Babalu Tacos and Tapas

You can taste the freshness in the food. I love that they prepare your guacamole at your table, makes the food that much more desirable. Our waiter was so sweet and informative. The only complaint I’ll have to mention is how cold it was in the restaurant, I had a sweater and a jacket on

Tiny portions. Elf food. Yet big price. That’s the main reason for the 3 stars. Considering they have a made from scratch kitchen the vegan options on the menu are very limited. The service was reasonably fast and professional. Overall the food tasted fine.

I have been to Babalu three times and had a good experience every time. The food is good, but I’m not sure I can justify not feeling full after a meal for over 10 $ an entrée. Don’t get me wrong, the food is good. But for the plentiful options of Knoxville, you have to be on your A game to even be considered. My favorite dish so far has been the redfish tacos, even though the tacos weird me out being a gray/​blue color and they are pretty small. I was most excited to try the guacamole ($ 10), as I consider myself a connoisseur of such. I was not impressed-​mostly a lemon flavor (which I DO love) and too sweet –not for me. The inside is beautiful and their white sangria is awesome but a little pricey. Babalu is good (for a chain restaurant), but there are so many great options if you are wanting to eat in Knoxville.

Babalu: You’ve been on my list to try and I finally have come to try this place out! And my thoughts? Not bad! Let’s get to it.
Walking in, the area is very open. There’s a bar in the center, and then it’s just an open area with tables. I liked the way they set up the restaurant. I enjoyed the décor, and inside the bar there are a couple of TVs.
So what did we order?
Of course the table side Guacamole was on the list. We had it with bacon, but we missed out with the jalapenos. I think it would have given that extra something that was missing, nonetheless, the guac is a definite item to order if you do come here.
I ordered everything tacos:
Pollo, Carne La Vaca, Carnitas, and Carne de Cerdo. My thoughts? Interesting taco wrapper. Overall, I think all of them were pretty good. The problems came as far as when you’re ordering the tacos. On the menu 3 tacos are at a set price, however if you do a mix and match it’s an extra .50 to each taco, ordered at $ 3/​taco. So, basically to get 3 tacos at the set price you have to order the same taco. I thought that was interesting. I guess it sort of makes sense as the ingredients are all a little different. Still I think the menu would give the customer more of a chance to give them a wider variety of the tacos Babalu offers.
Anyways, the tacos themselves weren’t really something that I would die for. They were good and filling, but just not memorable. I believe the next dish I try will be the burger. I mean a taco/​tapas joint serving a burger, I think that should be interesting. I’ll definitely be back and when I order that burger I’ll report back. Babalu isn’t bad. I like it. But as far as an every day sort of place to go and eat, it’s not on the top of my list.

Most of these stars are because I’m thankful the building is rehabilitated and in use. And if it had to be a small chain to get us here I’m for it.
They tried really hard to infuse a lot of knoxville charm (by that I mean loads of status serigraph prints) into the interior and I loved the penney’s signage in the back. The Lucy vids are fun too, but the tables are packed so tightly it feels like you might as well be dining at Disney.
I found the food to be mediocre and wayyyy overpriced — $ 10 guac is just 2 avocados, and you have to pay an extra dollar for jalapeños, a typical staple in any respectable guacamole recipe (if not serranos!). I had a couple tacos (carne la vaca y atun), the guacamole, calamari, mexican street corn, and sangria. None of the tapas sounded appealing to me. Everything was decent, but not decent enough for me to be rushing back at those prices.

I went in on Wednesday after it being recommended. First thing you see is the wall with I love Lucy being played. Which is great. The hosts are great at telling you about the story as they walk you to your table. Which is impressive since you know they probably never knew who she was as they were not even born when she was alive.
The place is alive and exciting. Our server Johnston was great. He came over and was just a bucket of joy! Menu was tapas and tacos along with salads and other things. Now I know taps and expected to see allot more of them but they had a variety of sorts. We ordered the braised short rib. Which was a good moist tender rib. Flavor was great and fork cutting ease. The cheese grits gave it a southern twist. It was worth each bite and did not disappoint your moment. The special enchilada was a chicken with sweet potato. Another Mexican Spanish with a south twist. Moist and tender as well. The verde sauce was perfect and married the flavors with pizzazz! The third tapas was the chicken satay. The chicken was on wooden skewers which I hate those wood things! Ugh I’d rather them use some other unique thing! But it was great! The rice was tender and so tasty with color… Our appetizer was the black eyed pea hummus. Which was worth every bite.
I’d say it’s worth going to and trying for yourself.

