Basil’s Restaurant

Basil’s was a very friendly and accommodating restaurant. I had the Vegetable Frittata; it was perfectly cooked and had great flavor! It was worth the price and the waiter even put toast on the side with no charge (the menu says differently). The atmosphere was calm and it was nice to sit in the balcony of the Crystal Court and look around. I would definitely recommend checking it out!

Basil’s is an overall good experience. The lunch salads are always a good option – today I had the kale and beet salad with salmon. My friend had the Basil’s salad with salmon. The service is good and Prompt. The salads were very good. A beautiful setting. A lovely holiday lunch.

I attended restaurant week and was very excited to try the restaurant. When we arrived the restaurant was fairly empty, a couple small parties and we had a good start with our waitress. That’s about all that was good. We ordered drinks and that came fairly quickly and then we ordered our meals, all from the prefixed restaurant week menu. It took 45 minutes for flatbreads, and salads to come, again keep in mind the restaurant was fairly empty. Next the main course, again a 30 minute wait for dry chicken and bland steak. The waitress at this point had disappeared and several people who arrived after us had eaten and left. We asked to talk to a manager and she was not very apologetic, and insisted on serving us our deserts when we asked to not receive them. A 2 hour meal on a prefixed menu eat an empty restaurant, this was an awful experience and I will not be returning! Save your time and money and try somewhere that values their customers!

I was not impressed at all. The menu had very few options (all of which were overpriced). There was one waitress/​hostess that I had to go find to be seated. Also, she poured my water into a glass already on the table that had grease all in and over it. Definitely will not be returning!

Great place for breakfast. Nice outdoor feel even though your inside. Food was good, server was friendly. Used a groupon, paid $ 25 total bill after voucher was 95 cents, so not to bad for a good breakfast.

everything was greasy :(ordered an omelet off the menu, mimosas and french toast
slow service and overpriced
so sad, this place used to be much better

Well, we were here for the day before Valentine’s Day. I made reservations for us and ended up using a 10% coupon which I had. There was a special menu for Valentine’s Day but it looked too much for dinner. So, I got the salmon and she got the beef which we both enjoyed. Afterwards, we went back to our room and enjoyed cupcakes with some drinks from Executive Lounge. Pretty nice way to end the week:)

Just got back from lunch with coworkers. First time here for all of us. I ordered the ahi tuna taco for appetizer and the fork N knife steak sandwich as the main course. Both were good. Would i crave it again, meh. But let’s jump to why I’m writing this review. We had a terrible waitress, the manager (Leon) handled it beautifully. More restaurants need manager like him. Friendly, understanding and apologetic. He is the only reason why I would give this place a 2^nd chance and the 4 star.
For those that like details, please read below:
The waitress was visibly stressed and disorganized. I gave her two chances. My 1^st request for to go boxes was reciprocated with, «I’m really busy right now, I have so many other things to take care of, one second». Keep in mind, she didn’t actually stop at the table to say this, she was walking away, with her back turned. I let this one go. My 2^nd request was greeted with «one second» as she breezes by me, again. I felt more like a annoying fly rather than a customer.

Really disappointed with the Living Social deal. Never have I been given a different menu to order from and served smaller portions than what is normally offered when using a Living Social deal. Is that really a deal? I get it’s a way to expose your restaurant more and get more people through the door but this customer and my dinner companions will not be returning.

Great place for a business lunch!
They have a great menu of seasonal items. Great soup and salad. They have a full bar as well as an espresso bar.
Sit in the courtyard section overlooking the inside of the IDS for a one of a kind experience.
On my recent visit I had the turkey burger — very good
A cup of chicken curry soup — best part of the meal
A side salad — very good but a little small
Basket of bread– very good bread with seasoned butter
A double espresso — also very good, served hot and not bitter.
Everything on the menu looks great. I will be back again. Do keep in mind they can be pretty expensive but you get what you pay for. The servers wear suits and will refer to you as sir =)
Great place for lunch in the city!

We tried the amuse bouche (sp) dinner. Wine (California Road red & white) was on the dry side, which I like but my companion didn’t. The honey crisp apple taste bud tease was great with goat cheese and honey. The potatoe soup was tasty! I’m not a soup gal but I loved it. House salad was yummy. My steak was cooked to perfection and the salmon was fresh, not fishy. I was so impressed with this place, I can’t wait to visit again! Such a romantic view. Heads up, it’s pricy.

