Babette’s Cafe

I love Babette’s!!! It is my favorite restaurant in Atlanta and I’ve tried the top rated (some nationally rated) restaurants in Atlanta.
My husband & I started eating at Babette’s when it used to be down the street from its current location; it has to have been nearly 20 years ago.
It is my go-​to place for all family celebrations, a nice night out with our adult sons (with & without their girlfriends), or just a quiet dinner with my husband. I’ve never taken anyone here who hasn’t raved about their food and the service. This place does not skimp on anything. Everything is first class.
The quality of food is always consistent, top quality, and delicious. The service is beyond compare. I know several of the wait staff have been there for at least a decade, probably more. I’ve never had a bad meal or bad service at Babette’s. Once, a long time ago, the muscles were not up to their usual standards; they were a little large and a bit rubbery, but we ate them anyway. After we had eaten them our waitress came to take the plate away, she asked us how they were, we told her; she apologized profusely. A little while later Marla, the owner & chef, came out to apologize. She said we were correct and not only did she not charge us for them, but she gave us a free dessert to make up for the inconvenience of us eating muscles that were not up to her usual standards.
To start, I love the baguette. We never fail to devour it and request more.
The wine list is very good and the servers are very knowledgeable about it. The cocktails are served good and strong.
We always get an order, or 2, of the muscles. The sauce is fantastic; we sop up every drop with the wonderful bread mentioned above. This dish makes me wish Babette’s wasn’t such a nice place so that I could pick up the bowl and drink the sauce. My husband has been known to run his finger around inside the bowl and lick it, but he at least tries to make sure no one is looking.
The corn chowder, only served at certain times of the year, is great. My older son always gets a bowl, the rest of us get a cup.
My favorite main dish is the lamp chops. I love the sauce on them. They are always cooked to perfection, moist, and melt in your mouth. The string potatoes served with them are also delicious; my younger son grabs some as soon as my plate is put down. My older son usually gets the lamb chops too.
My husband is more of an experimenter and tries different dishes and the specials; he usually ends up with a fish dish or the vegetable plate. He has never been disappointed in any dish. Their fish is always fresh, flaky and also cooked to perfection.
My younger son usually gets the filet mignon, he loves it. It melts in your mouth. The horseradish mashed potatoes are excellent! I try to steal a few spoonsful, but he is usually on alert.
Their deserts are wonderful too; they seem to change more than anything else. I think it has to do with the season and crop of fruits. They always have the crème brulee and it is to die for. If they have the blueberry pie/​tart, get it! We end up getting several desserts and sharing them.
Babette’s is a can’t miss, never disappoints, top notch, wonderful restaurant.

We moved to Atlanta two years ago after a long time in Washington. We have been growing homesick for our beloved neighborhood French oriented restaurant. So I turned to the magic of Unilocal and asked for guidance. And it came through in spades. We loved Babette’s Café. It was precisely what we missed: comfortable décor; interesting menu; superb service; reasonable prices. It was first rate and will clearly become a regular destination for us.

Yet another wonderful meal at Babette’s Café. I’ve been coming here for well over a decade. Anyone out there who enjoys fine dining and has yet to try the prix fixe at Babette’s, you must go. Check the website for availability, it’s an amazing deal. Of course, the regular menu is well worth going for as well.

Amazing quality products, amazing staff, amazing prices, amazing ambiance!
What else can I say? Amazing!
We’ll be back!

Wonderful atmosphere, attentive staff & delicious food made for a memorable experience!

So good! Very nice environment! My waiter was awesome and funny! Really want to go back! This is great for a special occasion, date night, or just to have an excuse to dress up a bit and enjoy!

