We finally tried this place. All I've got to say is "WOW"!!! Ok, maybe I have a little more...we started off with the crab cakes - super delicious! Our entres were spectacular and I can't wait to try others. We had the bread pudding for dessert. I have a feeling that there is nothing bad in this place. And our waitress, Ash, was super sweet and helpful! read more

Came here with my parents who drove in for a bite to eat. It was simply delicious, our whole group enjoyed their entrees. Watch where you sit, by the door can be chilly. We sat far enough away we didn't get a breeze every time the door opened on a cold Saturday night before Valentine's Day. The food all tasted like it was prepared fresh and from a chef. My mother still takes about how good it was over a month later. Two of us had pasta dishes, the other a chicken with a cream sauce with roasted vegetables and risotto. Will definitely be back. read more

Outstanding. Simply outstanding. Basil Leaf Cafe features a well thought out menu and its dishes are prepared with care. Each and every bite is perfection. I have gone to Basil Leaf on five separate occasions and each time it was superb. The quality was always high. The only complaint is that the dining area is somewhat small and can get a little loud. However, the food and drink more than make up for this minor complaint. read more

Food is... fine. Decent, uninspired Italian, seems kind of expensive for what it is, but it's good for an easy takeout option. One star because the chef is not someone who I want to give my business too. Rude and unprofessional. Also found a hair in my food. read more

A friend recommended The Basil Leaf and told me I'd thank her for it. Ok, I'm thanking her now. The Basil burger is as good as advertised, a flavor explosion! Best burger I've had in a long, long time. Wife had a shrimp pasta dish, also wonderful flavor. Great service, great food, don't miss this Lawrence gem! read more

There is absolutely no place to park, legally, within a 5 minute walk of this place. It is also very small. While we were there we saw at least 15 people come in and leave because there was no place to sit. Their layout and business design is a little suspect and could us some work. That being said, none of this will matter once you get a seat. It is a cozy little Italian bistro with very friendly staff and A-M-A-Y-Z-I-N-G FOOD!! I got the chicken cordon tortellini for a lunch and even though the portion looked small it definitely filled me up and I am a really big guy! There was a group of 8 us to which 5 of us are foodies and all you could hear was "OMG, WOW, This is sooo good." None of us took anything home...trust me it was that good. I highly recommend this place, but would recommend coming in off of peak hours or calling in and ordering it to go. read more

The prices went up slightly since they moved from their humble gas station abode (rightfully so), but the portions are still enough to feed a grown man for 2-3 meals. The place is always packed for dinner, but well worth the wait for the best Italian restaurant in Lawrence. read more

The food has always been good here at Basil Leaf. However, tonight there were 4 of us dining (2 different families) and we waited patiently for 30 mins for a table. No complaints from us, it's Friday Night. We were approached more than normal to have our plates removed, sometimes when we were not finished. After an hour at our table, the OWNER asked the bar manager to ask us if we could leave so they could seat some waiting customers. In all of my years dining, I have NEVER been asked to leave a dining establishment, especially after only 1 hour--and we were actually going to order another glass of wine each so we could continue to chat for a bit. We are locals and will not spend our money here again. The very few waiting to dine would know there is always a wait in Lawrence, especially on a Friday night at 7:30. It was so important for the owner to get the last 4 customers seated (they were in town for grad) and he offended his local customers that bring much more business to his restaurant. I won't spend my money there any longer and I definitely won't recommend this place to any of my Kansas City friends that ask me quite often..."where is a good place to dine in Lawrence". So RUDE!! read more

I am in between the4 and 5 star mark on The Basil Leaf. I reviewed them in the gas station and it was a definite 5, however I might of given them only 4 at the new spot due to parking but the food bumped me to the 5 spot. Love what they did with the old Joe's Bakery spot, nice lighting, inventive use of wine bottles, dim and romantic. It is a little small and cramped but comfortable and inviting. The menu as always is ever changing and rotating with seasons. It isnt a huge menu but well written, creative and as always well executed. Service was top notch and the drinks and wine list were pretty decent as well. Glad to see they made it out of the gas station love the new space and cant wait to go back and try some more items. But not til it's nicer out parking is pretty tough when the weather is bad. read more

Very over price dishes with small portions. Also food was not that good! Very disapointed!

So typical of Lawrence - a place like the town it's in that claims to be hip and serve top offerings but falls way short. Service was uneven and unprofessional, at 5:30 in the evening they were out of three things we requested, food was adequate, only. Lawrence offers mediocre restaurants, no real great dives, and local patrons breaking their arms to pat themselves on the back for how neat they are. Drive 30 miles east for 250 restaurants superior to anything here. read more

Wow! Wow! Wow! This place was amazing. The service was incredible but not as good as the food. There were 6 of us and we were sharing everything and it all was extremely good. I highly recommend the lemon chicken. Unreal good. read more

Four of us were just told we need to wait 25-30 minutes for a table when a 5-6 seater booth was open. Said they could only seat 5 or more there. There were also two 2 top open tables and no others waiting. Not very happy. Especially since there were 3 people sitting at a 6 top and 2 people sitting at a four top. Great idea owner. You just lost 4 paying customers! read more

