We just stopped in for a snack and had a couple appetizers. Â
The "sizzling garlic shrimp" was very badly named. Â It was neither sizzling, nor garlic-y, but it did turn out to be the best shrimp salad I've ever had with a few shrimp over greens with tomato relish, so I won't begrudge the naming fiasco =o) Â
The soup (meatball and cabbage) was among the best I've ever had.
Friendly staff, very nice place.
I have been coming to Big Bear for 15 years.  This is the best restaurant ever in BB - and rivals great restaurants I've eaten at in Los Angeles and Ventura (where I live)! She started with Special Raspberry Margaritta and I ordered the It's 5:00 Somewhere cocktails.My wife ordered Blacked Salmon and I ordered  Italian Meatloaf with Garlic Mashed Potatoes. Both were incredible! Blackened dishes can be over spiced - this was toned down just right to let the fresh salmon taste to come through as we'll.  For a first time, we indulged in the desserts. Arlene ordered limoncello aperitif with the Mini Doughnuts with 3 dipping sauces. I ordered the Cherry with Chocalate Swirl sorbet of the day plus coffee.  What an incredible meal! We'll be coming back!
Review Source:Ever since I got a season pass at Bear Mountain, I seem to always want to eat here if I get hungry. Maybe because I'm still not super familiar with the area (food wise) but they seem to have decent food for a decent price. It was kind of hard to find at first but now it's hard to miss for me. It's literally right by the giant red bowling barn. First things first, I must say that what keeps me coming back here is 90% their pesto butter. It's so freakin' delicious!! Anyways, let's move on to the other stuff. I've never seen this place fully packed so it's nice (for me at least, maybe not for them) I've always been greeted by the same man there and he's pretty informative and helpful when you're stuck deciding what you want to eat. They have daily specials which is nice and the descriptions of some of them makes me not want to order off the menu itself.
Here are a few things I've tried here (photos have been posted as well)
- Grilled 3 Cheese Panini w/ some Kale Soup: warm and cheesy panini, exactly what I was craving. The kale soup hit the spot as well, I wish I remembered what else was in the kale soup because I crave it whenever I'm craving soup.
- Whole Grain Tomato Basil Spaghetti: unfortunately it was pretty bland and watery, still ate it though.
- BLTbacon Pizza: one of their specials of the day. It was delicious, perfect balance of healthy and BACON.
Italian Food in Big Bear, mmmmmm
This place has a lot of positive review so gave it a try during the last trip to Big Bear. They have a nice selection of Italian food. Went for the Portobello Mushroom and Artichoke heart salad $11, Whole Grain Spaghetti with Tomato Basil Sauce and Meatballs $17, and the Homemade Mini Doughnuts for the dessert $8.
The food was good but not above or below average. I enjoy the Mini Doughnuts  that come with 3 dipping sauces the most. They gave me wings and a smile.
Reservations on weekends are a must, the place is tiny and popular.
Great food, well prepared! Â But, you shouldn't have any expectations regarding service. Â If you can get past the service/management issues, you will have a great meal.
The restaurant is very small. Â But, they have two 2-top bar tables in the entryway to try to fit more in - this is probably one of the biggest symptoms of any problems that people mention.
The food was so tasty and the entire menu looked good. Â The dessert was fantastic - creme brulee and gelato. Â They definitely provide excellent food and are absolutely worthy of the high demand.
We had our reservations for a Sunday night and got in right on time - 6:15 - and were seated right away - no wait. Â Before we finished our meal every seat was taken. Â But, a table for five is actually a booth for 4 with a chair on the end. Â So, the first thing to watch out for is the over-the-shoulder reach. Â There isn't really a good place for the wait staff to stand when someone occupies the end.
The waiter felt it necessary to take our order as fast as possible because a party of 9 was getting seated behind us. Â It was very thoughtful, but he skipped asking for drinks and almost skipped on eof the patrons at our table. Â That knocked it from 5 stars to 4.
Then, all meal long, the person filling the water or serving the meal, had to reach across the whole table because to the chair at the end.
But, the move that took it from 4 stars to 3 was one of our party had a discussion regarding Gluten allergies and ordered a Mista salad to avoid any problem. Â It showed up with toasted bread on top. Â When we brought it to the attention of the server, he took the plate away and came back with the same plate, without the bread. Â We needed to bring it to the attention of the waiter and asked him to replace the salad.
Dinner for 5, no wine, and three desserts came to around $125.
Next time we will try to come in when no on elese is expected.
Went there for Valentine's day and had pre-booked a reservation a week in advance. The restaurant called and confirmed early in the afternoon which was nice just to make sure we still had a table.