I’ve been to Babette’s twice in the (almost) 5 years I have lived in Atlanta. After my first visit I vowed «never again». However, I have been craving cassoulet and Babette’s is the only restaurant I could find with it on the menu this fall. So, my husband and I gave it another try. The tiny bar was full (read: 6 people) and the main restaurant was booked. So, they put us on the patio which is covered and enclosed and heated. The patio was lovely. They struggled to keep the heat consistent… but they tried and I appreciate that.
In a nutshell: if you have been to France in recent memory or you know what good french food is (not back in 1970 during your gap year and you really can’t recall what true french food is): avoid this place at all costs. It will disappoint and you will be left with a whole in your gastronomic heart.
Here’s how I will break it down: Food, Wine, Service
Food: First trip, I went specifically because I was craving Beef Bourgignon. What I got was tasteless beef stew that was more southern the french. Last night: I went specifically for the Cassoulet. But, my husband was about 15 minutes before me so I ordered the Tuna Crudo. It was ceviche. No flavor of tuna… just lime flavored brownish cubes. It was pathetic and not worth a second bite. It went unfinished. The baguette was good. But the butter could have used some sea salt. That didn’t stop me from making an entire meal out of the bread. Because the «cassoulet» came next. It kind of looked like cassoulet. But it definitely didn’t have that beautiful harvest essence. It smelled flat. That uniquely cassoulet flavor… that warms your cockles and makes your heart sing. Ya, this didn’t have that. It had the right ingredients: white beans, duck, lamb, pork, sausage. But it had none of the flavor. That great crunchy bread crumb topping was just soggy bread goo. If I’d wanted miscellaneous meat stew, this would have done it (with more than few pinches of salt to give it flavor). But I wanted to Cassoulet. And this was not it. I ate bread. Somewhere in Carcassonne a french grandmother wept.
Wine: While waiting for my husband I really wanted a Coup du Champagne. But at this «french» restaurant there was no champagne by the glass. NO CHAMPAGNE BY THE GLASS. However, I could get a mother luvin’ prosecco!!! Somewhere in Reims a monk just fainted. I ordered a french chardonnay and it was decent. However, when my husband arrived and ordered a glass, and I switched to Rose to go with my pending «cassoulet». The rose was quite nice. Dry and crisp but with a full nose.
Service: The owner kindly tried to adjust the temperature for us. But the waitress was gruff (and not in that charming french way). As way of example: the waitress brought our wine, not on a tray, but she held them both with her fists by the stems like a frau would hold a stein of beer (as opposed to holding the stem with her fingertips). The optics were shocking in any restaurant let alone a french restaurant. Somewhere in Paris a waiter just said «bof!» and clicked his heal as he turned and walked away defiantly. And another example: The cassoulet arrived: It was presented with sarcasm «to say this dish is hot is an understatement… but I trust you two to be adults and to know to put your spoon in and then let it cool. It was just boiling you know.»…I can’t make this up. It’s not fair to call her rude. But unrefined and inconsistent with french dining would be accurate. I’m sure she’s nice.
French dining is about atmosphere (which I think they approached closely enough), food (a two time miss), wine (no champagne by the glass, quelle horreur!) and service that is reverent.
I would have given this two stars but the Unilocal definition of two stars is «Meh, I’ve had better». As a family restaurant this would be considered Meh. But as a french restaurant this is definitely «Eek, I think not.»

The trendy chefs in Atlanta can learn from these guys how to do it right. Even the bread was perfect. Totally coming back soon

Can’t complain about the atmosphere-​quite nice. And acoustics were fine – so all in a large group could hear one another. But, if anyone in party is vegetarian, especially vegan, don’t go. Despite an advance call, they couldn’t handle the concept. The plate put together of ragged vegetables was unimaginative and was slim pickings, yet priced as if it was a specially prepared gourmet dish. Enjoyed the evening very much, but it was the company, not the food. We needed a second meal as soon as we got home.

I like this restaurant «a lot». Casual but classy. The service is great and the food delicious. I liked everything I tried. My favorite the halibut… Five stars to that entrée
Good for small groups and romantic dates!
It’s a must come back place.

So Babette’s is one of those places I wanted to like far more than I did. To it’s credit, despite being one a historically renovated building in VA-​Poncey-​Highland, the restaurant doesn’t try to cramp everyone in, as per the recent restaurant trend (cough, cough, Wisteria, anywhere in near Inman Park.)
I had the Veal pancetta. The taste was slightly off and didn’t have much lemon. The vegetables that came with it were pretty spot on. I tried a few other dishes with the people I was with and they seemed much tastier. I like the environment and I would like to go again, but based on what I had, I can’t give it a stunning review.

