Still a top spot in my mind for portion to price ratio. Took home enough food for three days worth of work lunches tonight. Took babe out here for the first time. She was blown away and stuffed her face like she's never eaten before the food was so good. She absolutely loved the house bread as well as her fettuccine Alfredo. She took a bite of my angel hair pasta and her comment was "they make a good pasta!" I enjoyed my hefty portion of chicken Parm. A couples sat down who's never been there before and asked if I ordered two portions lol cheerfully let them know this was one dinner. We both enjoyed our bartender who has worked there for ten years. We watched her hustle around while enjoying the company around the bar. Well worth the stop and highly recommend getting off route 84 traveling through the area to come. read more

See all

We called ahead because we had a party of 8. They told us ok. When we arrived they told us someone had arrived before us and brought 10 extra people so they gave them our table and we would have to split our group into two booths. It was for someone's birthday so we took it. It took over an hour to get our food and they brought them out 1at a time over 10 minutes I believe every table in the house was full and they probably did over 100 to go meals. On the plus side, the food there is very good and the manager was nice enough to send over a couple of dessert trays for our troubles and wait. We were there for a little longer than expected, but all in all not a bad experience. I have been there before and the food is always good. read more

First visit here today after hearing about how great it was. We were out in CT for a sports event so we decided to stop for lunch. Starting with the potato skins as an app. They came out completely over cooked and sitting in oil. We couldn't eat them. Strike one. Then we ordered our lunch, sharing a bunch of side dishes, and I also ordered a tossed salad. The meatballs were delicious, the sausage was good. The garlic bread was inedible, sad! Good Italian food needs good Italian bread. This was some kind of focaccia toast with seasoning on it and also over cooked. Strike two. My salad was large and had good amount of veggies. However, the lettuce was translucent and somewhat soggy. It was very weird, I had to google what makes lettuce become translucent, and it sounds like it happens when lettuce gets frozen. Strike three. Our server was very nice, and he apologized for the over cooked app. He also said they have a couple new staff in the kitchen. Not his fault! The 3 stars are for the service. read more

Basil's Restaurant and Bar - Translucent lettuce - American Near Me - Stafford Springs, Connecticut

See all

Don't go on a busy night. i ordered take out 2 salads , took an hour. and i walked in and the owner was yelling and very rude to customers walking in , i left there and was so pissed off the way he was treating Update. I have to say with the new owner my husband and I enjoy this place much better atmosphere good and the food is great too. Happy staff read more

I had some family cousins come for a visit on a Sunday, so we went to Basil for a late lunch. It was busy, but I get the sense that it's always busy. The ladies had a cosmopolitan and an espresso martini. Both got high marks. The dinners are all very good and there was plenty to take home for another meal. I am Celiac and the only dinner that seems GF, besides a salad, is the chicken piccata. It was very good and I did not get sick. The waiter was knowledgeable about my allergy. Basil's great for sit down meal and a lot of food per serving. It's not fancy, and the staff is warm and welcoming. The menu is large so there is something for everyone. read more

See all

Bar area was busy so we sat in the quieter dining area. The chicken bacon ranch wrap was good, but I was a little disappointed by the huge mouthful of ranch, the abundance of lettuce and the lack of chicken. Oversell service was great, drinks were good read more

Basil's Restaurant and Bar - American Near Me - Stafford Springs, Connecticut

See all

This restaurant is amazing! I arrived hungry and left full! The best chicken Piccata and Homemade Tiramisu I have ever had! Amazing service and super friendly staff! read more

The portion sizes do not equate to meaning that the food tastes good. I am not a person that likes salty food but everything we ordered needed salt. The French onion soup looks delicious but bland. The calamari is fried with no seasoning. The gnocchi was undercooked and under seasoned. The stuffed shrimp is drowning in butter and imitation crab meat. Don't say something has crab in it when it's fake crab. I guess this is what we get for ordering this at an Italian restaurant. I was told to come here but honestly, there was nothing amazing or worth giving a second try. My entire table was underwhelmed. read more

Been here quite a few times never had a bad meal. Service is always been good. Highly recommend this restaurant huge portions comfortable seating very good friendly staff read more

The food tastes great with short wait times. The staff is always friendly and knowledgeable. Great portion sizes, we have never left without enough leftovers to eat for lunch the next day. read more

The food is great! The staff is always friendly and helpful! Great atmosphere! I always go back. Great place in town.