My biggest complaint is probably the size of the place, all the tables are right on top of each other so it's had to have any privacy.
The Valentine's meal was paired with wine for an additional fee which was fine. For $100 bucks each it was right on par with what I expected. The food was good, service was fair, as was the restaurant. If it was on Sunset in Hollywood I would give it 3 stars, but this is Big Bear so it gets 4. The only problem was the Filet which we both ordered medium rare and both came well to medium well. My biggest complaint when going out to dinner at any place above the Chili's level is when they take the steak and bring you back a new one, which sweet basil did not. They took the entire place, and re-plated the entire meal and brought it back. Kudos. Way to make up for the mistake.
They had two "performers" singing during the Valentines meal, one had a boom box from 1999 and the other had no music, they probably would've been better served just playing a CD in the background instead of the performers but it did appear some people really liked it. To us, we could've done with or without. It's a little distracting to try and enjoy a meal with something like that in the background.
Overall we would definitely come back we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.
Wow. Â really disappointing. Â We were engaged one year ago and went to Sweet Basil Bistro right after we got engaged. Â The meal then was amazing...our dinner tonight was abominable. Â There were only 2 servers, no manager and if the Chef was there it didn't show in our food. Â We ordered a caesar salad with mayonnaise dressing....it wasn't advertised that way but that's what it was!! Â Garlic was present....wish the service was. Â We ordered a bottle of sparkling wine and the server didn't have a clue how to open it - kept pointing it toward us as he tried to open it. Â He managed to, thank goodness, and it was the best part of our dinner.
the "macaroni and cheese" Â which was a house special was HORRIFIC - dry, unseasoned and lying flat on a plate with pathetic broccoli laying in a circle. Â The steak (New York) was literally GREY in color with a salisbury steak sauce (from 3rd Grade!) and cold mashed potatoes..oh! and broccoli lying in a circle.
Grisely and chewy....we actually said a prayer for the poor animal who gave its life for this .
Did the server offer us dessert or coffee? Â NOPE. Â nothing. nada. Â no service except "do you want a box for that?" Â We passed on that.
We were left to wonder if the ownership changed - nobody waiting to be seated like last year...no lines, no excitement..no staff...no love.
Sweet Basil Bistro has a cute romantic atmosphere and reasonable prices for Big Bear. Pastas and entrees range from $12-30 and they have a decent wine list with bottles starting at around $20.
If you come on a busy weekend I highly recommend reservations. We called on a Sunday afternoon of a three day weekend and they were able to squeeze us in at 5 pm. Typically we don't go out that early, but after a day of snowboarding we were ready for some good food.
When we arrived at 5 pm we were the first party in the place, but by 5:30 it was almost full. All tables in the main dinning room were for reservations only, but they did have two bistro tables in the walk way by the door for walk ins.
The service was great and the food was good. If this place were in Los Angeles or Orange County I may have leaned towards 3 stars, but given the fact that its in Big Bear and the other dinning options available I'm giving them 4.
This place was good about two years ago, but now it's gone way downhill. Â It took a good twenty minutes to even place drink orders. Â Granted it was New Year's Eve, so I overlooked this. Â The antipasto platter was fairly good, nice dressing, good salami, and good cheese. Â However, that's when things really started to go downhill. Â The salmon I ordered was very dry and cold. Â My wife's sandables were placed on top of rice, which contained noodles. Â No one told us that the rice would contain noodles and my wife is gluten free. Â After we complained, the waitress brought my wife a single piece of fish and asked "if that would work for" my wife.
We then ordered the creme brûlée.  It was insulting how bad it was.  Frozen Trader Joes creme brulees are better. I put my spoon into the dish and the caramelized crust did not easily break, but stuck to my spoon.  The caramelized crust had this rubbery consistency.  The inside of the dish was cold.  We sent it back and asked that it be taken off the bill.  After the meal, I received the check and it included my wife's meal that she could not fully eat because it had the noodles mixed with rice.  I asked that the sandables be removed from the bill and complained to our waitress.  After giving us a nasty attitude, she said that because the owner/chef "worked with us on the sandables" by providing us with a single piece of fish she would not remove the fish from the bill.
Their failure to take anything off the bill because the food was very bad leads me to believe that the restaurant may be in financial trouble. Â We will not be back after being stuck with a $90 bill for awful food. Â Indeed, the waitress recommended that i contest the bill with AMEX. Â There are decent restaurants in big bear and this is not one of them. Â Stay away.
