Babaloo International Cafe & Bar

I love this nightlife spot! Great live salsa band, dance floor gets crowded. Tasty, varied menu. Always a fun time at Babaloo!

Amazing crab cakes! Loved everything I ordered and wasn’t too expensive. Good quality food

A great place to hang out with friends. They have a DJ on Thursdays and all day happy hour. Their bacon wrapped scallops are as good as you can get, a must try. The staff is super friendly especially Juan the bar tender. I would recommend this place anytime.

Babaloo is a unique and welcome spot in the heart of Cinco Ranch. It’s always fun. The staff is always engaging, quick to suggest great alternatives and very much a team. It not the kind of place where you have to wait for «your» server. Abel was amazing and everyone from the manager to the hostess pitched it to make our visit special. Food portions are very generous and well worth the price. The wine selection is a little limited but what they do have is excellent. We’ll be back and we’re asking for Abel. He earned it.

The tapas were sooo good, one taste treat after another! Juan the bartender and our server was a delight and brightened our evening. We would drive 20 minutes to get to this gem if it was in Houston, so we are lucky it’s in Katy. The bacon wrapped scallops, potato nachos, gambas on polenta, lettuce wraps, shrimp w/​jalapeño poppers, everything was great. I found myself craving these treats today, 2 days later. The margaritas on the rocks were the best I’ve ever had. I think Juan squeezed the mixer fresh. Can’t wait to take relatives. We came early, like 6:30 on Wed. and since most people come here late, we had super fast service, because there were fewer patrons. When it gets warmer we will eat out on the nice patio area. YUM.

Been here twice. Once on a Saturday evening and once on a Friday afternoon for a late lunch. Both times the service has been prompt, courteous, and friendly. Both times the manager on duty has come to the table to make sure that we were happy.
The first time I was there our waiter, Abel, took excellent care of us. I wasn’t sure which wine to order and based on what I described I liked he made a recommendation and brought me 2 samples to taste — one of which I ordered and was exactly as I had described for my palate. The second time our bartender, Dylan, suggested a shot for me that is now one of my new favorites.
The food — only tried the tapas there although they do serve entrees, I just haven’t gotten to that part of the menu and I ADORE small plates. French Onion Soup — awesome, not TOO much cheese and not overwhelming taste of sherry. The shrimp ceviche is fantastic and comes with superb tortilla chips. The gambas (shrimp) with polenta is super super super awesome — a must try. Scallops wrapped in bacon with barbecue sauce is an unexpected delight. The saltiness of the bacon perfectly balances the sweetness of the barbecue sauce. I could easily eat a dozen of them.
The not so great — the potstickers were a bit too doughy for my taste. However, when Abel asked for my opinion he told me that next time I ordered them they would happily pan-​fry for me to make them crispier. The antipasto skewers were somewhat bland and the simmered calamari in tomato sauce needed a touch more seasoning in my opinion.
That said, the dishes that I LOVED and the great service of Babaloos earns them 5 stars and will make me become a regular.

I really enjoyed the couple of times I have been to Babaloos! The service was always excellent and the food was delicious! Latin dance night is super fun and I got to dance the food right off! The prices are decent for what you get but I am a cheap date so I’m not ordering the most expensive item on the menu lol! Come by, it won’t hurt to try it!

In from Denver, we were looking for a good spot to have a couple of cocktails with an enjoyable atmosphere. We called before we visited and spoke with Ana. She was so friendly on the phone that she drew us in. She made us feel like family. The entire staff was amazing and attentive. We couldn’t have been luckier to stumble upon such a gem! We attribute this to the people that run it. Whether you are local or in from out of town, you have to stop in! Be sure to tell Ana we said «Hi» :)
–Jenn and Ryan, Denver, CO

Very large portions for tapas. Not remotely authentic. We ordered shrimp ceviche, tuna tar tar, chicken lettuce wraps, squid, scallop wrapped in bacon, and gamba (shrimp on polenta cakes).
Service was adequate. Not stellar. Lemon drop martini was absolutely awful. Switched to coke because I didn’t trust the bar.
Food was just okay. Having dined on tapas in New York, Boston and London we can honestly say it does not measure up. Ceviche was overpowered by cilantro. Tuna tar tar had no flavor — bland. Scallops were cooked perfectly, squid was slightly overdone. Shrimp and polenta was tasty. Lettuce wraps had a nice taste, but little texture.
Disappointed. Won’t be back.

Waited 10 minutes after being seated before deciding to leave. The place was empty and the employees were too busy chatting it up than to service me and my kids. It used to be a good place but the service lately has been sub par.
I will no longer return.

This is the place to go when you feel sad for being away from home!!! Excellent live music, great drinks and really good food. Love the Tropical ambiance and the sexiness of the place!!!

Great small plate apps! The mini beef wellingtons are delicious! Good music, everyones dancing and having a great time. We had a blast!

I’ve been to Babaloo on three occasions. To be very fair, the first two times were enjoyable. Both were for appetizers and drinks about 6pm. Tonight I was at work late and my husband and I met a friend about 8pm. They gave last call about 8:45pm because they were closing at 9pm. We ordered another drink at that time, moved inside and paid our check. We were almost finished with our drinks when the bartender said we needed to be out in 5 minutes. I find this unbelievably rude. If a restaurant closes at 9pm, to ask the patrons to leave at 9:10 pm is unacceptable in my opinion. To make matters worse, this was not just a couple is employees wanting to get out early. Someone who appeared to be either the owner or manager was there as well. I will not be returning.

