Cute lunch spot! Great options for day of shopping & lunch with a glass of wine! Very Friendly people!

Food was good, service could have been better. Our server yelled across the room asking if my guest and I would be splitting the bill or not"!? In front of others dining in. We thought that was rude and tasteless. The same server didn't have a friendly personality. I'd expect to have had friendlier service. read more

This European-style cafe serves up great lunch fare. I came with a group of four and we were seated in the parlor area. There is plenty of natural light and you can see people passing by. They opened about an hour before we arrived (it was Saturday) and we were fortunate to not have a wait. Three of us wanted to try their smoked turkey melt. Two of us ordered it. The sandwich is big. They slice it for you so I recommend saving half if you can. An earlier review mentioned the turkey melt reheats well. They serve good coffee and server rounds are well-timed. I'm glad Yelp suggested this place for our visit to downtown Southern Pines. read more

Sweet Basil - Turkey Melt with Salad - New American Near Me - Southern Pines, North Carolina

Had to change my three stars to a one star because shortly after writing this review below I had the worst upset stomach!!!! Def got sick eating here. Charm little bistro. Try requesting seating facing Broad St, that's the nicest rm. I had the tuna pasta salad and was very disappointed with the amount of tuna in the salad.. hardly any! The salad tasted more like a deli side salad you would want to get with a sammie .Also the Tuscan bread slice that comes with the salad was very hard and almost broke my tooth. Service was good and server was tentative. Will come back again to try another menu option and will definitely be requesting the edible bread this time. read more

Sweet Basil - New American Near Me - Southern Pines, North Carolina

My favorite restaurant here now! Got the Hot Vegetarian and it was so delicious! Can't wait to go back and try everything else on the menu. The waitresses were fantastic and nothing was overpriced. read more

The only negative thing about Sweet Basil is that it's over an hour away from us! We would often dine here while visiting my in-laws in Southern Pines, and boy is it amazing! I have to say, I think these are the best sandwiches I have ever had! Sweet Basil is a very casual and cute lunch spot, nestled in the cozy downtown Southern Pines. The food and service is absolutely stellar, every single time. The two sandwiches I have tried are the Grilled Eggplant and Grilled Chicken Napa. Both of these sandwiches are delicious, and I usually opt for the Grilled Eggplant. So fresh, so flavorful. You can get it served with fries or a side salad. I also love their fries - crispy, salty, and thin but not too thin. I can't wait to have a Sweet Basil sandwich again, hopefully soon! read more

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i'd give this place 10 stars if I could. I haven't tried anything I didn't like! their reuben sandwich has always been the best i've ever tried. the hot vegetarian is absolutely delicious and their fries are to die for. I love that they make everything to order, and the location can't be beat :) if you're in DTSP, this is a must-try. read more

Ny favorite place.,parking is nearly impossible notstated on the menu is their horseradish mayonnaise that comes on thevroast beef sandwich. Thevturkey melt is their sugnature sandwich and my go to menu item. Enjo i will go therevagain ad again and again read more

Sweet Basil - New American Near Me - Southern Pines, North Carolina

Cute interior, friendly staff. Expensive menu for what the food is but worth the cost for the location and ambience.

Good sandwich and soup spot with a small outdoor seating area. Rueben was good and fries were great! I've also had the Smoked Turkey Melt, which was even better warmed up as leftovers. read more

The seating to eat was right behind the bar patrons stools , and the people in front of us had a dog and it was biting on my granddaughter's pants while she was eating. read more

Today was our first visit and I had the best Ruben sandwitch of my life! My wife had their special chicken sandwich with avocado and sprouts. She refused to N share because it was so delicious. read more

Stopped in here for a quick lunch with my wife. Eclectic but attractive decor. Orders are taken at the hostess stand and then you help yourself to available seating. The wait for the food was a bit longer than expected, but it was well worth the wait. The Smoked Turkey Melt is one of the best sandwiches I've ever had. And as a fat guy, I know my sandwiches. My wife's mushroom soup was also delicious. Service was very friendly and accommodating. Highly recommend this place. read more

This places is obviously a neighborhood establishment...just look at the other reviews. I only wish I could give half stars (I'm currently hiding my face as to not be pelted with food by the other yelpers) because I would give this restaurant a 3.5. If the star rating it's on the fence, I usually err on the side of the business and that is why I chose a 4 over a 3. Let's get into why: Likes: indoor and outdoor seating, many vegetarian options, very friendly staff who work well together, location and the cozy atmosphere full of locals. On the fence: I ordered the "hot vegetarian" dish which is essentially a panini with onions/avocado/tomatoes/mozzarella/basil. It was really, really messy and whomever added the olive oil was far too liberal (ducking down again to not meet the eyes of the regulars). It did pack a lot of flavor and that is always a plus! The fries were hot and fresh but they didn't stand out to me. Caveat: The person who took our order informed us that they were short staffed and as a result, they're serving everything in to-go boxes. I'm sure that is not how the staff or owners want to do business so I give them credit for being flexible and adjusting to meet the demand to open up and start offering their customer base a sense of normalcy again. read more

