Basil Leaf Cafe

My daughter has a lot of food allergies and Basil leaf cafe was very accommodating. We felt very safe eating there and she had so many good options to choose from. I had their salmon with pasta and it was so delicious, the salmon was grilled and full of flavor. lots of options for lunch with something for everyone. Portion sizes were generous. Our server Albert was so professional and helpful. Highly recommend!

Lovely place to grab a hot Italian meal! I ordered the gnocchi with vodka sauce and an amaretto sour. My partner got the tortellini and sauce in both of our dishes were a bit drippy and reminded us of soup, but the flavor was great! I think I would rather too much sauce than too little so no complaints!

My friend and I stopped into Basil Leaf Cafe for a late evening dinner after a long day, and we were pleasantly surprised by how peaceful and chill it was. I ordered the butternut squash ravioli and a drink. Unfortunately, I can't remember what it was called; I think it was a simple vodka, basil and lemon cocktail, but it was honestly amazing regardless. The basil tasted like it was extracted into the vodka. Does that make sense? Anyway. Very tasty. As for the pasta, it was sweet for my tastes, but not bad by any means. I think I ordered the wrong thing. I would absolutely come back to try something else and likely leave 100% satisfied. My friend says these are the best inland crab cakes she's ever had, so kudos to the chef! They have an expansive list of vegetarian options, which is great. No clearly labelled vegan options, but they were so accommodating, I'm certain they could make any necessary substitutions.

Recommend: the pasta dishes were great, really enjoyed the linguine carbonara and the tortellini prosciutto. Also, would recommend the bees knees cocktail. I was was looking forward to try the braised octopus appetizer but unfortunately after trying it cannot recommend - something about the flavour did not go well for it, I think the sauce was to thin and acidic, maybe for my party's taste. The service was nice, the vibe overall was okay inside, feel like needs a bit of refreshment. Overall though I enjoyed most of my meal and drink and will be back to try other dishes.

This is an upscale Italian restaurant right on the sidewalks of Chicago. It’s an easy review to write when everything was top notch. They got us right in on a Sunday afternoon. Staff was so pleasant. Appetizer came out so fast. Didn’t have to wait long for the entree. So good. The ambiance is nice. We sat at a table inside, but right inside some French doors that open up to the sidewalk. It was so refreshing. The soundtrack of easy listening jazz standards really added to the experience to me. The food was excellent. I thought about giving the food four stars instead of five. But I think my palette just isn’t used to this level of authentic Italian. I could tell that all the ingredients were fresh and prepared with care. Couldn’t have asked for better service. It was a wonderful meal after a day at the zoo.

The atmosphere is great for dates, groups, and solo diners, the restaurant is clean, beautiful and well organized The service is on point. Quick refills of drinks and polite servers. Food was great Quality and temperature were great Portions were huge Flavor was great, it was a milder flavor, but the quality of the al-dente pasta totally made up for it Highly recommend if ur in the area Items : Ceasar salad and Rigatoni Bolognese.

Fantastic experience - food, vegetarian options, service, price, decor - ticked all the boxes. We were a group of 4 and went in on a Friday evening with prior reservation. We all ordered a drink each. They served us warm bread rolls with olive oil and honestly I could eat that bread and oil all day everyday. We started off with bruschetta, which was very good but probably not the best I’ve had. And honestly this was my least favorite dish of the evening, which by itself was actually pretty decent. We ordered a butternut squash ravioli, a linguine with mushrooms and garlic, the white fish special and a fettuccine pesto with grilled chicken. We were all super happy with the food. It was a good portion size and not over priced by chicago standards. They generously served grated Parmesan and ground pepper onto our dishes. For dessert we had the the gluten-free royale chocolate, which has a dark chocolate mousse, hazelnut dacquoise and a macaron on top. It was pretty small but rich and delicious and thus all of us shared one among us.