One of my favorite places when staying at the Marquette. The Alaskan Chinook salmon with cashew gremolata and stewed lentils is to die for. The grilled Caesar salad is equally a favorite. Service is excellent. I usually dine alone as I am here on business. Really like a table on the indoor patio, overlooking the Crystal Court of the IDS Center.

Servers who really know their business, a terrace overlooking the IDS Crystal Court, and a great place for a client lunch in a classic downtown spot.
Skip the skyway fast food and the national chains and grab a seat at the Mary Tyler Moore table.

The meal was good. I had the juicy pork chop. But, what an odd feel the place had to me in a partially vacant building, overlooking an indoor courtyard with most of the tables empty. Although service was good, It just felt strange.

Doing the math for Basil’s coupon users
I used a Living Social coupon for dinner at Basil’s last night. Dinner was fine although I found the advertising for the coupon deceptive. I know Groupon is also offering a Basil’s deal.
Looking around last night, I’d guess that the majority of the diners were couples using coupons.
The deal as it reads:
1 — Amuse Bouche for Two to Share
2 — Choice of Soup or Salad
2 — Choice of Entrée
2 — Glasses of wine
Living Social stated value: $ 125
Living Social paid value: $ 49
Groupon stated value: $ 130
Groupon paid value: $ 69
Here’s what you actually get:
* Amuse bouche (olive tomato tartare) on a piece of toast. Basil’s most expensive appetizer (charcuterie or crab cakes) is $ 14. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and say that this amuse bouche is worth $ 14 (although it’s not.)
* The choice of salad is the «Basil’s Salad» which goes for $ 10. Last night the soup was tomato, basil, curry (and it was fine.)
* The most expensive entrée you can get with the deal is the Basil’s Steak Au Poivre which lists for $ 32.
* If you check out their wines online, their most expensive wine by the glass is $ 12. Looking at their wine list at the restaurant last night, they also had a couple for $ 15. For this deal, they bring 2 individual carafes, I assume of five ounces each, to the table. I’ll be generous and suggest that the wine was worth $ 12 a glass.
Okay, now for the math.
Amuse bouche:…$ 14
Salads:…$ 20
Steaks: …$ 64
Wine: …$ 24
Total «value»…$ 122
As I said before, I don’t believe the Amuse Bouche or the wine is actually worth that, but I was being generous. So how does Living Social come up with a stated value of $ 125? How does Groupon come up with a stated value of $ 130?
NOW THE KICKER
With the Living Social deal we also bought a «French Wine Flight of three two-​ounce glasses for each guest.»
Living Social stated value: $ 28
Living Social paid value: $ 10
With 6 ounces of wine per guest plus the original glass of wine, it seemed like each guest would get the equivalent of 2 glasses of wine. (The average pour in the US is 5 – 6 ounces.) NOT THE CASE.
When you paid the $ 10 for the wine flight, it REPLACES the wine that came with the original deal. So, you need to remove the value of the $ 24 from the original calculation.
The bill they gave us at the end of the meal (so we could calculate gratuity) was just over $ 100. That is probably and accurate value. What Living Social claimed the value was, was $ 153. I don’t see ANY way they could come up to that number.
BTW — If you dine here, you can park for free in the IDS. The entry is right off of Marquette and you go down to the 3^rd level. The restaurant will give you a parking voucher.

Overpriced, in attentive service with subpar food. Went here for Mother’s Day brunch and we were all really disappointed. The «steak» sandwich was raw prime rib and misadvertised. The salmon was over cooked and equally underwhelming. Service was poor and we had to ask for water refills, coffee refills and replacement of silverware. We eat out regularly and just remembered why we haven’t eaten here for years. Spare yourself the disappointment. ;-(

