What a gem in Dixon. Met some friends half way between the Quad Cities and Chicago for an early dinner on a Friday night. The building kept its old charm and the food was great. read more

Cute, tasty, and amazing staff! We were driving to Chicago and I yelped a restaurant on the way, and found Basil Tree, a wonderful Italian gem. My sister and I enjoyed an impromptu girls night. I highly recommend this little, adorable, Italian place tucked away by the river in a quaint town, Dixon, IL. read more

Basil Tree Ristorante - Front - Seafood Near Me - Dixon, Illinois

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EVERYTHING!!!! We got there before closing,they were like Family!!!! FOOD IS ITALIAN- and quite generous!!! SERVICE is beyond most - the Owner is a Rare and GENUINE PERSON!! The ambiance is so comfortable, historic,I had to take pictures!! The Owner allowed to stay until our cab arrived- past closing!!!! WONDERFULL! read more

Had the lasagna and basil tree chicken and both were SO, so tasty! Really good homemade salad dressing, too. We were bummed when we got back to the hotel with take-out and noted the desert was not in the bag. But, called them up and they DELIVERED it and added a second desert on the house! Above and beyond customer service - much appreciated!!! read more

I can't say enough good things about Basil Tree !!! Friendly service , wonderful waitstaff gracious owner who has always makes you feel welcome and appreciated . read more

The atmosphere is very gorgeous. The server was very nice and quick to check up on us. The food was super delicious for the price. It was a very fancy environment and enjoyable to be there. read more

Basil Tree Ristorante - Pollo Ala Basil Tree - Seafood Near Me - Dixon, Illinois

Food is. Good; the bread is wow good; the server needs retraining came to the table, asked if we're ready for the check I said NO then he asked is the check going to be separate there was two of us and I said no then he said I'll be back with the check. I've eaten there many times with great service love the desserts, but he never asked if I wanted dessert. All he cared about is bringing the check. Service like this is gonna scare people away from coming back. read more

Good food good service y'all have to come enjoy they are the best don't miss it basil tree restaurant

Megan took our reservation. Blamed us for mistaken the reservation was on a Friday instead of Saturday. Our party didn't get to enjoy our meal. We were disappointed that Megan blamed us that there was no reservation after call two times to verify time and date. No apology at all. We took our business elsewhere. read more

Basil Tree Ristorante - a car parked in front of a building - Seafood Near Me - Dixon, Illinois

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The food, the service, and the ambience was great! Quantity of food was also surprising. The scallop dish was just what I hoped it would be. Friendly wait staff! read more

We have a site at Woodhaven Lakes in Amboy, we had spent the day there closing and winterizing the site. The day had been windy and chilly as it was mid-November. At the end of the day we were tired and hungry. We did not want to cook. Unfortunately, this time of year most of the restaurants in the area either were closed already or were cash only due to power failures earlier in the day. Hence, we traveled all the way (30 minutes) to Dixon for dinner. My girlfriend found Basil Tree Risorante on the internet and we decided to give it a try. Find it was pretty easy, it's just a block east of 26 on the south side of the river. Parking was easy too, it was all street parking, but we were able to find a spot within a block. The exterior is nice, although we kind of chuckled at the carpeted steps up to the door. At first, we thought we were at the wrong place. Upon entering the host (Owner?) greeted us. He asked if we had reservations, which we did not, but he offered us two seats at the bar. Which we took. The interior was much nicer than I expected. I was thinking your traditional small town Italian restaurant that's been around since the 50's and hasn't really been updated. Basil tree took that feel and mixed it with a more modern updated décor. It worked really well. The bar top was a beautiful thin cut tree branch disks set in resin. It's the type of bar top you see people talk about online, but rarely actually see in person. The bartender and the greeter(owner?) were our server. It kind of switched back and forth between the two of them. I'm not sure what the dynamic between the two of them was, but their banter was fun and entertaining. The menu was simple, yet at the same time had a wide selection. I ended up ordering the tortellini with a Puttanesca (Anchovies, capers, olives, and tomato) sauce. Honestly, this was fantastic. One of the best dishes I've ever eaten. I didn't stop talking about it for a week. My Girlfriend got the Gluten Free Pasta with a Bolognese Sauce. She raved about it to anyone that would listen. I had taken some pictures, but the phone there were on died, and they were lost. Overall, this is the type of restaurant you expect to see in a much larger urban area, not Dixon, IL. The food was fantastic, the atmosphere was amazing, the service was incredible. If you want Italian food, you can't pass up Basil Tree. We will definitely be returning, but next time we'll make sure we have reservations.... And that I'm not dressed like I just spent the day doing yard work. read more

Random find on the way to Chicago! Cute inside and out, loved the building. Staff was pleasant and ambiance was great. Food and drinks were delicious!! Bread was just perfect. Definitely a place to try if passing by! read more