Of course the food came out at different times because you’re not eating entrees, you’re sharing very social tapas. Tapas come out whenever they happen to be ready, which is part of the fun. Tapas are for sharing! My Rosemary grapefruit Margarito was awesome. Ayala was our server and she was the perfect mix of helpful and efficient. We will definitely be back.

I love this place. You have to try their guacamole. Absolutely amazing! It is the best.
You have to try the Pepe o’Malley…best drink on the menu. I have been there three different times now and I have never been disappointed with the food I got. Their always fresh tacos are delicious. You have to try the blackened redfish taco probably the best one on the menu;however, I can strongly recommend the tuna and the pork belly tacos. Amazing!
You could even fill up on their appetizers. Had the tuna ceviche and it was fantastic.
You have to try this place

I was very excited to come here after hearing great reviews, however I was a tad disappointed. My group of 4 got there around 5:45, and we were told there would be about a 60 min wait. This confused me because there were quite a few tables (at least 5) that were clean and empty throughout the restaurant. I even asked the hostess if some were seat yourself because 2 were in the bar area. I was told no that they would be seated as regular tables. However, 15 minutes later with a very large crowd barely contained at the front with little room to stand, all of those tables were still empty. I’m not sure I understood the reasoning behind that. Especially on a Saturday night with people standing around everywhere.
Luckily, as I expected, once those tables were eventually filled, we got seated too. It was only about 25 – 30 min wait. Great for us, but the hostess stand really needs to do a better job with this.
The food was pretty good. I absolutely loved the make at your table guacamole. The spices they used were perfect and I appreciated the option to pay a little more for veggies with the chips. The tacos were a treat, but really small. Maybe post a picture on how small so people aren’t surprised since the price isn’t less than other places with regular size tacos.
We tried their daily vegetable of brussel sprouts. Unique twist and tasty, but we had no idea what was on them. One member of the party tried the ribs and really enjoyed them and another the enchiladas and loved them.
My only other recommendation is a tad more food. This is tapas, and some of the options are just too small to really share easily. And the prices are regular prices for a good restaurant, yet small quantities. There needs to be some accommodation with this, in my opinion.
P. S. I liked that the manager was walking around helping, but I noticed of the time we were there, he greeted one table as they left, and that was it. The table beside mine commented on how he hadn’t said hello to them. Just a side note.

Mexican food for the southern palette. The food overall has great flavor but lacks heat. Everything on the menu has a sweet undertone even the salsa roja. Sriracha is not a hot sauce that should be offered on the side for heat. Yes I understand fusion but use fresh ingredients for your spicy sauce. My biggest complaint is the lack of salsas from red to green to mild to medium to hot.
The different varieties of tacos to choose from are good but are overtaken by some sort of «slaw» or sweet marinade/​sauce. I’ve revisited a couple of times and the service has been good and the food consistent. I’m not impressed with the sundried tomatoes in the table side guacamole. Your jalapeños should probably be chopped a bit smaller with consistency. For a dollar extra it gives you crunch. Yet again, it still lacks heat. The drinks are alright. Stick with the beers and you’ll be fine. The in house sour mix is not tart enough for my margarita tastebuds.
Kudos for being gluten conscious! Thank you for frying my celiac diseased friend’s chips in a separate gluten free fryer.
Would I be back? Let me tell you, I will not be a regular patron.