The basil leaf café is a hidden restaurant that is right in front of a flower shop. This restaurant seems like people who actually know the place only visit it or because a friend recommended it. Before I walked inside, I expected the restaurant to be a fancy or at least decent looking. When I walked inside, it what the complete opposite. I scanned my surroundings and saw about seven tables, which was all that they could fit due to how small the place was. The tables, floors, and the walls were all wood. This gave off the country vibe with a nature theme. I noticed that on the wooden walls, there were trees and also a small pig-like statue inside the wall. After noticing the wood, I looked up at the ceiling and realized that there was a variety of dangling glass beer bottles with a light inside that that added to the corky vibe they were giving off. Even though it was only 6pm on a Wednesday, the place was surprisingly packed. The waiting area consisted of four old movie theater chairs, which threw me off a bit. It threw me off because it didn't seem to fit the restaurants sense of style. I was already bothered by the fact that this place didn't meet my expectations. As I waited, I looked around and noticed that the majority of the people were elderly. After waiting twenty minutes to be seated, I happily sat down in something that wasn't a movie chair. When I was looking at the two-sided menu, I noticed that the lettering on the menu was black and basic. Adding on to the artless menu, the font of the letters looked like it was just typed up and printed out and pasted on the menu. Despite the basic-looking menu, what really caught my attention were the high prices. I was confused with how the restaurant looked unpopular and also the fact that every thing looked old. The prices ranged from 10-20 dollars, and majority of the drinks were alcoholic. They had very limited options of soft drinks, and the rest were alcohol. For the starters, they were very expensive. For example, they had friend calamari with zucchini, steamed clams with mussels, shrimp cocktails and many other costly appetizers. The types of food they served were Italian food like pasta, soups, salads, chicken and waffles and more. When the waiter approached my table, he asked what I would like to order. I ordered chicken with waffles and for my beverage I ordered a glass of water. My waiter wasn't really outgoing; he was strictly all about business because he never once tried to have a conversation or at least crack a smile. He wasn't rude, but I wished he loosened up a little. As I waited for my food, the waiter came back shortly after taking my order and handed me my glass of water in a mason jar. I smirked when I saw how creative the glass was. As I took a sip of my water, I heard jazz music playing, which made me feel relaxed. I looked around at all the waiters ad waitresses; there were only three total, but I wasn't shocked because the place didn't fit many people anyway. I also observed that the waitresses had no dress code because they all wore something completely different. They all looked so comfortable, which gave off a homey feel to me. Fifteen minutes went by and the food came out. Even though I was impressed with how quick the food came out, I was more impressed after seeing my meal. The chicken and waffles was served on a medium rectangular sized plate. It was beautifully decorated with two triangle waffles on each end of the plate. The waffles had rich butter that had sprinkles of small pieces of bacon, green onions, and basil seasoning. Adding on o the waffles, it already came with syrup on top, not to mention caramel sauces as well. Meanwhile the chicken sat in the middle of the plate. The chicken itself consisted of four pieces stacked on top of each other, and was nicely thin cut with just enough seasoning on it. As soon as I got done observing my meal, I took a bite of one of my waffles, hoping it would taste as good as it looked and with no surprise, it tasted even better. The waffles tasted sweet, with just enough syrup and caramel sauce. I wanted to finish all the waffles but I wanted to go ahead and taste the chicken. Immediately I bit into the chicken and it instantly became heaven to my taste buds. The nicely cut thin chicken was so tender that it tore easily with every bite. What made it even better was the fact that the chicken was boneless. Both the waffles and chicken combined was worth the price. After finishing my meal, I couldn't believe how filling it was. As a result of my experience at the Basil Leaf Café, the scenery threw me off at first, but surprisingly the food itself made up for it. I could tell that the restaurant was targeting people that are familiar with the Kansas area. Overall, Basil Leaf Café turned out to be better than expected. I would definitely go back to try a different meal, and I would also recommend this to a few friends. read more

Favorite restaurant in Lawrence. The bar menu is great and every dish is unique and delicious. The crab cakes and pasta cordon bleu are especially good. Highly recommend. read more

unbelievable..fantastic!!! presentation is amazing!! Best Italian food I have had for the past 3 years and I try to picture myself as an Italian food connoisseur. The sauces are amazing...the arancini appetizer is presented so wonderfully with the sauces a figure of a tree with leaves. Main courses particularly tortellini cordon bleu whose white sauce will bleu your mind away!! read more

Really enjoyed having dinner at Basil Leaf Café. The food was very good and it was nice not to be in Corporate restaurant. Can't wait to go back. read more

Disappointing. The food was mediocre at best, and I expected higher quality food for the price. (Dinner entrees average about $17.) After dining with two friends, one asked what we thought of the food. We had unbeknownst to each other all ordered the same dish. Her take on it was "it tasted like chicken noodle soup," which was incredibly accurate: little flavor other than chicken broth, salty, and no basil taste to speak of. The chicken was hard and tough and at least three of my pieces had gristle in them. Although I only ate half of my food and the server said the dish I ordered was the lightest on the menu, I felt like I had a heavy ball of dough wadded up in my stomach for the next few hours after dinner. With plenty of other great places to eat in Lawrence, for the price, I'll spend my money elsewhere. read more

In terms of quality, Basil Leaf is best Italian restaurant in Lawrence. Entrees are a bit pricey, but the servings are large enough for two. read more

Ate here last month on a trip from California. Loved the homey, friendly atmosphere. The food (we had the piping hot, delicious, generously sized spaghetti and meatballs) and service was excellent. Then we had the Kahlua Cake - amazing! I really loved supporting this locally owned operation run by hard working folks. read more

We have visited the Basil Leaf twice since they have moved to 9th street. The food is good, but a little pricey on some items considering the size of the plates. We have had the corn bread crab cakes which were great and priced well. I have had two different salads on my visits, and the featured salad veggies were lacking. Two sliver of red peppers and not even a slice of onion. The dressings are great, but put a little more into the ingredients. My husband has always enjoyed his dishes, and we intend to go back eventually. Go during lunch or early, around 5:00ish for dinner or you will have to wait for a table. read more