Basil Tree Ristorante - Bread with olive oil / balsamic and parmesan for dipping. Bread was fabulous. Espresso martini was super delicious. - Seafood Near Me - Dixon, Illinois

The wait staff was quick to greet us and brought our drinks soon after we ordered them. The variety of pastas and pasta dishes in addition to some other entrees is good. Traditional bread/olive oil is provided with each meal. Atmosphere is pleasant and resembles and old established restaurant. Good wine selection. Comfortable place to dine in peace. read more

The staff, the food, the ambiance all work so well to make this an incredible experience! Never once have we been disappointed in the quality and service! read more

High end finishes and classic Italian ambience. Bruschetta was delicious. Bread fresh from the oven. Alyssa was our server. Salmon was impeccable. read more

I ate here for dinner with 11 others and the restaurant was able to accommodate a group that large without any issues. Their menu was pretty straightforward and a lot of items sounded good to me. I don't remember what everybody ordered for their entrees, but we ordered the bruschetta and shrimp cocktails for the appetizer. I chose the Rib Eye Steak as my entree. The bruschetta was good and same with the shrimp cocktails. I would recommend either of those for an appetizer. The Rib Eye Steak was okay to me and what made it okay was the sauteed mushrooms they smothered over the rib eye. It was overpowering the taste of the rib eye in my opinion. The potatoes that came with the rib eye were not bad. For dessert, I ordered the Tiramisu and that was delicious. Overall, the food here was good and would recommend checking it out if you're in town. read more

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Food was good. Kind of felt like you didn't get enough for the price though. The spicy shrimp scampi was a fantastic twist to a standard classic read more

Food is always good. Try the build your own pasta with paesano sauce! The espresso martini is good too!

Went to Basil Tree for Sunday dinner. We were a party of 3 and were greeted and seated right away. It was warm and quiet inside on a cold and snowy night. Our meals were bountiful and tasty. Our server was very attentive and spot on. The soup was not very flavorful and was barely warm and the bread was kind of dried out but the rest of the meal was very good. read more

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Amazing food . This was a very pleasant surprise as we travelled through. Make the time to stop for dinner. Excellent scratch Italian food. Great atmosphere with old time music, very romantic . We will be making this a planned stop on our travels! read more

Clean, polite Service was good Food was Average, but not bad. Made great leftovers. read more

Delicious food in an upscale environment. I really enjoyed the Gnocchi Basilica and white wine paring. I look forward to trying the lasagna next. My friend had ordered that and they said it was great! read more

I have now driven from Princeton to Dixon twice in the last year while visiting the area to go to the Basil Tree Ristorante. Both times I found the service to be friendly, the value to be outstanding and the food to be delicious. The restaurant is not large (best to make a reservation on a known holiday or busy night of the week), dimly lit, appropriately Italian themed with paint colors, art work and ambiance. it is cute, intimate and quaint. We saw couples, familes and groups as customers. They do not have appear to have a designated parking lot, it is mostly street parking I believe, which is abundant. A well stocked bar and an OK wine list to boot. They have a tiny bar section when you assend their short flight of steep steps into the establishment that you can order a drink and hang out if you are waiting for a table. The staff have always been welcoming, attentive and friendly. From pastas to francese prepared meats, there are lots of options to pick from (seafood, chicken, beef, "create your own pasta dish."). They serve warm bread with olive oil and parmasean cheese to start and it appears all or most meals come with a soup and a bowl of penne pasta with marinara on the side. Most meals cost between $10-15. It is really a great value for all that you get. The food is really delicious. On this past visit I enjoyed one of their specials, which was three large scallops served over all sorts of vegetables and then pasta tossed in a pesto sauce of sorts. We started with the warm mozzerella stick appitzers. We left fat and happy that night! The drive up from Princeton is nice and worthy of the drive to the Basil Tree. I will be back and already look forward to it. read more

Stopped in to just have a quick drink at the bar. Love the atmosphere in this authentic older building in downtown Dixon. Worth a visit for sure. read more

Very Tasty Italian Lunch Passing through town we spotted this little Italian gem, decided to try. Glad we did. Atmosphere is rustic Italian but casual. Our waiter Jax provided us with excellent service. My spouse and I had Cream Of Chicken Soup then the Chicken Ala Basil Tree $13. Portion was large so we split one order. It was very delicious. Parking is free on the street in front but limited. Would come back so definitely recommend eating here. read more

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Great decor & atmosphere, excellent Italian dishes, and homemade tiramisu. Definitely worth the trip to Dixon - great for date night!