We were visiting my brother and sister in-law's new house in town and needed to find a place for dinner. Called and put our name on the waitlist, arrived 15 min later and were promptly seated. Front of house person who sat us was super nice (Michael) and our waitress was great! Service was superrrr slow. Food was OK. They have a large menu with a lot of options - so many, it was actually hard to choose. Started with fried mozz which was actually quite good. Their red sauce was just OK but did the trick. For dinner - we tried 'deconstructed nachos' at the recommendation of our waitress. We ordered the nachos with beef and she told us it's sort of more like a beef sauce and can make the nachos really soggy. We took her recommendation - which was a great one. Unfortunately - we waited about 45 min between when our mozz cheese app was placed on our table to when our dinners were served. My son was starving and the nacho cheese deconstruction was SO hot - he could barely eat it. But it was good - think thin chili topped with melted cheddar cheese dip. My daughter got a burger - wish they offered a cheeseburger on the kids menu because the menu burger was just gigantic. She's picky though so it did the trick - just at a cost and waste of food. I had the chicken Madeira. The asparagus were wayyyyyy overcooked. The Madeira/Marsala sauce was ok but had a layer of grease on top that was a little odd. The chicken was cooked nicely. My husband got the chicken piccata. It was very...white? I'm not sure how the chicken was cooked but there was absolutely no brown color on it whatsoever. He really didn't enjoy it. He did, however, love the caramel espresso martini. I had a glass of 'red sangria' which was basically red wine with a splash of sparking water (?) and some fruit. It was fine but not traditional sangria by any means. It was all just about mediocre at best. We got there at 5:45 and weren't served our main course until 7:15. It was a very long wait for our 5 and 10 year old kids, and instead of a leisurely dinner - I felt like I was trying to keep my 5 year old occupied while waiting so long for the portion of the meal she'd actually eat (her burger). Thank goodness they did serve bread and butter (which was DELICIOUS) by the way. There are few dining choices in that area so we'd likely be back if we were in town again, but I'd never make a special trip to go. read more

Drove by many times and parking lot was always full. Finally stopped yesterday afternoon. It's absolutely amazing! Clam strips husband had were fantastic, and the eggplant parm was the best I ever had. Friendly and efficient staff. read more

The food at Basil's is always great, and the servers are friendly and attentive. The ambiance is comfortable and spacious, you don't feel cramped or like you're being rushed. We've always had a good time at Basil's, and have never been disappointed. read more

LOVE,LOVE LOVE THIS PLACE! Takes us over an hour to get there, but never disappoints, from staff to food read more

Excellent food and service. Great for family gatherings! They cater to groups, retirement parties, birthdays, large room for bigger events. They have plenty of parking. The staff is incredible and attentive. Location is very close to Monson, East Longmeadow, etc. read more

Date nite, and what's not to like about italian. It's been a long time since either of us came here, so we decided to give them a go and see if they were still any good. Coming to this location on a Sunday, and I must say that I am very impressed at their efficiency! They had tons of to-go orders piled high and lots of people in their dining area as well. Place was rapid-firing out food, giant dishes of food hitting containers and tables at a break-neck pace. It was a sight to behold We were able to get a seat fairly quickly though, even without a reservation. They had dividers up and plenty of space between people, so there wasn't any concerns about safety. Our server was quite nice with a flair for presentation, which was fun to experience. We opted for three appetisers, going tapas here. We got the Shrimp Torino, the mediterranean meatballs, and the stuffed portabella mushrooms. With a flurry of orders coming in and other people ordering, we actually got our food relatively quickly. The portion sizes, very large. The shrimp torino was easily the star of the show. The shrimp wer fairly large and the sauce was amazing. We dunked the meatballs in the torino sauce because it was that good. The meatballs themselves had a nice spice to them, the tzatziki sauce was not as good but that didn't matter. The stuffed portabella mushrooms, those were a miss. The sausage and apple stuffing was there, but the chunks of apple and sausage were very large so you didn't get those flavors all the time. Plus the entire thing was covered in a giant mass of mozzarella which overshadowed the other flavors of the dish. It kind of reminded me of a tiny portabella pizza with stuffing on it, which isn't as good as it sounds. Besides that mis-step, everything else was very tasty and the other two dishes were more than enough food for the two of us. Overall, this place is very good and is a great stop if you're looking for italian. read more

Basil's Restaurant and Bar - Shrimp Torino - American Near Me - Stafford Springs, Connecticut

See all

Excellent service! Food over flowing! Best place for friendly owner and wait staff! Food price decently priced! Fresh bread, fresh salad!! read more

Basil's Restaurant and Bar - Nacho cheese platter, and chicken Parm! - American Near Me - Stafford Springs, Connecticut

Came in for lunch solo. The fella at the front made me nervous about how the experience would go. I'm loud and intense. This fella trumps me ten fold. Nice, but whoa. Bread is warm and does the trick. Nothing special. Waitress was super friendly and got bread and soup to me in no time. Clam chowder is a no. It's thick but the consistency is more like jelly. Tiny clams. Lacking a lot. Tried adding salt and pepper but wasn't worth it. Hey, saved calories!!! Chicken parm $14.50 lunch is well worth it. read more

We happened upon this little gem on our way to pick up a Marketplace find! Oh my goodness..the food was so good! I had a gigantic portion of Chicken Parmesan and my husband had the baked scrod. Both were amazing! Everyone was very friendly and the restaurant is really quite large with several different seating arrangements. We are so glad we stopped and I literally brought enough food home for another meal! Thanks to everyone for a really nice experience..and our marketplace find was a winner as well! read more