Called ahead for a reservation, and it was apparently quite necessary - place was full on a Saturday night, and could only get the last time slot of the night, 9 pm. Â We came at 8:35, and they were still quite adamant that they would have no space until 9. Â That's not the best time to eat at this restaurant either, because, as it turned out, they had run out of several items on their specials menu. Â Fortunately, the restaurant is located next to a bowling alley, and we were able to while away our time in front of a karaoke bar.
The service and food were excellent. Â One of the waiters noticed that we had brought our own bottle, and instantaneously offered to pour it as we waited. Â We were soon seated adjacent to two other parties on a long bench, but requested to be moved as soon as another booth opened up; they accommodated us without hesitation. Â We eventually settled on the lobster lasagna, a lasagna served with a white sauce, which I'd never had before - it was good to the last bite. Â Also had the NY steak, medium, and it was cooked perfectly, juicy, seasoned, tasty. Â I would have opted not share it with my dinner companion, if not for the threat of winding up in the dog house. Â They let us stay until we finished our bottle, and also offered to take our photo. Â Definitely a nice place to return to.
I was on weekend getaway with friends and we had lunch at this wonderful restaurant. Â We got there Friday and wanted to go visit this restaurant for lunch on Saturday, however they were closed for catering that day, so we ended up going there for lunch on Sunday. Â I always look up menus before I go to a new restaurant and from Friday on, I wanted to try their Smoked Salmon salad. Â And boy, was it worth the wait!!! Â I devoured the salad and I have been recreating it at home every since. Â My friends enjoyed their lunch as well and if I come back to Big Bear, this will be a place to go for sure!!!
Review Source:We were treated so horrible that I will never go here again nor will I recommend this restaurant to anyone.
We had a party of 10 and the server took a while to come take our drink order. When she did she started with my grandmother. My grandmother had just lost her mother and had a drink or two before we got to the restaurant. The server told my grandmother that she wouldn't serve her and my grandmother was annoyed but, she understood even though in 75 years no one has ever told her they wouldn't serve her.
Then the server moved onto my mom and when my mom ordered a beer the server said, " how many drinks have you had?"
It was so insulting, embarrassing and uncalled for. My mom hadn't had anything to drink and she got so mad that the server would assume that she was drunk that we all stood up and walked out. Horrible restaurant!
As Big Bear locals we look forward to Chef Sally's straight forward quality food after a hard day at work. Â It's a good sign when you're tired, hungry and sometimes cold and you start to visualize and dream about Sweet Basil Bistro's freshly cooked meals. Â What we like is the food is not overly seasoned, cooked perfect and consistently satisfying and always fresh ingredients. Â The bread/butter, salads, lobster lasagna, steak, pasta, salmon, mashed potatoes and can't forget the one of a kind macaroni and cheese are all wonderful. Â I think Chef Sally said the macaroni and cheese is her moms recipe :) Â Also panini's at lunchtime are killer. They treat us great and we always do takeout. Â It's nice as a finicky/picky eater to be able to count on a great meal at the end of a hard days work. Â We appreciate all the staff and the lovely owners of Sweet Basil Bistro very much!
Important note- it's nice as Big Bear business owners to be able to confidently refer folks to Sweet Basil too.
It gets a star because you have to pick a star rating. But overall, I am extremely disappointed. I had veal piccata (I noticed on the menu it's spelled wrong, but only the theme is Italian...the chef and all the staff are very American). The dish was more veal affogato da burro. The pasta was mediocre in flavor and way over cooked. (Italiani mangiano la pasta al dente). Now the veal was cooked and sliced well, but piccata? It's a lemon glaze sauce. Granted butter should be used, but it was more of a butter sauce that forgot to be mixed with lemon or wine. I ate a piece of the veal and all my steamed vegetables. I don't know why this place was so highly recommended but I can only assume the locals wouldn't know any better. My recommendation: leave the Italian cooking to real Italians.
If you have made it this far and you don't believe me or you don't think a real Italian knows better), go ahead and eat there...just make your reservation because the restaurant is small (squeezed into the corner underneath the BOWLING ALLEY), and they can only seat about 25 to 30 at one time. Oh, and plan on the slowest service you could ever imagine. Â Oh also....if you happen to have bought a drink while shopping the town (like an iced tea) and you are almost finished with it....too bad, no outside food or drink allowed. and they will let you know very sharply about this tacky rule. When a group of four walks in, you bend that rule if only ONE of them has two sips of tea left.
A romantic spot with delicious food. Â I had the lobster lasagna and my husband had a steak. Â Everything was cooked perfectly.
The restaurant is small and there was a short wait for dinner. Â While we waited we were offered water (a nice touch). Â We brought our own bottle of wine and the corkage fee was a reasonable $10. Â
Overall a great experience.