Want casual but a special meal out? Or, elegance that's affordable? This is the place in downtown Dixon. Basil Tree feels upscale but has pricing that won't break the weekly budget or per diem. Entrees come with a home made soup and fresh bread, so you'll certainly be filled at dinner. I enjoyed an excellent lentil soup before my shrimp and broccoli linguine. The tender pasta was mixed into a very creamy Alfredo sauce. A tad more flavor--such as grilled rather than boiled shrimp, or chunks of roasted garlic blended in--would have really popped the flavor of the dish. But, that's personal preference rather than criticism. What is criticism is the bizarre use of tail-on shrimp. Imagine you're having a nice time with your date or business associate and you come to that shrimp. To extract the crustacean from its tail you inelegantly dip into that creamy sauce with your fingers to pinch off the tail like you're at the all-you-can-eat happy hour special at the local VFW. Why isn't the tail removed in food prep? Service was spot-on: attentive without being intrusive. All in all, Basil Tree succeeds at providing a feeling of something special without being pretentious. read more

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The food, service, and ambiance are always top notch whenever we visit. Basil Tree is the best restaurant in town, truly a gem in downtown Dixon. read more

great food and service, highly recommend! Alyssa our server did a great job! First time here and we will be back.

We love this place! They are a fancy-ish place (nice for a date or nice dinner) and have pick-up for the nights when you want to eat nice food, but not go out. My boyfriend got the flaminyon steak (its one of the best cuts from cattle) with a potato. I got penne noodles with a vodka marinara type sauce and 2 meatballs (from the make it yourself section). Both were AMAZING!! The price was really good for the steak seeing as it was a nice cut and cooked to perfection. I was really happy with my pasta especially my meatballs, they are always so good here. I also had enough to take some home for lunch the next day (it was just as good still). We shared a tiramisu dessert that was to die for! I would highly recommend trying this place out and I recommend making a reservation ahead of time just to be safe as well. read more

Basil Tree Ristorante - Flaminyon steak with mushrooms and potato. AMAZING! - Seafood Near Me - Dixon, Illinois

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Absolutely horrible service. The server/bartender was extremely rude. The food was sub par at best.

We ate at the Basil Tree for our Anniversary last evening. It was the second time in the last month we dined there. The food is really great. The ambiance is just what you want in an Italian restaurant. Unfortunately, the service left much to be desired. The restaurant was not busy - so it is difficult to understand why we were not waited on in a timely manner once seated. Our waitress (who had worked there for many years) seemed like she would rather be somewhere else than waiting on her tables. A couple was seated at the table behind us - they arrived 15 minutes after did - the were immediately waited on and given a bread basket. We still didn't have one after 15 minutes. They were done with their entrees before we received ours. We asked her to please check on our entrees - as it took so long to get them . She checked on us only once after serving the entrees. My water glass sat empty several times. A very disappointing experience. read more

I do not give five stars lightly. I was splendidly surprised by my eXperience here. It was my first time and everything was excellent. Food was great. service was outstanding. Went to the bar after dinner and met the owner. He was a very gracious host. It is the best dinning experience that I have had in the area. Among the best in a very long time and this is after a week in Southern California Beech communities. read more

Basil Tree Ristorante - Bar drinks. - Seafood Near Me - Dixon, Illinois

Average overpriced Italian food for the Applebees crowd. There's much better Italian food available in the area.

The atmosphere is nice, the food is good, however the cost of a dinner seems pricey especially because it's basically "a la carte" - soup or salad is extra. My salmon was good but not worth $24. Most Italian restaurants leave me feeling completely stuffed, not so here. read more

We decided to try this place out on a Sunday while heading back to DSM. Not a lot to choose from, on a Sunday. We kept it simple: Pasta. I LOVE how you can select from different sauces and pastas!! I got the puttenesca, while partner got the spicy one. Mine was better. Great service. The decor is fun. The music being played reminded me of what my mom would listen to in the 70's, which was endearing to me. I wish this was in DSM. I'd frequent it! read more

Delicious place to go. I took out one star because the strawberry mojito wasn't good and they don't have the traditional one. Soup was great, my main course was ok, I didn't love it. Our waitress was very friendly. Dessert was very nice. I think I would give it another shot if I'm in town. read more

Excellent food, cant get better pasta anywhere in town. Unique sauce flavor, and the customer service is wonderful. Very nice owner. Food is worth the price read more

Always pretty good food. Good small town feel. Trying a little too hard to be classy in a town only known for the largest embezzlement in American history and well endowed church. But the food is really all that matters read more

Your meals come in courses! First an appetizer (which is quite large!), the soup, and then your entrees. All of which come with freshly sliced bread. It was amazing. The vodka sauce was amazing with my gnocchi pasta. The jumbo shrimps on the side were great. I enjoyed the decorations. We sat our own private table in the empty restaurant (it was a very early evening on a Tuesday). Lovely floating candle in water and we sat next to the wine storage. The manager/owner came over a couple times to ask how our meal was. When I complimented the cuisine, he invited us for a tour of the downstairs reception area. My partner and I were very impressed. It was fancy dining, and probably a formal dress code but we wore blue jeans and it didn't seem to matter to the other guests and hostesses. Our first time rocked! read more

Basil Tree Ristorante - Gnocchi pasta with vodka sauce and jumbo shrimp - Seafood Near Me - Dixon, Illinois