Babbo Italian Kitchen

114 E Main St, Forest City NC 28043
$$$ Italian

Reservations

Booking Notes:

Reservations for Patio are subject to change due to weather. We will best accommodate you if weather problems do arise. Be prepared, you may have to reschedule your original reservation.

Business Info

  • Address: 114 E Main St, Forest City NC 28043
  • Cross Street: Forest City
  • Cuisine: Italian |
  • Cost: | Moderate
  • Category: Fine Dining
  • Star Rating:
  • Reservations: Required
  • Dress Code: Business Casual
  • Meals Served: Lunch | Dinner |
  • Parking: Street |
  • Payment Options: VISA | MasterCard | Discover | Cash | Debit |
  • Corkage Fee: N/A
  • Phone: (828) 305-7826
  • Features: Outdoor Seating, Wheelchair Access, Healthy Options,
  • Occasion: Child Friendly, Romantic Dining, Dining Alone, Business Dining, Meet for a Drink, People Watching, Quiet Conversation, Special Occasion, Quick Bite, Date Night,

Photos

Business Hours

Reservations Available
Monday
Closed
Tuesday
Inside Dining 4 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Wednesday
Inside Dining 4 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Thursday
Inside Dining 4 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Friday
Inside Dining 4 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Saturday
Inside Dining 4 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Sunday
Inside Dining 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
False

Customer Reviews & Ratings

4.72 out of 5 stars based on 258 votes

Overall: 10/10
Food: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Feb 22, 2024
Monica G.
We had a wonderful experience at Babbo Italian Kitchen. Great service and delicious food.

Overall: 10/10
Food: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Feb 14, 2024
DEBORAH G.
Wonderful food, great service. Had the Valentine's special and it was great!

Overall: 10/10
Food: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Feb 08, 2024
Phil D.
Great night excellent service good food as always

Overall: 10/10
Food: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Jan 20, 2024
Nancy C.
Nancy was an excellent server. She went out of her way to make it the perfect dining experience! The food was scrumptious and the lemon drop martini was the BEST!

Overall: 10/10
Food: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 8/10
Value: 9/10
Dec 26, 2023
Thomas W.
Babbo Italian Kitchen is one of our favorite restaurants !

Overall: 10/10
Food: 10/10
Service: 9/10
Ambience: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Dec 22, 2023
Ruby D.
Very good place for an anniversary dinner. People friendly but there was a bit if disorganization when we first arrived. Overall, very good.

Overall: 10/10
Food: 8/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Dec 10, 2023
Karla H.
My friends and I had a great experience. The waitress was really great! The only negative thing I would say is that our food wasn’t very warm.

Overall: 10/10
Food: 7/10
Service: 9/10
Ambience: 9/10
Value: 9/10
Dec 07, 2023
Nancy M.
We enjoyed our dinner there very much. It’s not so noisy like most restaurants are in the service was very very good. We all enjoyed our menu, selections, wish we’d had room for dessert!

Overall: 10/10
Food: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Nov 29, 2023
Angelia M.
I had the crab stuffed mushrooms, house salad, and my friend had soup and a house salad. We had tiramisu and espresso for dessert. Everything was delicious. Service was prompt and staff was very friendly. Drinks were refilled and we were checked on without being intrusive or hovering. No complaints! Next visit I plan to order a pasta dish. Had a hard time deciding on what to order because there are plenty of menu offerings that were very appealing.

Overall: 10/10
Food: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Nov 16, 2023
Carol D.
What a wonderful evening celebrating my husbands birthday! The waitress was amazing…so friendly and provided excellent service! Enjoyed having the owner stop by our table! Will definitely be back!!

Overall: 10/10
Food: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Nov 15, 2023
Stephen K.
We ♥️ Babbos

Overall: 10/10
Food: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Nov 11, 2023
Vcki S.
A truly wonderful dining experience and delicious food!

Overall: 10/10
Food: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Oct 29, 2023
Michael S.
Everything was excellent. Server was supper sweet, and was on top of everything. Maybe dim lights upstairs a little.

Overall: 10/10
Food: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Sep 15, 2023
Nancy C.
Everything was perfect except we had a reservation for the patio and when we arrived on time at 5:30 the hostess said there was nothing available on the patio and we would have to wait! We were so DISAPPOINTED and sad! She said someone wrote it down wrong. It was an online reservation made days in advance as we anticipated the cooler weather. We chose to eat inside rather than wait. Nancy our waitress was outstanding and the food was delicious with generous portions. We were also disappointed to learn you had not received your liquor license yet. We can be patient on this one but would have put off our visit until later had we known this in advance. We will return.

Overall: 10/10
Food: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Sep 14, 2023
Jim and Deb S.
For a new Restaurant it was almost perfect. Wait Staff and service was fast and efficient, very responsive to our requests. Dishes were all very good to excellent, Great Caesar Salads. Bread is delicious. My wife had a basic Spaghetti and meatball dish, she raved about it. I had a Veal Parmesan dish that was perfect. Ended with a Cheese cake made in house, best ever for both of us. Really good. Can't wait to visit again and try the brick oven pizza, any type or style you choose, with all the toppings chosen by you. Basically custom pizza......cooked at 1100 Degrees. FIVE STARS IN EVERY CATAGORY. The owner is experienced, concerned and observant. And it shows.