I’ve been here twice now and I wanted to like it. I am a positive person and I love good food, however… I’ve been to Babalu, I’ve had $ 9 guacamole made at my table. I’ve tried multiple tacos and tapas. Unfortunately the prices are high, they leave water carafes on the table (which is great) but replace them infrequently, and the food is ok. I feel strange paying $ 9 to watching someone squish my avocados for me. I feel like they could leave the avocados and other ingredients on the table and I could combine the ingredients on my own. I find everything on the tortillas to be overpowered by the tortilla itself. The queso is great but so is the queso everywhere else, and its less expensive most places.
I am of the age where my parents often invite me out and still offer to pay for my food. Even then, I would rather spend my parent’s money on better food. I don’t go kicking and screaming, but I prefer so many other places. The outstanding factors are: the I Love Lucy theme, guacamole made at the table, and water carafes on the table, and high prices. None of these outstanding factors are in the «overwhelmingly positive» column, but the price and mediocrity are my only true complaints.
So try it out, have fun, and I hope you enjoy your visit more than I have, but right now I do not desire this food.

Babalu, oh, Babalu. I have held off on writing this review in hopes that my visits would improve or that I would have some sort of redeeming experience. Sadly, I am still waiting. I don’t have anything awful to report. I haven’t had any bad experiences. In fact, everything has been fine. Consistently just fine. The service has been fantastic, but then again, I’ve had meh service too. The drinks are creative and darn tasty, but they will certainly set you back! I have eaten here several times and the food has ranged from pretty good to delicious. The downside, always seems to the be the price. The burger, for example, is surprisingly delicious. It, however, is $ 10 and served without any sides. If you want fries, you pay an additional $ 4. It really adds up quickly. I am a total sucker for guacamole. Know this upfront: it’s effing fantastic! But because of the whole ‘made table side’ gimmick, it starts at $ 10. That’s before the fabulous and necessary additions of bacon and jalapeños. The tacos, are pretty good. People have complained about their size, but I think the size is adequate. The combinations seem creative and unique, but the flavors seems to get lost and arrive at just ‘pretty good’. The restaurant itself is gorgeous and I am so excited to have a pulse in that space on Gay Street. I like this place a lot, but I’m just not in love. We are never gonna be more than friends.

I really wanna give 3.5 stars.
Firstly, let me say, THANK YOU SO MUCH, BABALU, FOR THE BEAUTIFUL CHAMPAGNE FLUTES! We’ll use them often and appreciate them muchly!
The restoration they’ve done to the interior is really spectacular. I like the J.C. Penney touches they’ve incorporated as a tribute to the building’s past, and it’s very clear that care went into each detail in this space.
While I understand that Babalu bills itself as a tapas restaurant, I feel this is misleading. The size of the portions are reminiscent of tapas, but the prices are NOT. You need deep pockets to eat here and be full. That aside, everything we ate was super tasty. We ordered the Queso Blanco as our appetizer, but my boyfriend’s meal arrived before it did. Womp womp. Upon seeing he’d already received his entrée, the waitress who delivered the appetizer was really confused. She thought she’d delivered the queso to the wrong table. It was really good, and their chips are amazing (I couldn’t discern what made them so amazing, otherwise I’d share!).
I had the Torta Cubana, which was really good. I shared it with my boyfriend, and he really liked it as well. He had the Braised Beef Short Rib (the WBIR segment had us swooning over it long before our visit!). It was so tender and delicious. We just wished there was MORE!
We finished with their Dulce de Leche Cheesecake. I wasn’t a fan of this. Full disclosure, I’m not big on cheesecakes to begin with. However, it wasn’t sweet. I really appreciate having a dessert option that’s not loaded with sugar, but this didn’t really ring as a dessert for me. The boyfriend liked it better, as he’s more prone to subtle sweetness than me. While our food was all really yummy, the service was a bit jumbled (they weren’t particularly busy). We could have both easily devoured another entrée as well. This may be a location best for larger groups that can share a multitude of dishes.