The service was friendly and inviting Like the wine choices The shrimp. app was amazing The special. was a seafood mixture in cream sauce. To save carbs, she recommends putting over vegetables Again. service was top notch read more

The food was outstanding as was the service. It was insanely busy but they handled it like pros. This restaurant had and old world charm. Can't wait to go back. read more

Our family went here to celebrate a birthday and every member of our party was satisfied with their meals. The service was great even though it was an extremely busy Saturday night. Our server brought our drinks swiftly and delicious warm Italian bread followed. The meals each came with a choice of soup or salad. But don't fill up because the portions are incredibly generous. I probably could've shared my dinner with two of my kids but it was our first time there so we didn't realize how large the portions are. Definitely come with an appetite because the food is so good you'll want to finish every last bite. read more

See all

Great food, large portions, accommodating to larger parties, attentive service, good size restaurant environment.

Definitely worth calling ahead for this restaurant as it is always busy and there's a reason why. You'll leave with plenty of extra food to feed you for the next day or so. The size of the meal is huge. You get either a soup or salad with dinner choices and bread for the table. read more

Food is great, portions are large and the servers and staff are friendly! It feels like family.

A great place to eat. My wife and I are always very satisfied. The food is excellent and the portions are huge. We always have enough leftovers for another meal. The service is excellent. We couldn't be happier. read more

Off the beaten path a bit - but this casual spot has huge portions and Italian specialties with real tomato sauce. Reasonable prices and wide mostly Italian menu. Attentive service. read more

Service was excellent , food was delicious . Portion size generous. Clean restaurant. read more

See all

If you are looking to be full and be able to take leftovers home this is your place! The supreme chicken with angel hair is my favorite! You get a soup or salad with every entree, when they have seafood chowder make sure to get it! It's delicious!! The atmosphere is great and the servers are kind and personable! I would recommend over and over again! read more

Basil's is consistent. Moderately loud and packed night the night we went. Staff working really hard to ensure everyone had what they need. They aren't hurting for business and while they had plenty of staff it seemed patrons outnumbered them. Regardless they were running to ensure orders and seats got filled. One of the only games in the area so call ahead and get your name on the list early or you might be waiting 60+ minutes. Fare is consistent while my friend found things too salty, I thought it was what could be expected for high volume production. Portions are above average and you'll find the menu full of choices from typical bar to good restaurant quality. read more

Definitely better as dine in than take out. Something is always missing in take out order - usually someone's soup or salad and the food just doesn't taste as good. And we love Basil's food. Always order pork Milanese with penne as the side with garlic/oil. Neither of these items tasted good at last order which was disappointing. It was as if the quality had gone down hill. Maybe they're having trouble finding their usual product ... I'm not sure. We will be back because we frequent the establishment but I hope next time I don't feel like I threw my money in the trash. read more

First time ordering from Basil and we did take out. All good from the order to pick up to the meal. Calamari Toscano and the Veal Basil dish. Healthy portions and food tasted great. Super nice on the order side. Super nice on the pick up side (maybe the same person). We've heard good things and they did not disappoint. Will be back. read more

I have been eating at Basil's for about 8 years. Any one I have taken there has always been more than happy with the food and service. I live in Stafford Springs and work in Spencer Mass. I've gotten a few of the guys in work into regular patrons of their restaurant. If you decide to go just call about 15-30 minutes early, especially on Friday and Saturday. Friday Saturday is there busy days. read more

Basil's Restaurant and Bar - American Near Me - Stafford Springs, Connecticut

Always plenty of food, not fantastic food, but lots of it. The staff is very personable except for the owner. He yells at the staff and that is not nice and very off putting. He also yells at customers that come in without a reservation. Letting them know that they won't be able to be seated due to no reservation. I understand this, but yelling at customers is a real turn off. I want a warm and relaxing place to eat and hearing yelling all the time does not work for me. We occasionally will get take out to avoid this but even then he's yelling at someone. read more

There a landmark in stafford, the food is always amazing! There staff is always helpful, nice, and sam the host is very friendly, she makes it very welcoming when you walk in!!!! Recommend basils to everyone! read more

Best Restaurant EVER!!! For such a small town as Stafford we have the best kept secret! We would drive to Hartford and Manchester even Springfield, MA and when we always asked that where are we going to "EAT"? Question we always, always drove back home to Stafford Springs (our own backyard) and ate at Basil's!!!!!! The truly best! They have a variety on their menu! I have NEVER had a bad meal! The serving sizes are plentiful! You won't go home hungry! It's Italian cuisine mostly! great appetizers!! They have a bar if that's your thing? That part I am sorry I can't review? But I am sure it's good too! Alex wouldn't do anything that wasn't!! On some of the weekends I have seen hours wait times for tables!! read more

Good food, good service, ambiance casual, makes you feel like you're eating dinner at home.

Food portions were plentiful and tasted good. Service was good. Although the ambiance was very nice it is loud.

We called ahead to get a table, because this place is so popular it can be hard to find a seat. Their food is amazing and their menu is huge! I would need to go back everyday for two weeks to try everything I want! We completely recommend the food we got! read more

See all