Overall: 10/10
Food: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 8/10
Value: 9/10
Sep 04, 2023
Steven C.
The experience for my family was great. Your food was a great experience. We will be deck. The one complaint was one of the employees that came in around 4:45 stood out front at the check in and smoked a cigarette, so everybody in the outdoor patio smoked a cigarette. I know you can't do much for the pedestrian but the employees ought to know better. Thank you for your service and care! See you soon Steven Cooper.

Overall: 10/10
Food: 8/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 8/10
Value: 8/10
Aug 28, 2023
Keith & Teresa M.
had a wonderful first experience. our personal thoughts: the complimentary bread was wonderful but lacking that little kick, would be nice served with a nice rosemary dipping oil. the ambience needed that dimmed light/table lamp. waitress, Nancy, loved!!!! thank you again Nancy. Thank you and we do intend to return.

Overall: 10/10
Food: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Aug 23, 2023
Pam J.
Food was amazing!!!!

Overall: 10/10
Food: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Aug 20, 2023
Chuck L.
A great addition to the Forest City dining experience. Great food and service.

Overall: 10/10
Food: 5/10
Service: 8/10
Ambience: 8/10
Value: 6/10
Aug 18, 2023
Tanya B.
We were very excited to come but our food was not so good. I got the Pollo alla Babbo and the noodles & sauce were completely bland. I tasted no flavor, no garlic, no cheese, no seasoning,etc. I had to keep salting it in hopes that it would get better. I tasted my friend’s lasagna and it was much better. The red sauce had nice flavor to it. The bruschetta was also kind of bland. I ordered a cesar salad & could not taste any flavor on it as well. ( I promise I don’t have covid. Lol ). I had my friend try everything I ordered, she agreed with the lack of flavor. We will come back & try the pizzas some time. But $80 for what we got, just was not worth it when the flavors were missing.

Overall: 10/10
Food: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 6/10
Value: 10/10
Aug 16, 2023
Bruce G.
Only complaint is the air conditioning wasn’t working very well. Everything else was spot on.

Overall: 10/10
Food: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Aug 14, 2023
David C.
We are so happy to have a good restaurant. The food was delicious, the service perfect and ambiance of an upscale restaurant. We are looking forward to dining again.

Overall: 10/10
Food: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Aug 12, 2023
Kenneth F.
More meat sauce on the pasta.

Overall: 10/10
Food: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Aug 12, 2023
James W.
Great atmosphere and great service and great food, we’re so pleased to have this new establishment in Forest City

Overall: 10/10
Food: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Aug 12, 2023
Todd L.
Amazing food and atmosphere! Highly recommend!

Overall: 10/10
Food: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Aug 10, 2023
Philip D.
Babbo’s food,anbiance, service were outstanding. I am eating there again tonight. It is exactly what I was hoping for in an Italian restaurant. A welcome addition. Great place great experience

Overall: 10/10
Food: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Aug 10, 2023
Thomas W.
Overall a very good dining experience !! I have high hopes for this restaurant. Thanks to the Owners for bringing Babbo’s Italian Restaurant to Rutherford County ! Tommy Walker

Overall: 9/10
Food: 9/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Aug 25, 2023
Kent H.
It's a real treat to have a nice restaurant in the area! Service was 5 star and the managers checked on our table frequently. Food was delicious however not hot when served. The menu is extensive however almost too much to service ongoing. The "greeter" initially seemed surprised that we had a reservation, that it was for 4 people and had to go check on something inside. Next there were 5 greeters checking us in....a little confusing and did not give a confident impression. While we do understand waiting until all in the party are there before being seated, it might be a consideration to go ahead and seat arrivals when they get there, especially after the liquor license is established. Perhaps those waiting will have a drink or glass of wine while they wait, therefore making more money for the restaurant. Having said all that, we did enjoy our meal and will return again, after the liquor license is granted and we can have a glass of wine with our meal.

Overall: 9/10
Food: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Aug 10, 2023
Debbie H.
Everything was great. The staff were friendly and quick to refill our drinks. She kept us updated on our order. The food was fantastic! We’ll definitely be back soon.

Overall: 8/10
Food: 8/10
Service: 8/10
Ambience: 9/10
Value: 8/10
Aug 20, 2023
Elizabeth B.
We enjoyed the food. The only thing was it took so long to get our order. Our waitress was fantastic and very personable. I would try to improve on your pasta sauce but I will be back. Thank you

Overall: 7/10
Food: 8/10
Service: 10/10
Ambience: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Nov 04, 2023
Douglas T.
I ordered the gluten free pasta. The pasta was made in house. I have been gluten free for 17 years. As I love that they make their own, last nights pasta was not edible. They did not charge me for my meal. I suggest they perfect their gluten free pasta.

Overall: 7/10
Food: 7/10
Service: 5/10
Ambience: 10/10
Value: 6/10
Oct 15, 2023
Shirley F.
Bread would have been nice after we were seated. We had to ask for it. Salad should be included with meals . Alfredo was cool not bubbly hot. Only ate a couple of bites of it. I will give it another try in the future.

Overall: 7/10
Food: 7/10
Service: 3/10
Ambience: 5/10
Value: 9/10
Aug 19, 2023
Adena W.
Made reservations for 6:30 because it was reservation only advertised. Arrived on time to the restaurant and were told it would be a 15 to 20 minute wait because they decided to take walk ins too. Even the staff were flustered and apologetic. The staff were very kind. We waited an hour and a half for food because the kitchen became so backed up. The wait staff were so flustered our waitress had difficulty remembering things. She was very nice and the food was good once it made it to the table. Hopefully they can work out the kinks and improve the service.