Sweet Basil - Outdoor seating is available and there's plenty of shade! - New American Near Me - Southern Pines, North Carolina

Updated menu October 2022. Unfortunately still limited seating, styrofoam plating, and staffing issues. read more

Sweet Basil - Update menu - New American Near Me - Southern Pines, North Carolina

This place is packed during lunch with business locals and seniors. You have to come early since the waiting time for a table can be very long. Their daily soouls are very good so are most of the sandwiches, unfortunately I went for the vegetarian. The vegetarian rain should be called hot cheese sandwich since is mainly cheese and it is very rich, it is not by any means a vegetarian sandwich read more

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Cream of zucchini soup: light, refreshing, reminds me of a cream of broccoli but a lighter, greener taste. Finishes with a savory zing! The bread that comes with it is savory, lightly salted and crisp. Delightful! The Portobello Spinach tort was highly satisfying. A light, crispy crust help grilled portobello mushroom, zucchini, and spinach held together by creamy mozzarella. The side salad consisted of a spring lettuce mix and carrot with an ever-so-light balsamic dressing. The setting is quaint. There are three dining areas. We ate in the front: windows, light, and marble floors. It became crowded and a bit noisy. But it was still enjoyable. Fresh flowers don every table. Service was prompt and friendly. This was the perfect spot for a delicious Lenten lunch. We will return to explore the menu. read more

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Went with the Lunch Bunch group of woman today. The food was excellent, service and atmosphere! I will be going back again.

Awesome little lunch spot! I had the sweet basil penne and it was delicious! My daughters had roast beef and grilled eggplant sandwiches and they loved theirs too. Highly recommend! Wish it was open for lunch on the weekends also. Update: Still great food, but they changed to "take out"(everything served in styrofoam or aluminum trays, no waitress, seat yourself)only service during Covid, and never went back to normal service. Also, takes for-ev-er to get your order now. I think I'll be skipping it from now on until they go back to normal table service unless I'm ordering actual take out to go. :/ read more

This is my second time visiting this place. It's located in downtown Southern Pines and has a small town local resteraunt feel to it. The inside decor is a little dated but I think it's meant to be if that makes sense. It's not very open and large but it is small and intimate. The food always looks fresh and the staff is friendly. The smoked turkey melt was absolutely delicious. Filled with flavor and the bread was a great compliment. You can never go wrong with fries. They were fresh which was an added bonus. I spent about $11 for my meal so they are reasonably priced for the quality of food if you ask me. Give them a try. read more

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Love this place!! Been going for almost 8 years now. Food is great and service is always amazing!!!

My first visit back to Sweet Basil in over a year. I was so excited to have the Hot Vegetarian sandwich. My favorite. I don't know what has happened to this once amazing restaurant but I will never come back. Two adults and a child and lunch was $60. We had sandwiches and tea. That's it. There is no table service anymore so you crowd around a tiny check out stand to order your food and then serve yourself. There is no wait staff. It took almost 45 minutes to get served in a half full restaurant. The Hot Vegetarian sandwich used to be amazing. They have changed the recipe and now it is a soggy in the middle mess with hard microwaved edges. Very disappointing. All in all it was a terrible lunch experience. No flavor, no service, bad food. Same table cloths and decor from pre-pandemic. read more

I just ate here for the first time last week and i love this place and the seasame chicken was wonderful, large chunks of chicken with tasty breading and sauce. It blew away all other sesame chickens that ive ever had. read more

I have been wanting to have lunch here for awhile but finally stopped by with my parents. The hot vegetarian was beyond my expectations! The portions were HUGE and I left so full and satisfied. The house made honey mustard is so unique and delicious! read more

Sweet Basil - Hot vegetarian - New American Near Me - Southern Pines, North Carolina

Weird place! Everything was served in styrofoam. It's all self service. Like get your own water. It's just set up strange! It used to be an amazing place to eat. Food was good but I hate eating out of to-go styrofoam. read more

Middle-aged women and their debutante daughters love this place. They will wait in line for an hour to go in here. There are now two things I don't understand about middle-aged women (the first being why they pack their shops and homes with so much useless crap that there are no longer functional walkways -- sorry mom). There are hundreds of things I don't understand about debutante daughters, but we won't go into that here. I have eaten here twice. On both occasions, the food was mediocre at best and the service was lacking. If you can sit in the nice little sunlit room looking out over broad street, it can be a charming atmosphere -- BUT there is absolutely no sound-absorbing material anywhere in this room, so normal conversations and movements become a din of noise that makes conversation difficult. Cute little store-front. Great location. Lunch only. read more