This little place below the bowling alley is far too hidden. We came because the reviews on Yelp were amazing and we wanted a nice atmosphere for our first dinner in Big Bear. I recommend reservations -- we didnt have any and were seated along a booth in the middle of two families which made it hard to converse, honestly that is the only con.
We enjoyed our meals -- I had the flank steak which didnt come med. rare as I asked, but it was delicious with the garlic mashed potatoes! The hubs enjoyed his veal in lemon caper sauce but said it wasn't amazing but good. I wanted dessert but we were too stuffed :/
I really would love to come back and try some of the other dishes that sounded (and looked) delish because the service was great and the atmosphere was sweet.
I thought what I ordered was great. The bread was really good and the butter was sweet. I really like how the meat sauce blended well with my pasta. Although we were a little unhappy with some of the mushy pasta, I was pleased with the server's willingness to make an order again.
I hesitate giving four stars. I thought the food was fantastic but the service was somewhat lacking. However, they did make it up in the respectfulness in accommodating all of our specific needs.
I'm writing this review after my second visit to Sweet Basil on Friday evening (July 20th). My first visit was in October 2011.
This is a solid 4 star place here in Big Bear and perhaps one of the best restaurants here in the village. Upon visiting the first time, I was with a local who made us a dinner reservation because she knew it would be packed, even near closing at 9pm. During this latest visit, my wife and I had just arrived in Big Bear and dropped in at 8:30pm on a Friday night hoping to get a table. We were asked to wait 10 minutes and in less time than that were seated.
Like my first visit, the food was great. Our service was good and there really aren't any complaints. One thing I don't think the restaurant can help is the high noise level. There were two relatively large parties, one at each end of the restaurant that seemed to be generating about 90% of the noise. It's a very small place with a lot of hard surfaces, so it's no wonder it can be loud.
If I had just one criticism, it's the wine list. Like so many lists in vacation/mountain towns, it's one of those cookie cutter lists where it appears that a single local wine distributor is influencing all of the buying decisions. It may also be a factor of not having enough storage; however all of the wines look like they are coming from a single distro list. I met the Chef owner during my first visit and I could tell she's passionate about the food she prepares. If she put the same passion and creativity on her wine list as she does with her food, she could totally score a 5 - just saying...
I was a little surprised to find the restaurant sitting on the first floor of what looked to be a barn and below a bowling alley. Â Parking was okay, and we were lucky to get a spot just when people were leaving. Â Having reservations, we were seated immediately to the annoyance of others waiting. Â Inside, we found a relatively small but quiet restaurant.
Service was prompt and friendly. Â We ordered imported wine which was reasonably priced. Â The bread was a tad old, and the spread on the bland side. Â Both dinners were delicious however. Â The lobster lasagna was not too saucy or cheesy. Â The special grilled lamb porterhouse was prepared just right. Â Both of us cleaned our plates. Â We had the homemade molten chocolate cake. Â True, the portion was small (we scraped the bowl at the end), but a little bigger would have been too much.
Overall, it was a great find. Â Only complaint was listening to the loud tables talking about politics and religion. Â Thankfully we had the corner booth in the back. Â
Thanks to all the yelpers for this recommendation!
This is by far my favorite place in Big Bear!
The ambiance is peaceful and intimate. The soft lighting is calming and gives it a very relaxed atmosphere. It is also very small inside so I recommend my fellow Yelpers to make reservations. The staff is friendly and will answer all of your questions with a smile. They make good recommendations and are accomodating.
My husband and I started off with the Sizzling Garlic Shrimp Topped with Fresh Basil. It was really, really good. It had just the right amount of garlic and spices; not one over-powered the other. The shrimp were large and cooked to perfection.
For our entrees, I had the New York Strip with Red Wine Sauce and my husband had the Lobster Lasagna. My strip was cooked to a perfect medium and the red wine sauce was extremely good. I really enjoy a good sauce on steak and this place perfects it. My husband's Lobster Lasagna was extremely rich. It was very unique and flavorful. He said it was good but he would not get it again; experiencing it once was enough. Just too rich for his taste.
For dessert we split the tiramisu. To be honest, it wasn't anything fantastic but it was still tasty. I feel like it's rare to find an extraordinary tiramisu.
Came to Big Bear on President's Day weekend, most of the restaurants were reservation only. We came here without one and were seated immediately and given excellent service even though the place was very busy.
The food was excellent too, I had the marinated flank steak and my girlfriend had soup and salad. I paired my meal with a great Tempranillo and it was superb.
Overall, the food was excellent, the servers were very attentive and the price was reasonable. We liked it so much, we had dinner here twice that weekend.
HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!
I guess you can't have high expectations when you're dining up in the mountains. This was supposed to be one of the best restaurants in the area (along with Peppercorn Grille), but the experience didn't live up to the hype. Next time I'll just go for a McD. At least I can get what I expect.
We made an appointment the night before. It's a good idea to do so, because it's a small joint and it's packed. We were seated with no wait, which was great. The waitress was really nice and took our orders pretty quickly. The drinks and appetizers appeared shortly. Everything was flowing nicely up until that point. Then everything just stopped.
It took quite a while until the entrees showed up. A little bit of waiting is acceptable. I actually think it's a great buildup for the next dish, but if it's overdone, the guest loses interest and you sorta get frustrated. It takes one heck of a dish to defuse an irritated customer. However, the entrée didn't deliver. Everything was below expectation. The steak was OK, but definitely not worth the price. The pasta that came with the entrée was terribly cooked. I could do better than that. The tomato sauce on the pasta was really watery and plain as plain can be. Probably straight from the jar. The salmon too. It was nothing to be amazed at. Everyone was having the same sauteed vegetables - broccoli. A little bit of variety would have been nice. We weren't about to be disappointed with the desserts, so we left.
The other thing I hated about this restaurant was the noise. Look elsewhere if you can't stand people yappin' away, like 10 inches away from you.
I don't usually write reviews, but we came to sweet basil around this time last year for my girlfriends bday and loved it. SO, we came back this year after such a good experience. This time we had more people, 12 to be exact, and I called in TWO WEEKS before hand to schedule the reservation.
Moment of truth, we get there a little early and a couple of our friends went in, immediately the hostess was like "oh oh ugg, i can't deal with you or this right now?!" I was like whoa what?! But kept cool. We were a little early so whatever. But 830pm hits and I ask "where's my table?", i made a reservation in advance, but reservations apparently meant nothing to them. Nope they hadn't reserved our table and had actually given it to another large party before 830. What the heck is that?
Anyways, by this time our friends are getting pissed, and i'm pacing around. Finally after waiting in freezing cold outside for 30 MORE minutes for our table we sit.
The waiter was really nice, filled up our waters, got us drinks and bread and we place our orders. So we're sitting, sitting, and sitting, 45 minutes passes by and I'm like what is taking so long? What's funny is other guest sat after us and got their food before us! Unacceptable.
I guess the owner is the cook, so what. The food came out and the steaks that we ordered medium to medium rare came out well done. Couple friends sent it back and the cook sent it back to us claiming it looked like that because the meat was marinated in some sort of sauce that made it look well done. OMG, whatever. Overall, the experience sucked, I can't over look the entire thing even though the waiter was nice. Sorry Sweet Basil, you need to do way better to earn our business again.
peace.
So unfortunately this has to be a mixed review.
When we got there they were completely full with a few parties of two waiting in front of us (we had a reservation- it's a must, and if you have a big party forget about it). Â They told us it would be just a minute, so we waited. Â At this point we had nothing but patience for them because I read the owner does all the cooking herself. Â So we waited... and waited... at least a half hour until we were seated. Â But no worries, this is supposed to be an awesome restaurant and I really appreciated that the owner cooks everything.
Again we waited. and waited. and waited. Â for our server to take our order. Â We got lobster lasagna and chicken parm. Â I started getting upset cause I really wanted a caesar salad but it's not included with your entree. Â Nothing is included but some broccoli. Â For the prices, the least they can do is give you soup or salad. Â And the salad itself is $7! For a side salad! But I saw how big some of the pasta portions were so I got over it.
We were still being patient at this point. Â I saw most of the tables had no food so I knew it was going to be quite a while. Â I expected at least an hour, after listening to a really rude guy continually berate the hostess about the wait for his food. Â The waiters were pretty good with refilling my boyfriend's drink, but not very attentive in general. Â I feel like since everyone was waiting so long the least they could do is comp a small appetizer or a fricken salad! Â The good news is that the bread with the pesto butter is as awesome as everyone claims. Â The bad news is they charge after your second basket, which we were never offered or even had a chance to ask for anyway.
Our food came out faster than I expected (but still took long). Â My lobster lasagna was awesome, but extremely small (but rich and filling anyway). Â My boyfriend was extremely disappointed in his chicken parm. Â It wasn't breaded and was just plain old chicken with some cheese and sauce on it. Â Nothing really stood out, and the portion was small... AND it was the same price as my LOBSTER lasagna. Â Totally out of line. Â He was still really hungry afterwards, even though he ate all his mediocre linguini (we spent 20 minutes trying to stop someone and ask for extra sauce cause there was barely any.. and this place is NOT big and the waiters were constantly passing us).