A good mojito is hard to find but you can find them here. So at least go for that.
The food was just ok, we ordered 3 tapas. One was Brie and pear wrapped in phyllo paper, I didn’t see or taste any Brie, I most definitely tasted pear, cinnamon and nutmeg. It tasted like pie filling. The crab cakes wrapped in plantains and topped in a avocado aioli were actually topped with what tasted like tartar sauce, they were nothing to write home about. We also ordered the pork potstickers. They had what tasted like soy sauce poured over them instead of the ginger reduction sauce the menu claimed. The pork inside was decent but the shell was thick and slightly gummy/​spongy. Over all, when I see words like reduction and complimented with, I expect top notch food. This food was just ok and a bit over priced for the quality and amount. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great.

Loved it! Went with my husband for our anniversary and had a great time, Food was awesome and service was excellent. We will definitely come back. Highly recommended

This is our every Friday night spot! The staff remembers us by name and our drinks. The tapas are simply delicious. Try the shrimp ceviche, abondigas, and the southwest style egg rolls. We’re there during the «family friendly» hours, and love sitting on the patio when the weather is good!

Killer lemon drop martini’s with house made lemonchello, and great place to be entertained while enjoying the tapas menu. Great bar staff, and manager offer personal service. The international wine list compliments the menu nicely.

Went here on a Friday and the speed of service was awful. It took us about 45 minutes to get our first order of drinks. It wasn’t the fault of the server, just that there weren’t enough servers for the number of tables and the bar service was slow. It’s not often that you get such a bad experience in Houston, but this was one of them.

Just «eh». There are some great drinks on their menus. Most of the tapas plates I’ve tried are good, but they are too little food for the price. I love the sauce the Wellington bites come with. I understand tapas are to share, but this fad has run it course. Either make appetizers to share for those prices or make a dollar value menu. This place also runs into the same problem as a lot of local places, the same crappy staff rotating between venues. Hire GOOD help (oppose to ANY help), take are of em’, and get some consistency. A personal beef of mine are the local soccer moms and professional women who come in by the dozen, sit together, yell, and order bullshit drinks that take the bartender too long to deal with. When they deliver the drink, they’ll all try it and order two more. When those are dropped off, someone’s ready for another. When there’s only two people staffing (who could be doing great), it’s rude and annoying and it happens all the time here. The other problem I’ve noticed that actually keeps me from there is it’s unfortunate location next to the dance place. Parking goes to hell and the stupidity witnessed by these idiots dropping of and picking up is not only hazardous to your vehicle, but outright dangerous. This place had potential, it may again, but the menu needs a shot of life and the staff needs some work. The attempts by the staff to fit the much needed dress code is also deplorable. Bare minimum adherence and wrinkled shirts and dresses are the attire for most days.

Well going on a Saturday night around 6:00 must be bad. Well wait there was only about 5 couples and we still had to wait ten mins before any one came to us. That was because I went to the bar my self and ordered my drink. The bartender was great be gave us our drinks free but we still did not get any one to our table. Then the manager came over but by then we had decided to go to a different place.
The drinks were great high five to the bartender.

I’ve never been here in the evening. This is my first. Nice atmosphere, good service and lots of dancing going on.

Great music there’s a dance floor. Easy parking and it’s free! Great variety of drinks. I had sangria with chunks of apples in it. It was pretty good. My friends had cucumber martini which they enjoyed. We sat on patio. It was busy but not packed on a Saturday night. Didn’t get the chance to eat here, we just came to enjoy the music and drinks… which we did.

Wound up here by accident on a Monday night. We were greeted at the door fairly quickly and advised of the style of cuisine. I looked at a menu and decided to give it a shot. We had the bacon wrapped scallops appetizer, chicken paillard, chicken tacos and shrimp tacos. The food came out timely and was actually quite good. I can assume the scallops were not fresh but they were tasty and the bacon was crispy. The paillard and arugala salad was good, the saffron shrimp tacos were good as well. The service was, laid back let’s say and the drinks are expensive but you have to take into consideration the ridiculous rent in The Villagio. I felt the food quality for the price was good, 9 – 12 bucks for all 4 items ordered. I’ll try this place again. The staff was courteousbut a slight unattentive.

Nice place and nice food. Music is good though more variety would be nice. The burgers and sandwiches were nice as are most of the staff. Though they have some area to dance it is a bit small, and can be a bit crowded. All in all a nice neighborhood bar at a reasonable price.

The atmosphere was fun, the food was decent, and the service was just horrible !!! I do not know how to say it but I feel really bad for the kitchen crew … Their hard work is completely screwed up by the waitresses … And I should know … In one night we managed to have 3 different waitresses … The service was the oddest one I have ever had … The first waitress took our order then left us stranded to take care of her friends who were seating nearby. The second one started to serve us until the third one told her that our table belonged to her. So the third waitress took over somehow in the entrees round, but then screwed up our orders, and then basically disappeared because she was so overwhelmed by the amount of tables she was given that night.
I am very confused … And very unhappy.

Great music, decent.service.

Not a bad spot. Worth going to at least once.