One of my favorite restaurants in all of Southern Pines! There is no need to explain why there's always a line out the door to get a table here. But I'll try anyway. Food: Delicious! My favorite thing is getting a cup of their soup and the roast beef and brie sandwich, it's amazing. Their french fries are the really skinny kind, which I'm very fond of. They have a great side salad as well. Another thing I love about this restaurant is when you order sweet tea, they give you unsweetened tea and a little bottle of liquid sweetener. So, you can make it the way you like it. Atmosphere: Casual, but very friendly and cute. Service: The entire staff is always nice and that's very impressive considering how swamped they always are. If you're in the area, I highly recommend this place! You won't be disappointed. P.S. They also have quite a few options for vegetarians. read more

Awesome food, awesome service staff! Very friendly employees, food was so good! This place is a "keeper", per my husband (and me too). They are down to two employees, so food comes in styrofoam- don't judge - food is awesome and I'd take it on cardboard read more

I love the Sweet Basil! I try to stop there whenever I'm in town visiting my family. I always order my usual cold roast beef sandwich. The bread is out of this world delicious. My mother loves the hot vegetarian sandwich. The soups are great too. I prefer to order take out only because of the limited seating. I find it's very cramped and noisy inside the restaurant. Parking on weekends can be tricky as well, but definitely worth a trip. read more

Sweet Basil - Menu - New American Near Me - Southern Pines, North Carolina

Sweet basil is hand down my favorite place to go for lunch. I love the staff and food. I have never been disappointed. Best lunch all around

Absolutely horrible. Limited wait staff.... Which means you place your order and pay. After you find a table your lunch is served in a styrofoam box with plastic utensils. The food is tasteless AND PRICEY!!! This is not the café it once was... so disappointing. Noting "Sweet" about the place. read more

Everything was served in styrofoam including a "bowl of soup in a styrofoam cup even though we said we were eating in.

Had to take a trip to the hospital last week and didn't want to go straight home so I had a little tour of Southern Pines. Got a bit hungry. Everyone was closed. Had a few minutes before Sweet Basil closed for lunch as well. First glance, outside the building seemed really inviting in a Martha's Vineyard, English Countryside Pub kinda way. Inside is cozy and has some fits and starts, interior design wise. I would have been exceptionally disappointed If I had to sit anywhere other than the window towards the street. The rear of the restaurant looks like an afterthought but the front was fantastic with the view to the street, the railroad tracks and the marvelous bay window. The menu was interesting and I chose a grilled sandwich which was out of this world. I was not very hungry but I wolfed down every bite. Particularly delighted in the mini cookies at the checkout read more

Had the roast beef sandwich special it was absolutely phenomenal ! Staff was very nice. read more

Sweet Basil - Hot Roast Beef - New American Near Me - Southern Pines, North Carolina

The service here was absolutely phenomenal, first of all. We love walking into a place and feeling welcomed! I ordered the grilled cheese with salad and fries (lunch of champions) - and my husband ordered the turkey melt sandwich. Both were delicious! The cost was very reasonable as well- always a plus. We will without a doubt be back to eat at Sweet Basil again! read more

Sweet Basil - New American Near Me - Southern Pines, North Carolina

The smell wafting from the restaurant called me in and I was not disappointed. Service was excellent, mushroom soup was to die for and the Reuben sandwich along with a Caesar salad made a perfect pair. Food is fresh with just the right amount of seasonings. read more

The reason rated this so low Is because of the service we got today from Jennifer B. I have been coming to this restaurant for 12 years and always had good food and service..this young lady ruined my day for her poor service if you can call it that..my husband took me there today to celebrate my 54th year in America..plus it's always been my favorite place to go to..we can't figure out what we did for her to ignore us ..she literally threw the food on the table..never asked to give us refill on drinks..so very sad to have been treated that way.. read more

Cute salad and sandwich place. Big portions and fun atmosphere our waitress Michelle was super sweet and attentive. This is as my first time here and I had the chicken,bacon, avocado sandwich with fries. Next I want to try the quesadilla that looked so good. read more

Sweet Basil - New American Near Me - Southern Pines, North Carolina

I sat down and waited for 30 minutes and not one of the servers said a single word to me or even took my drink order. I've been here once before and the food is decent, but the customer service is horrific. I will not be back. read more

I have tried giving this place a few tries and every time it's been a less than pleasant experience. There is always a wait and the restaurant is extremely loud. The menu doesn't have great options and the food is just OK. There was one time where they had a great special and I was really impressed! But they no longer serve it. Also, after getting seated it takes ~10-15 minutes for a server to come around and ask for drinks. I don't usually put negative reviews unless I really am disappointed so even though I've tried giving this place a chance, it has failed to meet my expectations. read more