Baba's Hummus House & Mana'eesh Bakery — Restaurant in Minneapolis

The only reason I'm giving this place three stars is because I've been eating their hummus (which is great) on a regular basis for the last two years.

Went here today and ordered a cardamom "espresso" and the Palestinian plate to go. I asked for an extra shot of decaf (beside the regular espresso) and there was a bunch of confusion about this - after the order was put in some guy came out from the kitchen and told me they had no decaf, so it was like why did you guys allow me to pay for an extra decaf shot? It turned out that the cardamom "espresso" is, in fact, a Turkish style coffee. Why call it espresso if it's not?

Once that was all cleared up, I went back to waiting for my order. A couple minutes later some woman came up to me with a to go cup of coffee and a pizza box and told me it was my order. Apparently they didn't have any normal to go boxes to put it in.

I asked the woman who rang me up if they had any half and half for the coffee, and she said they didn't because Palestinian coffee is usually served black. Well, they probably don't usually put salsa or truffles in their hummus, either, but that didn't stop you guys, did it?

Then I asked her where the coffee cup lids were. She said they were out of them. I was getting my order to go because I wanted to take it to Loring park, but even if I was driving or whatever, expecting people to just get a coffee to go with no lid for it and no mention of the fact that you're out of lids before they pay is insane. I've had other places tell me they're out of something basic like that throughout the pandemic and they always let me know before I paid for whatever I was ordering. What the hell, Baba's?

When I finally sat down to eat it turned out that they never gave me the pickled eggplant the Palestinian plate is supposed to come with - again, no mention of this from the woman who took my order. They were probably out of that, too, but who knows? Even if they were, she should've mentioned it to me and taken $1-2 or whatever off the order since it was supposed to come with that and didn't, or offered to sub something else for it.

I'm gonna keep buying Baba's hummus but I don't think I'm coming...

Beautiful Space, But Not the Dining Experience I Expected

From the outside, Baba’s on Lyndale presents the appearance of a full-service or even fine dining restaurant — stylish façade, warm lighting, a lively interior. Naturally, I expected a seated dining experience with table service, especially given its inviting, modern design and polished branding.

However, visitors should know that Baba’s is in fact a fast-casual, counter-service establishment. You order at the counter, seat yourself, and bus your own table afterward. That’s not a flaw on its own, but there are no signs outside or inside clearly explaining that process, which made for a confusing and somewhat frustrating first visit — especially when the menu features a variety of Middle Eastern and Palestinian dishes that might be unfamiliar to newcomers. Unfortunately, no one on staff offered guidance or assistance when we were clearly unsure what to order.

The food itself was very good — fresh, flavorful, and well above what one expects from a self-service setup. That quality only deepened my initial impression that this place would offer a more attentive dining experience. Seating can also be a challenge during busy times; when we first arrived, every table was taken, and the only available spot was at a counter that doubled as a food staging area, where our family ended up feeling crowded out by trays lined up for pickup.

For those planning a visit, note that parking is not directly beside the building — the lot across the street with the “Leaning Tower of Pizza” sign serves both restaurants. And the small side area beside Baba’s is only for deliveries, not parking.

Baba’s delivers excellent food and a visually appealing space, but it’s best enjoyed with expectations set for counter service rather than full service. If the restaurant added clearer signage explaining how things work (and maybe some guidance for first-time visitors), it would make the experience as welcoming as the food...

UPDATED after tempting fate and going again :)

Decided to give this restaurant a second chance since they did follow up with the gift card and the food and people really are wonderful. Had no effects this time, and tree nuts were mentioned on menu items. However, one thing for management to consider is just making servers aware of what a “tree nut” is, since I asked my server if any of the items I’ve selected had three nuts. She said no, but incorrectly said that the only item with three nuts was an item with pine nuts - despite several other items in the menu, clearly having pistachios, cashews, and other tree nuts. The restaurant is already very good at labeling vegetarian and vegan items, so perhaps adding on just one more label for common allergens like tree nuts could be helpful for the safety of visitors and for ease of use for servers.

Changing it to four out of five stars, since the food was delicious again, but I still have lingering concerns about my mortality while dining here :) but hey, that’s just another testimony to how good the food is! And leaving the service review as a three out of five stars, only again out of staff, not being educated on food safety.

Original review: Wonderful flavors, but NOT recommended for anyone with a tree nut allergy. I read the menu closely and asked our server if the dishes we’d chosen had any tree nuts, and he assured us all we’d picked were nut-free. Unfortunately they were not, and you can probably guess what happened next to someone with a severe allergy. We called the restaurant later and they confirmed that the pickled eggplant in our dish had walnuts. This was not clearly listed on the menu or identified by the server, and not a case of accidental cross-contamination.

2 stars because the food was phenomenal, but this negligence in failing to disclose tree nuts could have been deadly. The server should have confirmed with the chef or ingredient list before claiming that our...