Baba Kabab — Local services in Lafayette

I've never wanted to give a good review so bad for a business but felt forced to give a bad one. This place's food has been appearing on my Facebook for over a year now. I've drooled over many dishes but because of my diabetes decided if I ever made it there, I'd get the large kabob platter with the different meats. I want to preface my review of this place by stating my husband and I rarely make it to Lafayette and it was his birthday. There were a handful of our favourite restaurants we passed over because I convinced my husband he'd be in heaven with the kabob platter. Meditteranean food is one of our favourites. In any case, from the moment we walked in, it was not a relaxed environment, which I really wanted after just having a biopsy. The staff was flying around and all seemed stressed. We were the only patrons there for a good half hour, nonetheless, they were frazzled. Also, at least three of the people, including the owner, the waiter, and someone preparing the food open coughed over food. If I were not afraid of ruining my husband's birthday, I would have told him we needed to leave. We are high risk and can't afford Covid. We first get salad, which had many brown pieces, very unappealing. Then I get my Baba Going Crazy platter and most of the meat is inedible because it is overcooked. I brought most of it home and both my husband and I nearly choked on it trying to eat it. The reason we persisted is because we spent more money than planned. The way they price the Baba Going Crazy is $37.50 and it says two people. The waiter also emphasized it feeds two people. My husband ordered his separate entre and I figured we'd bring some of the kabob home. When we got the ticket, it was $37.50 PER PERSON. Why not just price it at $75 and say it feeds two? I felt very mislead and cheated. Needless to say, we have crossed this place off our list permanently and we never met a Meditteranean restaurant we didn't like before this one. May have just been a bad day for them, but when you don't have a lot of spending money for eating out, we don't want to waste it. We'll go where we know we will have a good meal in a relaxing environment. I also forgot to mention some of the dishes were dirty. Never again. We didn't complain in person. They were frazzled. I'm just sorry I told my husband I thought he would like this place and he missed out on a great steak at a place he generally loves. Our waiter was great and did the best he could (except for...

We have been customers for the last 3 or so years. We have told many people about the wonderful food and have suggested it many times. But management seems to change hands frequently and service and food slips periodically as a result. There are many things we have overlooked and the service wasn’t always the greatest but the food made up for it so we always returned. A few times we haven’t liked the way different people run it and changes to the menu items and have stopped going as much. Eventually we would give it another try and found that things have changed and improved. Once we went and ordered something we have ordered many times and love. We were basically told we didn’t want to order that and that person proceeded to tell us what we should order. We stood firm and ordered it. But the food item had changed or wasn’t prepared as well which is why they didn’t recommend it. We didn’t go for a while until a previous manager took over or took it back. The food and service improved so we put it back in our dinner rotation. We typically order a few appetizers to share and entrees with the intention of trying different things and bringing food home. We’re well aware of how much food we’re ordering and intend to pay for it. With tip. It’s not like it’s AYCE. We decided to have a holiday dinner there and proceeded to order our normal appetizers and the complimentary pita bread was brought. We ordered a pizza/flatbread and was told “no pizza tonight” with no explanation as to why. We ordered entrees which come with salads. The server then pointed out how many appetizers and how many pieces of pita we had and indicated that we may want to pack up our salad because we had ordered so much already and assumed we wanted it to go. Yet again, another situation in which they were attempting to making culinary decisions for us. It may have been a helpful suggestion in their point of view but it came out very rude. As if “y’all have had enough.” I’ve never in my life have witnessed a restaurant basically tell me we ordered too much food. This was the last straw in my book. We’re done. The biggest thing was as we were leaving, the couple behind us were eating a pizza when we were expressly told they couldn’t do pizza. We don’t intend on returning again. Sad thing is the food was good but once again, the...

Say it with me: Uncle knows best!

The owner of Baba Kabab, simply known as Uncle, is the best restaurant host a person could ask for! I brought 25 students and a handful of parents to Baba Kabab to celebrate winning a state competition. We chose Baba Kabab because we had Hindu and Muslim students with us and we wanted to find a restaurant that could cater to their specific needs. The restaurant offers Halal food, and Vegetarian options (like The Angry Eggplant) that make a non-vegetarian want to choose them!

Uncle invited me to come to the restaurant to help decide how best to seat everyone. Our large party size meant that we took up most of the restaurant. Uncle is so funny and gracious! He truly treated me and my students like we were family. He joked with the students, always asking if they were still hungry. I had one student order a burger. It wasn’t what he expected it would be: instead of a regular burger bun, it was on their famous pita bread. Uncle noticed and brought him chicken gyro. When I asked about it, he explained “If someone has not eaten, it means that I didn’t do a good job, and I feel that I must make it right. I can’t let someone come and leave still hungry!” The student was grateful and really enjoyed the chicken gyro.

Now, I love Middle Eastern food! But for many of my students (aged 11-15) and parents, this was their first time trying food anything like this. It was kind of funny and a little stressful watching them voice their hesitations. Let me tell you, Uncle and his chefs are amazing! By the end of the our meal all of my students who were nervous were saying thank you to Uncle and to me for introducing them to food that they (according to them) “never would have tried unless [I] had encouraged them to step outside of their comfort zone.”

So, if you are nervous to try Baba Kabab because the food isn’t something you are familiar with, get out there and try it! Our waiter, Robert, was happy to explain the difference between chicken gyro, kabab, and kafta to plenty of my students. Give the menu a look on their website ahead of time as well!

And of course, don’t forget to try their namesake kababs and famous, homemade pita bread! It is out...