Sweet Basil Bistro

Visiting Big Bear Lake and read an article that said this intimate restaurant is frequented by locals. So we decided to give it a try.
The staff of father and daughter were very busy waiting tables, greeting guests, and making the drinks. They were as attentive and helpful as you could expect with the number of guests they had.
The food was what I would expect at the price levels. Not gourmet but enjoyable. I had the cheese pillow appetizer and the Sirloin Steak. The steak came with garlic mash potatoes and broccoli. The mash potatoes was very dry and lacked flavor. The broccoli was cooked how I like it with some crunch still. The steak was mostly tender but also lacked flavor/​seasoning.
My friends had the meatloaf and lasagna. They too thought the dishes lacked a depth of flavor.
The basil mojito was delicious and satisfying.
I didn’t have room for a dessert after the entrée and appetizer which were of good size.

Nice little place in the outskirts of Big Bear. Good drinks and great food plus excellent service.

A friend recommended this place to us. I orders the Alfredo Pasta with half chicken breast (they charged me for a whole chicken breast). The pasta was good the chicken not so much. It lacked taste. My boyfriend ordered the sirloin steak and he loved it avert thing he had was well seasoned. I didn’t like the pesto butter that came with the bread. The customer service was great and the atmosphere was relaxing.

What can I say, attentive service, quaint atmosphere, and great food! Whenever in Big Bear we have to eat here. It’s hard for me to rate Italian food being I’m part Italian and my mom makes food from scratch. But this place is good! I look forward to going to Big Bear just to eat here!! Till next time

Food and service both very good. I got the Smoked Salmon salad, my husband had the Lasagne, both an excellent lunch entrée. The waitress was great and even opened a fresh bottle of wine for me. There are so few places to eat in Big Bear, try this place!

Hubby and I always eat here when in Big Bear. Friendly service and great food. This trip hubby had whole wheat pasta with meat sauce and added meatballs. I had the orecchiette pasta with Alfredo sauce and also added meatballs. We split the soup of the day, small meatball (yes, we like Meatballs) and cabbage. Everything was delicious. Servings big enough to take some back for dinner too. We left room for the mini donuts with 3 dips. Chocolate sauce, jelly, and warm caramel. Definitely recommend those for dessert. Wish Sweet Basil Bistro was closer. Would come frequently.

With the old owners, the place was always fantastic. You knew you would get incredible food every time you went. Now, sometimes good and sometimes not so good. Don’t know if I’ll go back.

This place was not very good for the price. There is definitely better food out in Big Bear. I would not go here again.

Service was great, the atmosphere was casual, but the food was just mediocre for the high prices.

The reason I give them a five star was because the hospitality was great, and the food was delicious.

We did go there due to the reviews. However, I did fee that the place did not live up to a 4 star. I love italian food and I know good food when I taste it. The Garlic fitters they have were off the page great. Worth it! The pasta we ordered, was overcooked and was not good at all. My wife ordered the cheese gorgonzola pasta and it was barely edible. We both tried it and she left more then ¾ of the plate.
the Mac And Cheese for the little one, even though it was not out of a box, they used really poor cheese. They got the broccoli right thought. That was great!
Service was not even par. It was a bummer we had a less then good experience. I am not sure I would return there. I guess it could have been an off day. Seriously though, we were the only ones there, you would think service might have been over the top since we were the only ones.
3

Stopped in after a long day of skiing with the family. The service was great — attentive and engaging, especially with the kids. I had a steak and pasta special with gorgonzola cream sauce which was really good — I even ate my broccoli! My wife ordered a salmon special in red pepper sauce, and she liked it, but not as much as I liked mine. The kids had mac and cheese, and then we all shared a few desserts (everyone LOVED the desserts.) Price was reasonable and quantities were pretty big. Definitely our best meal while we were up on the mountain.

The lobster lasagna was FANTASTIC! Lumps of crab drizzled in their vanilla sauce, oh my gosh. I’ve never had anything like it.
My husband ordered 9 oz New York and enjoyed how it was cooked and really enjoyed the side of linguini he ordered.
Th pricing was a tad bit spendy for what you got but it’s Big Bear so I get it.
Unfortunately, we weren’t huge fans of the pesto butter and bread. The butter seemed like it had been sitting out for awhile and the bread was super hard and dry.
The service was great! We would come back again but probably skip the bread and butter.