Overall I'd have to say skip it, unless you're getting the lobster lasagna. Â The reason the wait sucks so much is because the waiters are slow, and the food prep is very slow. Â I said I appreciate the owner cooking everything, but at some point you have to hire another cook and teach them your secrets.
Very bad value.
This place really let us down.
We made reservations but they told us that they were running at least 20 minutes late. They had our number and could have called but didn't. Instead, we had to go upstairs and sit it out at the bowling alley listening to bad karaoke.
Once inside, the drinks were okay, the salads were okay, the main course was a disappointment and the desert wasn't much better. I ordered the caprese salad, the veal chop and the cannoli. The salad seemed under-dressed and didn't taste very exciting. The veal chop didn't taste like much of anything. It was devoid of any distinguishable seasoning. I had to salt it heavily and I hardly ever use table salt. The cannoli wasn't a typical cannoli and didn't have the same flavor that I'm used to. The food was also very expensive.
Probably wouldn't recommend this place to others. :(
OMG... this place was such a disappointment. Since there weren't many choices to pick from in the big bear area and this place got such high reviews were were kind of excited to try it. So we called and made a reservation. You better make a reservation because this place is soooooo tiny and they will turn you away if you don't have one. When we got to our reservation on time there was an HOUR wait for our table. What ever we were so hungry and still wanted to try the food. So finally when we got seated be wanted to go all out and order lots of food. First they brought out bread with this yummy garlicky-basil butter... that was the only thing that was yummy.
To Start we ordered the special Mushroom Bisque Soup and the Crab cake with fennel and apple slaw. The soup was too thin (watery) and very bland. I added salt and it made it taste better but it was still watery. The crab cake was just OK. it was kind of overcooked and dry.
Then we ordered a large Caprese Salad. This was OK too. it was just a plain mixed greens salad you can get from Costco with tomatoes and small mozzarella balls.
Then for our entrees we ordered the Lobster Lasagna that everyone was raving about on yelp... I don't see what all the fuss is about. The lasagna was a cream base sauce that you get sick of after a couple of bites. It needed some kind of tang or citrus to balance the flavors.
We also ordered the Spaghetti Bolognese with a Flank Steak. The sauce was sooooooo terrible. it's something you would get at a school cafeteria. And there wasn't enough of it. And then the Steak was weird tasting. I think they marinaded it with  wine but not enough salt or something and it taste almost like how wine and food in a trash can might tastes...
I was so very disappointed and will never go back here again
On a very rainy Wednesday night, Sweet Basil Bistro very quickly accommodated our group of eight.
We had a very good dinner and favorites included the bread (of course) and the tortilla tomatillo soup. Â I had bites of the meatloaf and the pasta (ah, it was okay).
We had good service and overall it proved to be one of the nicer restaurants in Big Bear.
3.5!
At first glance, Sweet Basil Bistro appears to be one of the best, if not THE best dinner spots in Big Bear -- not exactly your culinary hideaway, but still has a few solid restaurants worth mentioning. Â What makes Sweet Basil one of the better ones is that they're BYOB AND have a pretty extensive wine list and full bar, and their menu is hearty Italian, casual, homemade type fare. Â Big points go to the fact that they're a small restaurant -- cute, quaint, dimly lit, and I daresay....ROMANTIC. Â Yes, I know.
I had dinner here on a Saturday night a few weeks prior, and though the dinner was enjoyable -- there were a few rough spots in regards to food and service. Â We decided to take advantage of ordering a few of their blackboard specials of the day -- gorgonzola stuffed filet mignon which was outstanding with meat that was properly seasoned. Â But even though the flavorless, underseasoned tomato bisque soup wasn't good at all, salads were fine -- caprese salad was nicely dressed, and had enough of those bulbous mozzarella balls to make it worthwhile. Â I was a little put off that my handmade field mushroom ravioli was unnecessarily drowned in one of the heaviest cream sauces known to man, but it didn't stop me from eating most of it. Â Carbo load (or replenish) here in Big Bear during your weekend of (INSERT: hiking, snowboarding, skiing) and you won't be sorry.
Service was sweet, but a little DOH! and very spotty. Â Understandably, they are a small restaurant with lots of business. Â Food took awhile to come out, and dessert never arrived though they still wanted to charge us for it. Â If you come on a weekend, I highly recommend you calling ahead and making reservations. Â Don't even think about walking in on a Saturday unless you want to wait upwards of an hour.
