Sweet Basil

08/01/07

Sweet misery...No thank you

by calmitch at Citysearch

Decent food but the management has an utter lack understanding when it comes to business 101. The cramped waiting area is a nightmare, as people are constantly walking in and out to check on the status of their reservations, which arent really reservations... Each evening the host (THE OWNER) compiles a long list of names on a walk in basis (no advance reservations) and throws out a random wait time. You would think that if you are running a restaurant you would have gotten the hang of managing expectations...not the case at sweet basil. After our party of 9 was finally seated (over an hour after the time that was originally indicated), 45 minutes into our meal the waitress actually asked us to leave because the table was needed for another party (also impatient after waiting longer than originally indicated). Honestly, for the cramped quarters, rude treatment and the "cash only" inconvenience, the food isn't THAT good. Not worth it.

• Pros: Decent Food, convenient location
• Cons: rude management, no call ahead reservations, cramped quarters, FREEZING in the winter months wiht the door constantly swinging open (People walking in 4+ times to see if their table is finally ready).

09/25/05

Slow, noisy, with attitude

by craig_schmidt at Citysearch

We just had the worst dinner at Sweet Basil. It was as noisy as a construction site, our food took over an hour to come after we ordered. The waitress gave us attitude about the slow service. There was a very cold draft from the open front door. The tables were so cramped that two other tables knocked over wine glasses, nearly cutting a little girl at an adjoining table. The food was good, but not anything special. They only take cash, which is annoying. We certainly won't be back.