Lovely! This is a neighborhood gem — never have been disappointed food is wonderful and so is the service!

Fresh, elegant flavors. It was a joy to discover this restaurant named for the film with a similar name. I started with a very nice salad that was delicately dressed and had lightly roasted or grilled fennel with fresh, crisp radish slices.
My main course was the vegetable plate. Each vegetable was perfectly prepared. The beets were roasted with what seemed like a little lemon rind, the sliced potatoes were a guilty pleasure among my vegetables. The whole haricots verts and carrots were just the right texture.
I was eating alone on a business trip so was happy to see there was a nice list of wines by the glass. I had an Antinori Vermentino and a Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.

Anniversary dinner was perfect. I thought portions would be too small from some of the reviews, but this big guy had no problems and was quite full. Quaint setting is like a small bistro with some outdoor seating. I didn’t think the tables were too close at all.
Food: I had the cassoulet which had sausage, lamb and duck confit with a delicate bread crumb crust. OMG this was delicious. It not nearly as heavy as you’d think it would be. The flavors were just perfect. Ordered a glass of dry Riesling, which is hard to find her in Atlanta restaurants and it went perfectly with it. Hubby had the fish special which was trout and he really enjoyed it.
Had soup for appetizers and the mushroom soup wasn’t cream based which for this lactose intolerant dude was heaven sent.
With two appetizers, entrees and 1 drink each we barely spent $ 100 which for the service, setting and food was excellent!
Wish I could afford this for more than a special occasion.

Excellent place for a quiet dinner. The service was excellent. Our dinners were just right. The Carolina cod and wild mushroom and chicken soup were incredible The crème brule was incredible. If you’re in Atlanta this is a must for dinner.

I thought I was back in Europe. The portion sizes were just right (small for American standard), and very delicious (not salty, too sweet or flavor heavy).
Complimentary valet parking so no need to worry about looking for parking in the area. There is a paid parking area across the street, but it is usually full because of the tavern and other venues in the area.
A really nice place for date-​night, almost guarantees that you’ll score at the end of the night.

Babette’s is an intimate restaurant off of N. Highlands. It looks like a little house. How quaint. From the outside, it seems like it doesn’t have much space inside, but it does. They have a nice, covered deck with heating. So they can fit a decent number of people. However, it is still cramped.
We sat and got our waters and French Bread. The bread was great. It tasted fresh and had a nice sound as I broke off a piece. It was good bread.
Then we waited and waited… and waited until our server finally got our orders. I have no idea why she was taking so long. She seemed pre-​occupied. We were so hungry that we just ate our bread waiting for our server to take our orders.
Finally she came by and took our orders. We tried a bowl of the Wild Mushroom and Chicken Soup and a tasting of the Cream of Celeriac Soup with Chestnut Purée. What’s the difference between the tasting and the bowl? Not much. The tasting looked just a bit smaller than the bow.
I liked my Wild Mushroom Chicken Soup. I wouldn’t call it comforting since this didn’t taste like Campbell’s. It was more exquisite. It was like your mom turned into Marla and made you a very fancy Chicken Soup. It had a great, earthy flavor to it because of the wild mushrooms. I also loved the broth. It was a great soup. Make sure to soak up all the soup with the French Bread. That’s an extra treat.
I also tried their Marinated Beets with a Red Onion, Arugula, Orange and Feta Salad. It was okay. I love beets, but even then, this wasn’t an exciting dish. I would just skip it.
For my entrée, I tried the Roast Half Duck. The duck came out great. I loved the sauce on the duck. I also liked the apple, walnut, and rutabaga compote. The sweetness matched well with the duck meat. I thought the duck was cooked well. It was a great dish.
I also tried the Sea Scallops with the Saffron Broth. I liked the Saffron Broth. The Scallops were cooked nicely. Once again, use the French Bread to soak up the saffron broth and eat it. Yum.
For dessert, we tried the Dried Cherry and Almond Tart. I loved this dessert. Cherry Pie is one of my favorite pies, and this was like a Cherry Pie on cocaine. Maybe that’s what that powdery white stuff was on top of it. I recommend this dessert if you like cherry pies.
I liked the food here. It is good quality, decent food. The service here sucks. Everything was slow. After we got our soup and small plate, the entrees took forever. Our entire dinner lasted over 2 hours. And we only had 3 courses. WTF?
I mentioned this before, but our server was not concerned with us. She seemed like she was too busy, and seemed like she wanted to avoid us as much as possible. At least she refilled our water once.
Also, we were eating French Bread. French Bread makes a lot of crumbs. Usually, a restaurant with this price-​point would have the server come up and scrape the crumbs off so the table would look neat. She never did that until we finished eating. We’re not snobs or anything… actually we are snobs. I expected a restaurant like Babette’s would pay attention to stuff like that. We’re not dining at the Olive Garden.
I don’t know what our server’s deal was. Maybe her cat died. Who knows?

