Basil Restaurant and Spirits

Lump crab cakes.....not a lump to be found! All bread.  Chicken Luis so tough, they should have given me a steak knife!  Olive oil for bread dipping? Had to request... looked and tasted vegetable oil. My Husband's meal was just as awful!
 Risotto like sticky rice, not creamy and no flavor! Please don't waste your hard earned money!  Go across the Street to Porter's or Avino's! I wish I could rate with negative stars.  This place does not deserve a star!!

We were lured in by the sign out front that read, "live music tonight". Instead of live music we found a fairly quiet, nicely decorated, worst dining experience I have ever had.

There was a party of 10 or so, out on the patio, so we (a party of three) were not surprised when we had to wait to be seated. Understandable, there were two waitresses on, with 5 tables in addition to the large party. After 10 minutes we were seated by one of the waitresses. We were then left for an additional 15 minutes without water or a drink order. This could be excused by the seating and tending to two additional tables, and the cleaning of the large party table. We may have been forgotten in the mix.

At this point the waitress who sat us, came by to ask if our drink orders have been taken. When we said no, she took our orders for the entire meal. 1 beer, 1 buffalo calimare, and three entrees: zuppa de mare, chicken  saltimbocca, and a riggatoni rustica. The waitress the brought the  beer and the app in a respectable amount of time. But then it was another 40 minutes until two dishes were brought out. (at this point there were ony 3 other tables) The third was supposed to be just behind the first two. The dishes we were brought were not at all what we ordered. We received a capelini Sinatra, and a pene alla vodka. We brought this to the waitresses attention. She seemed annoyed, but took the dishes away. 15 minutes later the chicken saltimbocca arrived. The dish was moderately tasty.

Another 10 minutes passed (for a total of an hr and a half)  and the two missing dishes were brought back. The  rigatoni looked appetizing but the zuppa de peche looked like the capellini was rinsed off and a thin maranara was added to it. I stopped the waitress before she walked away, and mentioned my concerns. She assured me that they were not allowed to do that. However I pointed out the dish was devoid of muscles and squid, and the bed of linguine was capllelini. While we talked I was moving the food around the plate I unearthed a squeezed out, microwaved lemon. The waitress having been caught, took the dish back to the kitchen, and offered a fresh dish. I refused being floored by the terrible treatment. At this point, my friend with the rigatoni began to eat. She found the chicken to be inedible, and sent it back.

Previous to this night I have never, sent a dish back. Having worked in food service, I don't want to make extra work for the staff. But the waitress was in apologetic, the food, with the exception of the buffalo calamare, was terrible. And there was no music!

Greeted with a smile and seated in a film noir ambiance; the two man bands simple and soft music blended perfectly. Acoustics were amazing. I think that counts for something! I could hear my honey speak, the chatter of other tables lulled and the wonderful music dominate my ear without being obtrusive. Cucumber martini was great and enough to get a nice buzz on! Mozzarella and tomato was good and roasted red pepper added a nice zing.  The special of shrimp and chicken was tasty. Chicken giordana was an excellent choice for weight watchers. Dessert was literally the icing on the cake. Warm lava cake with peanut butter and ice cream...(we added the alla mode after aeeing another tables brownie) the peanut butter was warm and creamy and the cake was spongy and flavorful. Excellent experience great service; can't wait to come back. The dessert was a ten!!! I mean simply amazing I can't wait to try another variety of lava cake.