Basque

Good while it lasted. I went there a few weeks back for the 3rd time (since the first two were pretty good) to find that the places was closed, the phone was shut off and the website was down. So long basque. It could have been sweeet.

In my previous review I mentioned that it was mostly Italian dishes, and not so much tapas. I noticed that recently they changed the sign in front of the restaurant to read "Basque Italian & Mediterranean Restaurant", which is more fitting for what they serve.

Interestingly though, the Basque region is not in Italy, nor is it located on the Mediterranean. (It's in northern Spain and southern France.) Just a little geography quirk...

Basque Restaurant in Clearwater, Fl located on US 19 between 580 and Curlew, Service Goes South!!!!

I must say that it is sad that this restaurant changed hands. The food is delicious however, the service leaves a lot to be desired. Hopefully they can handle a table for two but don't go there with a large group. I have never been to a restaurant with a large group where the waiter takes drink orders two at a time, goes to the bar to get the drink and then proceeds to take the next one. it took almost an hour for our drinks to come out. Then when it was time for the food service, salads were served before appetizers, actually I was asked if I wanted fresh pepper on a salad that was not yet served to me( although the rest of the table had been served); finally got a salad, soon followed by my appetizer(Aren't appetizers supposed to be served before the salads?), before I could finish my appetizer, my main course was being served( guess they were trying to make up time for the hour wait for drinks). When the entrees were served the waiters were shouting who order this and who order that, they asked who ordered a NY strip when it was actually a rib eye. People were told that they could not substitute a vegetable in lieu of a starch, that they could not have a starch when the menu clearly said the meal included a starch (shouldn't the waiter know his menu?) and that you couldn't have dressing on the side. One person had a menu with a dead bug on it and the response she received from the waiter when this was brought to his attention was , well this is Florida, I've seen worst, I have even seen roaches, no apology. Never offered coffee or desert, the table was half cleared. Perhaps they didn't care what type of service they provided because the gratuity was built into the bill because of the size of our group. But isn't gratuity for the service received? That certainly was not the case, unless it was for bad service. It is really a shame, I have been to Basque prior to the change in ownership and the service and food were superb. We had other people in our group who have never been to Basque but heard us rave about the place, only to come across a bad waiter to ruin the entire experience. I have been to restaurants where the food was not that good but the service made up for that, but when the service is bad, and the waiter is rude when the CUSTOMER voices a compliant, is unacceptable. It is called CUSTOMER SERVICE. I can even understand if the restaurant is short staffed and if they apologize by letting the customers know up front that the service may be a bit slower that usual, that all it takes; but that did not happen either. It is really bad when the workers say to the customers that one waiter always has a poor attitude. Half the table received their checks, while it took an hour for the other half to get their checks. As I was leaving the waiter sarcastically said to me, hope you enjoyed your birthday, to which I responded no, you ruined it and need to learn the meaning of customer service. At that point, the waiter told me to get out and never come back; when I asked to speak to the Manager, I was told again to leave or he would call the police. My response was to call them. The manager finally came out, and apologized. I can say that the fellows busing the tables tried to make-up for the poor service provided by the waiter and the kitchen was clean.