We went Babettes for Valentine’s Day. The food is well prepared. We weren’t really impressed with the porch setting and the fact that we had to ask for bread.

Babette’s started out great. The oysters were surprisingly good considering how much garnish was on them. The wild mushroom soup, which I had been craving for a while for some reason, was spectacular. I wish i had stopped there and just gotten more soup. The rich and earthy broth with the light flavor of chicken was undeniably pleasant to the palette. However the duck and lamb that followed brought me back down to earth :(the duck was severely overcooked and the sauce was lacking in flavor. The lamb was severely over-​seasoned, and I already can handle quite high levels of salt, but it was almost unbearable. This could have been a good dinner, but it seems like care was lost in the dishes that required preparation to serve. Three stars for dat soup doe.

Good service, great food, nice wine. The best part about this place is the food… hence the 5 stars. The value for the money is great.
I took my mom here for dinner on a Wednesday night. The waitress needs work, but that’s probably why they have her working on a Wednesday night. The atmosphere is relaxed and comfy. The interior is cozy. The artwork is nice and so is the wine list.
Between the two of us, we spent $ 150. That’s a full three course meal with a bottle of wine. Not bad, seeing that I spend that at a fondue restaurant chain last year.
I think this is one of the best values in ATL area. Free valet (but please tip) and the chef/owner’s blog on the restaurants website is very funny. After doing a lot of research, we chose this place and we did not regret it!
PROS: Affordable in comparison to other restaurants in the area, good wine list, great food
CONS: Location could be hard to find for some, no self-​parking

I brought my mom here for her birthday, and it was perfect. The service is incredible here. You feel well attended to, but left alone at the same time. This seems like a simple enough thing, but it’s very difficult.
The ambiance in this restaurant is great without being stuffy. The hardwood floors, white table cloths, and warmly painted walls add to the experience. It feels like a special place to be.
We ordered a green salad to split and it was remarkable. The vinaigrette was obviously made by someone who is classically trained, or by someone who was instructed by someone who is. Delicious — bright and not heavy while still too good not to mop up with a crust of bread.
The entrées are excellent, and I appreciated that there was a vegan option. The roasted eggplant purée was noteworthy, but I did wish there was at least one more dip on the plate — maybe a hummus. I think roasted beets would be a welcome addition too. I was just happy there was something for me to eat.
Our server made my mom laugh, and everyone working there seemed happy to be there. It feels like they are all well taken care of which made me feel happy to be there too.
This place is a gem, and a great value. An excellent place for a celebration or a romantic dinner that will impress your loved one.

Quite possibly the best restaurant in Atlanta. Always a go to for family birthdays. Excellent wine selection. I could eat the piroshkis for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Great setting. Great ownership.

Excellent brunch with divine Spotted Trotter ham for Eggs Paris and cheese grits. Great bar drinks made with fresh items in front of you. Get reservations. Valet parking.
Also had taste of shrimp and grits excellent!

Ambiance/​décor is great. We ordered:
Fried oysters: 4 stars
Quiche Lorraine: 5 stars
Marinated Yellowfin Tuna with a Caper-​Black Olive Sauce: 3 stars. It was chewy. Not my preference.
Sauteed Sea Scallops with Roasted Butternut Squash: 4 stars. My husband liked it.
For dessert we ordered:
Chocolate bread pudding with banana ice cream: 4 stars.
Homemade honey almond ice cream: 5 stars. It’s like sensual bliss.
Over all good to go once in a while.