Overall, I'll most likely come back to this restaurant when I'm in town and I will recommend you to do the same because when you compare it to the other options around Big Bear, Sweet Basil is close to top notch. Â
**walking distance from the Marina Resort**
Who would of thought that this little hole in the wall attached to the blowing alley would be so flipping fantastic.
We did an early dinner and were seated right away. They bring out fresh bread with a delicious pesto sauce right away to nibble on.
I ordered the New York steak and another friend ordered the lobster lasagna for everyone to share. Let me just say that the steak was one of the most delicious perfectly cooked tender steak that I have ever had in my life. I'm still thinking about it 4 days later. It's really going to be a hard act to follow.
The lobster lasagna was delicious and I'm not a big fan of lobster. Something about the sauce. Not sure what it is but it had everyone at our table mewing with pleasure after each bite.
After the Mandolin closed down I never thought I would ever find a high quality dining establishment in Big Bear again. Thank God for Sweet Basil Bistro.
The Novel:
Sweet Basil Bistro
Prologue:
For a weekend getaway, The BF decided to take me to Big Bear Lake to enjoy a relaxing shooting starfield experience. Â Thank you Yelp for this discovery of Sweet Basil Bistro!! Â It actually was a walkable location from our hotel at Northwoods Resort. Â A very convenient, quaint, small hole-in-the-bowling-alley-barn that could have easily been missed.
Tip1: RESERVATION! RESERVATION!!!
This place is hoppin'!! Â You must make a reservation if you do not enjoy waiting for 20-30minutes for a table that is not guaranteed. Â Unfortunately, we did not have a reservation and the entire night left us feeling like it was one wait after another. Â
Chapter 1: Antipasti
We ordered their crabcake with seasoned apple slaw. Â Who knew that crabcakes would taste so amazing with apples?!? Yum! Â But even before our crabcakes arrived, we were given their fresh-out-of-the-oven warm bread with their amazing pesto butter! Â I'll have to admit that this was the first time we've ever finished our butter that came with our bread. Yum! Â Â
Chapter 2: Main Entree
The BF ordered their baked Lobster Lasagna that was topped with a Vanilla Buerre Blanc that gives it a sweeter taste than traditional lasagna. Â He enjoyed it and cleaned up! Â While he had lobster, I had their Grilled Angus Baseball Cut Bistro Steak topped with Gorgonzola Butter, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and Seasoned Broccoli. Â The steak was not bad, but the trick is to get the seasoned broccoli, steak, and garlic mashed potatoes all on your fork at one time - the combination of the three made the dish noteworthy. Â Â
Tip2: Apparently, "Medium" here was translated as "Medium Welldone." So, for the future, I would order my steak "Medium Rare" or even "Rare" for it to be how I like my steak - "Medium." Â The fact that my steak was a bit overcooked took away from my steak-lovin' experience.
Chapter 3: Dessert
A sweet ending to our meal was their homemade Mini Doughnuts with Three Dipping Sauces!! Â There were about ten mini fresh chewy donuts covered with cinnamon and sugar. MmMmMm, between the raspberry, caramel, and extra dark chocolate dipping sauce - the extra dark chocolate was the winner by a landslide! Â
Epilogue:
Our total bill was a bit over $80. Â I think it turned out to be a bit expensive because of our main entrees. Â Ironically, all the staff members were super friendly despite the constant running around in this small venue - except, of course, for the waitress that served us. Â Our first experience here was good, it would have been a lot better if we had reservations. Â Eat and learn. Â Sweet Basil Bistro has definitely been added to our must-visit-every-time-we-are-in-big-bear eatery list!
I had already found my favorite spot for breakfast in Big Bear (Grizzly Manor Café), and have been on the look out for my go to dinner place. I have tried many of the local restaurants for dinner but none of them really had that WOW factor. Some Yelpers requested Sweet Basil Bistro and since Yelpers are hardly ever wrong I decided to give it a try.
At first glance I was nervous by the location. The restaurant sits directly below the blowing barn and is really small. I was expecting lots of drunken noise from the locals and tourist above but to my surprise my Girlfriend and I shared a really romantic dinner here. I had made reservations and when we got there we were seated right on time. My GF ordered a drink before dinner that was out of this world. The drink was a Chocolate Cherry Martini. I have been to lots of fancy restaurants and lounges in the Los Angeles area and none of them have served up a Martini better then this little place. While you are waiting they serve bread with pesto butter. I almost ruined my meal because I had the waitress bring me seconds and even thirds of this complimentary appetizer.
