The Basil Leaf Café

I hadn't been there for years so I was excited to get some delicious pasta. I was sad didn't see the items I remembered ordering years ago. After the fact I found out the have more menu items just not on the menu which doesn't make since to me. I order the lasagna and my excitement grew every minute waiting for the order. My imagination going wild thinking of a steaming hot lasagna melted cheese. I got lasagna soup. Not hot. Not melted cheeses. Mainly just sauce. It had a great flavor but I wanted a square of lasagna not a bowl of lasagna soup. The servers were nice but they spent more time on there phone then working. Cooks would yell order up and the food would sit in window for minutes waiting to die as servers continued to play candy crush for all I know on there phone. The server did let the manager know and he half priced the meal which is enough for me to try them again. Some places make zero effort to rectify a problem.

Great place for a sit down dinner. Tasty entrées. Great service.

Amazing food, great portions, super cheap and great vibe

Really great food. Fresh and delicious. The service is great and the food is made to order and you can tell they make their own sauces and not from a can. I really enjoy their shrimp fettuccine and you can tell the sauce is fresh because there is always fresh cooked garlic laying in the sauce. My wife gets their spaghetti and meatballs and their red sauce is the same way, you can really tell the sauce is fresh and made from scratch. Also their meatballs are made fresh as well. I highly recommend this place!

The lemon chicken tenders and house salad are so amazing. Love the Brussels sprouts and risotto. Didn’t go here forever because of the lasagna. The chicken is one of my favorite dishes in Lawrence.

First time dining here and our food was above average and we were pleasantly surprised. We ordered the chicken cordon bleu and chicken carbonara. We were told they were out of ham, so the cordon bleu wouldn't be exactly the same, but it was still very tasty. The chicken was also noticeably over fried on the cordon bleu--which should have been a chef's call to recook it before serving, however they did not and served it anyway, we didn't complain as we aren't ones to do so, but just a little note to think about when it comes to quality control. It seemed like they were having some shortage of menu items, and the service could definitely be improved. We were 1 of 2 tables when we arrived and were not greeted or asked about ordering drinks until we had been sitting for around 5+ minutes or so. Couldn't really figure it out since there were servers within sight, but they seemed too busy doing other duties to think it was of much hurry. Would dine here again based on food being tasty, but if service fails to improve or declines I'd have to rethink returning.

Edit: Won't return based on how they handle their business publicly on social media. Very pathetic.

WOW! All I can say is WOW! Been meaning to go here for over a year. We sat at the bar which we are prone to do even with other options.. and ordered two dishes.. Basil Chicken Cavatelli and Tortellini Cordon Bleu... that were not only huge portions but some of the best dishes I can remember having anywhere.. we ate some and took the rest home and I've been enjoying their food now for 3 days. We also had really nice salads and appropriately priced wine but above All that, what I really really loved the most was the way all of the staff were so genuine, sweet and if you can understand this in the best way possible, adorable. I already made reservations to bring my soon to be 84 -year-old mother here for a birthday dinner tomorrow.

Always great service and delicious food! Elayne made sure we were always taken care of, I never saw the bottom of my glass!

Super cute place with great food and great service! Grace had great recommendations and loved everything I tried!

This Place... Amazing! My wife and I would eat here on special occasions while we were attending the local University and we often visit this establishment whenever we find ourselves back in Lawrence.

Every dish I have consumed from this place has proven to be a new and truly enjoyable experience! I can honestly say that I've never had a bad dish at this restaurant, if anything I've found myself inspired by their food. They used to , and still may, offer a butter burger which helped me to understand how a person could be passionate about hamburgers. When I bit into that burger I actually found myself stunned. I had approached the burger in the same manner I had all previous meat patties place between to pieces of bread and, so doing, expected the usually bland greasy presence on my tongue... Unfortunately, I have neither have the words nor the clarity of memory to accurately depict the sensation which actually graced my taste buds upon first chomping down on that manna like sandwich. Needless to say, since that experience I have been perusing a similar burger nearer where I live.

My uncertainty in there continued offering of their butter burger is due to the fact that I don't think I've ever ordered the same dish twice at this place. Traditionally, I am a very complacent eater and, when dining out, I find a menu item which I enjoy and that's the thing I will forever eat when visiting that eatery, I often dread and am overwhelmed by menus which are often closer to a novel than a selection of proffered food items; This has never the case when I've place an order at the Basil Leaf. Their menu has a very neat and refined feel to it, they keep their offerings to a manageable number and instead choose to focus on truly crush both the presentation and quality of each plate they make.

Their dining room has a very pleasant ambiance too; good for any occasion from an intimate dinner, to grabbing a bite with friends or family before the show. In fact, if my memory serves me correctly, each time we have visited them the dining area has been comfortably busy with few to no empty tables and yet we have never felt crowded or overwhelmed by the noise or activity of the other guests. Often I forget that there is anyone else there and am able to loose myself in conversation with my wife.