On my way home I saw those annoying \"Spaghetti you won't forghetti\" ads that Babbo has on some valley billboards. Although I disapprove of their puntastic ads, a cheap plate of spaghetti and meatballs sounded good, so the wife and I went to visit the location right down the street from us for an early dinner. What a disappointment.\n\nLocation:\n\nLocated in a shopping complex near a Fry's. Ample parking. The exterior was ugly like the Fry's. Inside was modern Italian eatery... like a darker, less obnoxious olive garden. \n\nService:\n\nThe service was off to a good start. We came in and were seated right away by a polite hostess. Sadly, the service nosedived. We sat at our table with not so much as a glass of water. After fifteen minutes and several dozen wait staff passing by, I got up and asked the hostess to please let the waiter know we were there, thinking that it was simply a communication issue. It was not. We waited an additional 7 minutes before a waiter came to take our order. Not only did he get our drink order wrong, he also could not remember who in our party ordered what. There were only two of us. It was not that hard. The best thing about the waiter is that the only other time we saw him was when I handed him our card and asked him to just run it.\n\nFood:\n\nThe food at Babbo is fine. I had the spaghetti and meatball special. The meatballs are big, not too anisey, and have a good texture. Spaghetti was a little overcooked, but no more than any other casual Italian place would do. The sauce was excellent - tangy, fresh, and with a strong hint of basil. My wife had the steak panino. It was not as good. It's essentially flat foccacia bread with flank steak and cheese on top. The bread was super soggy and the whole thing could've used more meat. The panino came with zucca chips which were acceptable, but not as good as the ones served up at North in Scottsdale.\n\nPrice:\n\nThe spaghetti and meatballs are like a recession special. Everything else is average priced. Mondays and Tuesdays are apparently when the meatballs are on the cheap.\n\nConclusion:\n\nTerrible, awful service which the acceptable food does not make up for. We will not be coming back.
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