For Dinner I had the Ricotta and Arugula Stuffed Shells with Gorgonzola Cream Sauce with Slow Roasted Tomatoes and a drizzle of pesto (which I requested) on top. It was the best pasta dish I have had in quite some time. My GF got the weekly special (it was not on the menu) which was filet mignon in a red wine sauce with mashed potatoes. The meat was cooked perfectly and the sauce tasted great. Â For Dessert we ordered the house made mini donuts with three dipping sauces (chocolate, raspberry, and caramel). This dessert was awesome. Even though we were super full we totally annihilated those little things. All three sauces were wonderful. Â
The service was five stars all the way. Our waitress was funny and gave us all types of helpful suggestions. My GF ordered an after dinner wine that was way too sweet. Our waitress took it back no questions asked and did not charge us for it. Â The prices are a little high but the quality of the food, the service, and drinks totally make up for it.
It has taken four Big Bear get a ways but I finally found my go to dinner spot. Thanks again yelp.
ACT 1: THE WAIT
I picked this place based on yelp reviews. It just so happened to be in walking distance to our hotel, in a liquor-store type mini-mini-mall with a bowling alley.
We moseyed on down there at 7:30. Â We're famished, and the tiny restaurant looks infinitely more appealing on the inside. The hostess/waitresses asked if we had a reservation. Â No offense, Big Bear Lake, but I didn't really think any your restaurants required rezzies. So she says it will be "a really, really long time. Maybe 30 minutes".
She suggests we go up to the bar upstairs and she'll call my cell when a table opens. Â I inwardly chuckle that she thinks half an hour is an incredible wait. The weekend before I waited an hour and a half for a low-key Mexican place in LA.
Turns out the bar upstairs is the one attached to the bowling alley. There's Karaoke here, a big townie scene on a Saturday night. Â After a girl finishes her shaky rendition of a Jewel song, the Karoke host says "Denise, that was great. So much better than last week!"
After a beer and more than 30 minutes, we go down to check on the table. It's obvious that there isn't one ready, but what's worse is that all the employees do their best to ignores us. For a really, really, really long time. Maybe 40 minutes. They are obviously slammed, but they just pretend we aren't there in this tiny little space that prevents them from actually not noticing. I think they just wanted us to give up and leave. But we were so hungry and invested in our wait that we put up with this overt inhospitality. Where else are we going to go at this hour?
While we drool over a couple of menus at the waiting table, we start to hear the chef/properietor going ape-shit on her employees. Hissing at them, barking, berating. She makes Gordon Ramsay look cuddly. "I saw you take that drink to table 3 without ringing it up!" she snaps venomously " You KNOW the RULES!". Then five minutes later, she does  rounds at all the tables, using a totally different persona to thank the guests for coming in.
I actually start to worry that we will NOT be served since it's nearing 9 PM, their closing time. Â But finally, around 9 pm, a full hour and a half after we first stepped foot into the restaurant, we are seated.
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ACT 2: THE Â FOOD
The food isn't bad! To be assured, I am not going to directly compare this "Italian" food from Big Bear Lake with Italian food in LA or, god forbid, Italy. Â I am using a totally different standard in this situation--sort of like taking the Italian cuisine aspect out of the equation so I don't have to measure the authenticity at all.
We shared a Caprese salad as an appetizer. This was served on a bed of greens (atypical, but in this case the extra leafage was quite welcome) Â and a decadently thick balsamic vinegar.
Then I had chicken stuffed with spinach and ricotta over linguine in a creamy tomato sauce. This was hearty, tasty, filling, totally hitting the spot after a long day on the slopes.
I was washed it  down with some delightful champagne cocktails.  1 Lychee, then a cranberry. At around $8 each, a good place for bubbly.
But the showstopper was the Tiramisu. I am shocked to write this, but this tiramisu was better than any I've had in LA thus far. Of all my Italian snobberies, Tiramisu might be where I am at my most critical. It seems impossible for American restaurants to properly integrate the various crucial flavors of the dish. Alchohol. Espresso. Cocoa. Creamy marscapone should be the counterpoint to those flavors, not overpowering them. Somehow, this little bistro in Big Bear Lake run by the Wicked Witch of the West got it right.
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ACT THREE: SHIT HITS THE FAN
Because my friend and I are the last customers and we're so easy to completely ignore, we are treated to an after dinner show. A fifteen minute screamfest by the owner, livid because she believes that one of the waitresses did not charge a party of ladies for as many drinks as they consumed.
"There's no WAY they only had 8 drinks all night, YOU EXPECT ME TO BUY THAT! .........THAT'S MY MONEY YOU ARE GIVING AWAY......I KNOW THEY HAD MORE DRINKS! DO YOU THINK I'M A FOOL??!!!"
The poor waitress gave up defending herself and just let the owner rail on and on and on, all through our dessert and bill and exit.
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