This place is mad expensive for me typically, but it was restaurant week! I went for lunch with a friend and we luckily got to sit out on the patio to overlook the court. It was awesome to be able to people watch while we were chatting. Since it was restaurant week we got a choice between a few meals and a dessert for $ 20+tax.
We decided to share the mac-​n-​cheese and the open-​faced steak sandwich with a side salad. Everything was smashingly delicious! I never really eat that fancy for lunch and it was tasty. The house dressing on the salad greens was light and tangy. The steak was cooked perfectly medium well with some added veggies. I forgot to mention that we were greeted with a basket of warm bread and herb infused butter to get us thinking before we ordered. Mmmmm!
Lastly, as part of the deal, we tried tiramisu and chocolate cake with homemade vanilla ice cream. Please look at my photos of these deserts and you might get the idea of how flavorful they really were. The best was the tiramisu cake and the ice cream, which came in an adorable glass canister.
It was smart for Basils to be part of restaurant week, because now after my lunch experience, I would go again!

We shared a few small plates for dinner and left content and happy with our meal.
Coconut Prawns
Coconut Breaded Shrimp, Tangerine Foam, Green Papaya Salad
I really enjoyed the citrusy tangerine foam with each bite of shrimp; a great mix of tastes and textures.
Chesapeake Blue Crab Cake
Tomato Beurre Blanc, Balsamic Greens, Sweet Potato Frites. The crab had a nice mild flavor and the combination of all ingredients together was fresh and good.
Butternut Squash Gnocchi
Gnocchi Pasta, Roasted Squash, Fresh Sage, Asiago Cheese. So creamy and yummy!
Grilled Pear and Beet Salad
Baby Spinach, Salted Pistachios, Satori Cheese, Red Wine Vinaigrette. My favorite of the evening, with little cubes of golden and red beets, this fresh tasty salad really hit the spot.
In addition to our small plates, the server brought us bubbly water and fresh warm bread with salty/​basil butter. This was so rich and good! My white Cosmo was perfect.
This is a great quiet dinner date spot.

Plats plutôts rafinés. Le ahi Tuna était juste parfait et les accompagnements goutus et surtout peu gras! Les poissons des autres convives avaient l’air d’être cuits à la perfection également.
L’ambiance est agréable et le service est présent sans être obséquieux. La carte des vins est également intéressante.

Met up with the wedding party at Basil’s for Saturday morning breakfast/​brunch. Basil’s is located on the 3^rd floor of the Marquette Hilton downtown. Our large group occupied one of the private rooms where the staff had set up 3 tables for us.
Basil’s is an American restaurant with nice views of the IDS Center’s Crystal Garden (lobby and shopping area). It’s a hotel restaurant, so the prices are somewhat inflated. Case in point from the breakfast menu: an open-​faced egg sandwich is $ 15. That said, I ordered a breakfast platter, which comes with two eggs, pancakes, hashbrowns, and bacon (in lieu of bacon, you also have the choice of sausage links or Canadian bacon) for $ 17.
The breakfast platter was a lot of food, but I was hungry, so I ate all of it. Overall, I thought the platter was delicious. I had my eggs scrambled and I could tell they were fresh. The pancakes that come with the platter are smaller than the pancakes that come if ordered individually ($ 10). Some of my friends ordered just the pancakes and it was a generous serving. The hash browns were shredded, crispy, and made from Yukon Gold potatoes. The bacon seemed (Applewood-​) smoked to perfection.
I didn’t realize this until after the fact, but Basil’s ended up charging me $ 3 for a Diet Coke I never ordered. I’m normally good at checking my receipt before I sign it, but in this instance, I overlooked it. The automatic gratuity probably played a part in throwing me off. $ 3 isn’t a big deal, but it still sucks to get charged for something I didn’t order (or even receive).

I had breakfast here on a weekday morning. My table was «outside» overlooking Nicollett mall. It was beautiful! Loved the ambiance and people watching.
Service was fantastic. The server I had was crazy busy– she must have been responsible for all of the tables «outside» as I saw her running around. But my service was excellent and if I hadn’t noticed her running around, I would have never noticed that she was so busy.
I had their Artisan Omlette with all of my favorite ingredients in the world: smoked turkey, portobella mushroom, roasted red pepper, avocado, and goat cheese. The avocado was perfectly ripen and sliced on top of the omlette. It came with hasbrown on the side which was also perfectly done– enough crisp on the outside and well-​seasoned. I could eat this EVERYDAY.
I tend to stay at the Hilton Marquette just so I have an excuse to indulge in this beautiful omlette every morning.