We made this the start to our New Year’s Eve festivities. They don’t accept reservations, so we just showed up around 6 p.m. with fingers crossed. Luckily, we were seated right away. We were at a booth high top, but the foot rests were too low for my long legs to reach, so it was a little uncomfortable.
We started with some table-​made guacamole and the chick pea hummus. Both were incredibly delicious, though the employee who made the guacamole table side was completely without personality. She didn’t ask us about any of our preferences or explain any of what she was doing.
As a vegetarian, I opted for the three vegetal tacos. They were also very flavorful. I would’ve wanted more if I hadn’t filled up on the housemade tortilla chips. I would make a second visit for those alone.

I am so proud of our little town of Knoxville. For a small city we certainly have become quite a foodie town. Babalu is a terrific addition.
I arrived at 2:00pm and there was no wait.
The staff is highly trained and motivated.
The ambiance is cool and hip.
For the food… I tried to sample as much as I could.
It is all fantastic!
The chef created soup of the day was fantastic.
The tacos I sampled were fantastic.
The deserts I sampled were also fantastic.
As a silly aside, the name Babalu is a song made famous by the late Ricky Ricardo of «I Love Lucy» show. I could not find one person on staff that could speak Spanish. It would have been a bit more «over the top» if the servers were Cuban.

This place is great! Tarlanda was a treat as our waitress. The food is fresh NEVER frozon. They don’t even have a freezer in the building.
Also the open kitchen concept is a great idea.

What a great addition to knoxville! We were greeted with the friendliest staff to begin with and great happy hour specials. $ 2 tacos from 4 – 6. $ 1 off drafts, $ 4 sangria, and $ 5 house wines.
The table side guac is a great way to start. It was a little expensive but it comes with more than enough.
Pollo taco and red fish were awesome. Highly recommend. I also tried the Mexican corn which is a must have.
Topped it off with cheesecake bites that wrapped up a great meal!
Great space, décor, and location!

I’m a sucker for a good taco and was really excited
to try Babalu to see if they were on point. The interior of the restaurant is hip, but warm. We went early since we had a show to get to and were seated immediately. The staff was not only extremely nice, but knowledgeable about the menu, able to answer any question with ease. We ordered a variety of items, including the Mexican street corn, braised greens, hamburger, fries, and two types of tacos. Everything came out quickly and was served tapas style, though the server said that you can request it to all come out at once. They give you adorable serving tongs to help with the sharing, which was a nice touch.
I fully expected some hiccups since the restaurant is new, but I was pleasantly surprised. The food was fresh, beautifully presented, and most importantly delicious. The standouts for me were the corn, greens, chicken taco, and tuna taco. The desserts were also excellent– I highly recommend the trio. It was a perfect serving size to share after gorging yourself on tacos.
During the week, they have happy hour specials from 4 – 6, including $ 2 tacos. This place gets me.
I can’t wait to go back and try more.

This. Place. Is. Wonderful. It is the most vibrant, lively, and fun restaurant I’ve been to in Knoxville. It’s brand spanking new with a TON of promise.
I LITERALLY enjoyed every single thing I put in my mouth tonight. The short rib was fall apart tender, the cheese grits were so creamy, the rosti potato side was to. die. for., table side guacamole was perfectly seasoned, the tacos tasted so fresh and the DRINKS — they were just delicious. Between my date and I, we got five drinks off the menu and every one was a winner. The Cat 5 was my favorite.
By the way, Jason was our server. He was the BEST. :)
Also, mini rant: I can’t even believe the Unilocaler before me rated this place a three. Shame! If your food was delicious, and the service you received was great, and they accommodate your every need — you give it a five! No one goes on Unilocal to hear about your napkin issues! If it was that bad, then leave a Unilocal tip. Sheesh.

They are not open yet and are training people. So this review is early. The food was great. One thing to remember about tapas is that you should share and it comes out when it is prepared. The staff is awesome if not a little overzealous as they are in their first days, dinner was a little calmer than lunch. One thing is that the awesome napkins are so new that they left dander all over my black dress. When I mentioned it to one of the gals she apologized and I think it was a learning moment for the staff. The food was beautiful and I look forward to trying it again. I cannot say enough about the kindness and knowledgeability of the staff. Welcome to Knoxville. Oh and get the margaritas…