First off all the food is fine, the real issue is the service.
When we first got in, despite our reservation the parking lot was full. Then we had to wait about 10 minutes even though we had a reserviation and it wasnt even busy. We have first been seated on a small table, where my girlfriend had half her butt hanging off the booth as it was on the very edge of it. We have been served by 4 different secers, how am I suppose to assess how much to tip? Ordered a soup, it never came, got charged for it, which we made sur was taken off. Their filet mignon is not «mignon» at all, the meat wad very dry and hard. My lasagna were good, which justifies the 3 stars. Asked for bread twice, it has never been brought. Never been asked for a refill either, just took my drink away when I was done with it. Not gonna come back again, ³⁄₅.

Damn, what a shame. Me and my date had the Mac and cheese, and the butternut ravioli. For some reason, each dish had the same garnish (cherry tomatoes and broccoli). That seemed odd, considering neither of those ingredients were seasoned.
The Mac and cheese was clearly microwaved. They put penne on a plate and sprinkled low quality nacho cheese on it then nuked it in the microwave. No salt, no pepper, no garlic, zero seasoning. The butternut squash ravioli wasn’t much of an improvement. With lukewarm ravioli’s and an unseasoned white cream sauce, it did anything but impress. This place was a
solid disappointment given its such high ratings.

This was an amazing, first time dining experience. The food was superb and service was right on! We shared a garden salad with an exquisite blue cheese dressing not found in any bottle. Our meals… whole grain spaghetti with pesto cream sauce and the Sally pasta with whole grain spaghetti were culinary lusciousness! Highly recommend…

Amazing!!! Can not say enough good things about this place. Small, quaint, and quiet. Excellent service, incredible food, everything was fantastic. Some of the best Italian food I’ve had anywhere! The classy atmosphere combined with the small size of the restaurant gives you a really comfortable feel, combine that with all the other great aspects of this restaurant and it’s 5 stars + in my opinion. Would recommend to anyone in the area.

Great place! I had the Gorgonzola stuffed Filet Mignon and it was cooked perfectly. The pesto butter that comes with the bread is really good. Daily specials jeep the menu fresh and interesting.
This place is nice and cozy, but also provides an upscale feel if you’re looking for a nice place to celebrate a special occasion.
Separate from the restaurant, there is a bowling alley upstairs (along with lazer tag and mini golf) so this place can be a one stop shop for entertainment!

Great Italian restaurant! Came here this weekend for dinner and it was packed but luckily we made reservations earlier in the day. Everyone in my group enjoyed their meals. I had one of their specials which was the prime rib raviolis that came in a creamy alfredo sauce and broccoli with a lot of parmesan cheeses on top. It was really good! Others had the lobster lasagna, and pestro crusted salmon. The portobello and artichoke heart salad looked very good too! Would definitely be back when craving Italian food in big bear!

My friend and I were super hungry and looking for something to eat. We asked around the best place for food in the area and were told to come here, so we did.
This is a tiny, unassuming, restaurant but apparently, it’s super popular. It started filling up fast after we arrived.
We split the flatbread caprese pizza which was delicious, I could have ate two of these. Just really good and really tasty. For the main course, I had the grilled angus new york steak and it was a pretty underwhelming dish. The steak lacked taste, even with the red wine sauce, and the garlic mashed potatoes were rather bland as well.
Dessert was probably the highlight of this meal. We ordered the doughnuts which came with a raspberry sauce, a chocolate sauce and a caramel sauce. I am not normally a big fan of caramel but this was brown sugar caramel and my god, it was fantastic, it was so perfect. I ignored the chocolate sauce, I never ignore chocolate sauce. The raspberry sauce was a perfect tart compliment to the sweet, deep-​fried goodness of the doughnuts but that caramel sauce… I could write a poem about it.
I did have a delicious drink here though, the «blushing martini». It’s made with vodka, raspberry purée, lemon juice, simple syrup, shaken and topped with champagne. I subbed the vodka for gin, it was still beyond perfect.
Customer service is good here. While I didn’t my dinner that great, I’d still come back because their other menu options (particularly lunch) sound delicious and that dessert was divine.