refreshing.

Overall a good lunch experience at 12:45 PM on a Saturday with kids. Seated immediately/no wait. Loved the bright eyeshadow of many of the staff. After a blip of not realizing we were in her section, our waitress was very attentive and helpful including helping us figure out how much to get our kids.

We got the tableside guacamole which was pretty good, lots of sun dried tomato flavor (but strong recommendation to management to get the person who makes it at the very least a spatula to scrape it off and also probably a pestle to pound with (he made the whole thing with a big spoon)). Our kids loved the chips. They were fresh and crispy.

It would have been nice for the rest of the food to come out quickly especially the fruit for the kids, but it seemed like they were giving us time to enjoy our appetizer (for sure not needed when dining with kids!!)

Husband had: pork belly, seared tuna, and grilled shrimp taco and a Bloody Mary / he was happy with all of them
Kids got: chicken fingers w/yellow rice as the side, fruit cups - waitress recommended they split one kids meal between them, and she was not wrong
I got: crab cake appetizer (I had meant to get the brunch Benedict but when I said the "brunch crab cake item" she must have just heard crab cakes. It was very tasty and flavorful and ended up being more than enough food for me with the guacamole.

This beautiful bright open restaurant has yummy fare and attentive staff. The table side guac is a must if you go here. The charred chips are great. Margaritas are made with quality ingredients. We all had some tacos too, and everything we ordered was good to great.

If you enjoy vacationing on 30A in Fl be sure to check out the bottom of the menu. Babalu's fish is same supplier as all that good food on 30A. Thanks DJ for pointing that out and for great service!

Visited this place while in Memphis on business. It describes itself as "Southern food with a Latin flare". Ok...I will try it. First thing we notice is parking comes at a premium. It was in a strip of restaurants, shops, and bars so I could understand that. The atmosphere was like sports bar, TV all over the place and kinda loud. Service was on point. We got our order timely and all at the same time (There was 6 of us).
I got the braised short ribs on grits. My wife got some kind of bowl. (I'm sure she will make a review also! She wants to be just like me.)
The ribs were cooked perfectly and prepared in a nice presentation. The grits however lacked the homey, loving feel that I'm used to. The Latin flare on southern cuisine didn't quite work for me. There was just too much going on. There were spices that were over used and over shadowed the flavor of the beef. Grits were rather bland but the spicy sauce helped them out.
Would I go back again...Meh. If I do, I will get tacos. Foodie rules, never got to a steak house and order fish, never go to a seafood place and order chicken, and never go to a taco place and order short ribs and grits!

Delicious baked queso app, burgers and salads and the short rib egg rolls are the best thing I've ever had. It's affordable too.