Such a great find! Their menu is the perfect mix of Italian tradition and Latin flavor. Chef Renato Donzelli brings his Venezuelan roots and Italian upbringing together in a menu that seriously impresses! Everything I had was amazing, especially the octopus salad in a bread bowl (so fresh and delicious). Do yourself a favor and be sure order the paella as well. Their espresso martinis were some of the best I've had, and the desserts (cannoli cake and churros) were the perfect finish. On top of it all, the romantic vibe makes this such a great spot for date night. read more

See all

Still going strong. An excellent spot. Great food. Great bar. Great music. Highly recommend to check it out. Pizza is beyond excellent. It rivals Eatery in NYC! The pizza maker is worth his weight in gold. I hope he is cherished. The pies are magnificent. read more

Basso Restaurant & Wine Bar - Pizza maker in action - Mediterranean Near Me - Westport, Connecticut

Great Experience with Family from Out of town at Bassos. We aren't from the area also so this was a new restaurant for us as well. Had excellent service for a party of 10. We went right when dinner opened up at 430 so it was still pretty empty. But.. what a beautiful place! Loved the vibe in there. Dim lights and just really nice . Menu had great options for tapas and GF options. Mainly tapas but also had big plates and pizza! Great selection for cocktails and wines too. A bit pricey but I think it's expected for Westport area. Loved the Mediterranean and Latino fusion flare ! So good! Tapas are great for a smaller group or date night or 3 people. Not a large group! Unless you order pizza and big plates ! Otherwise you'll still be hungry lol! But enjoyed our experience at Bassos as well as our family! Beautiful restaurant, great service and delicious food! read more

See all

In October 2025, we hosted a special party at Basso in Westport, CT. We very happy with the set up, the vibe, music, attention to detail, and the top notch delicious food and desserts. The portion sizes were abundant and the waitstaff were top notch! We were very happy and want to thank Ela for all her hard work In making this party so wonderful. I now found out that Basso is closing. Hopefully Renato will do something else and whatever it is, it should be great!! Salud!! read more

First time visitors. Found excellence in service, food, and comfortable and relaxed atmosphere. We have recommended Basso to friends and we will definitely be returning. Most pleasing was its being g a local place. read more

Amazing food and service! The place had a vibrant vibe and the energy was awesome! The entire staff treated you like long time friends, happy to see you. The atmosphere was intimate and inviting, the music was great and at a perfect level! read more

Came here on a Saturday night with my wife. Our reservations were for 6 and it got pretty busy and loud by 7. We sat in the upstairs balcony. Nice ambience, dimly lit with some neon signs. Our servers were patient and attentive. Our wines were great (a Prosecco and a smooth Portuguese red). We decided to share an assortment of tapas, one coca and one salad. Many of the dishes come with tasty bread to dip into whatever sauces there are. Here's what we had: Balela Salad: very good Pulpo A La Gallega: tender octopus. I loved this Camarones Al Ajillo: this was a bit dull Burrata Stuffed Eggplant: wife loved this Jamon Iberico: put the cold red sauce on the bread and then the ham on top...pretty good Coca Valenciana: i loved this If there was one negative it was that the food was a bit too salty but that could have just been the assortment of what we ordered. If we had to do it again, we'd order one less tapas and save room for dessert. I wanted to try the AMARO FLOATER SFUMATO. Overall, a nice experience here. read more

I Love everything about this place including the ambiance, the hospitable people who run it & the delicious food! I frequently dine in with friends or do take-out & it's always good. For drinks, I enjoy their Paloma & Lemon Martini. Some of my fave apps are the Hanger Steak, the Potatoes Bravas, the Brussels sprouts & the Camarones Al Ajillo. For a main course, I highly recommend the Tuscan grilled chicken. The Pizzas are also delicious! For dessert, you absolutely must try their Tres Leches-it is one of the best i've had. read more

See all

Great little hidden gem in Westport. Great menu and solid food. The lighting is dark, but able to see, the wood fired pizza oven adds a special glow. Went with a party of 6 and our server, Carlos, was on top of it. It's great for a group, and friend get together. A casual date night (not romantic because of table proximity) is perfect for this place. One of the better paellas around. If I had one piece of criticism, I'd say the red sangria was average. Very flat flavor profile, lacked fruit and brandy. We still managed to polish off a full carafe. read more

TLDR: I really wanted to like this place more. It has a great interior, and tapas were spectacular, hostess and other staff were charming. But inattentive and inept service coupled with atrociously done main courses absolutely shot a 5/5 restaurant in the foot. Pros: Excellent tapas, From best to worst - potatoes bravas were some of the best I've had, crispy on the outside, super tender on the inside, tasty olive oil mayo - pulpo was wonderfully tender and flavorful - empanada (especially beef) - chefs kiss - pan con tomato - good bread, good sauce Cons Mains: - Requested a medium steak and we were given a thin, well-done piece of cardboard for a $50 ribeye. To which the waiter looked perplexed said he would go to the chef to see what went wrong - Why??? [Can you not see the grayish brown, absent of pink steak yourself? He then comes back and asks if I would like it taken back. I said no to because I did not want to cause a fuss on my date and FRANKLY because of inattentive service and could not bear the idea of waiting on him to try to get anything done. - Cavatelli Pasta special, while kind of tasty, was dry and I had had enough after one bite - SERVICE: on a nearly empty Wednesday night our waiter only asked how the food was once, never asked if we wanted another round of drinks, didn't have the class to do anything about a severely overcooked steak, and on two occasions had to be corrected (TWICE) about a dessert that we had never even mentioned that we had wanted. Also, not the biggest deal but we also had to pour our own water. (I actually prefer this, but it's worth mentioning) Note: waiter was friendly but just severely inattentive and sadly having what I hope was just an off night. read more

Basso Restaurant & Wine Bar - This is the same soreness that was served to us in the restaurant. Tell me, is this Medium? JOKE especially for a $50 ribeye - Mediterranean Near Me - Westport, Connecticut

Delicious Mediterranean/ Spanish food. They have tapas, paella and even dishes like chicken under a brick. We had the tortilla espanola, French fries, platter of steak, chicken, chorizo as well as pulpo (octopus). Service was really good too. This place was packed during the weekend so def make a reservation. read more

See all

I ate at this restaurant for the first time on Sat. I ordered the PARRILLADA MIXTA MARTIN FIERRO. I ordered the steak med rare. The steak was weak done and hard to eat. The fries were well done and tasted like potato chips. Crispy. It's unfortunate because the staff was terrific. The meal was just not good at all read more

Was very excited to come here for my mother's birthday. We got reservations at 4:30pm and came to a pretty empty restaurant. There was one table inside and one outside. They had informed us there was a party at 7pm when we arrived. The restaurant was dark and the blinds were pulled down to keep the sun from shining directly into the restaurant. However, the poor lighting resulted in poor poor pictures. The biggest complaint I had with the place was of the slow service. They had a lot of staff just hanging out and talking. Possibly prepping for the party, but at the same time looked like they were just hanging out. There was one server, one bus boy and hostess working with the guests in the meantime. They had forgotten to refill our water and we had to flag them over to refill our water 2 times during our meal. At one point we were the only table in the restaurant and our server was no where to be seen. The prices are definitely on the pricier end for what we got. Chorizo Casserole (4/5) Chorizo wasn't bad, but we only got 6 thin slices Zucchini Noodles with Shrimp(4/5) Zucchini noodles were nice and chewy Tomahawk Ribeye Steak(4/5) We asked for medium rare but it was more on the medium well side. Despite that it still tasted delicious and the table enjoyed it. The chimichurri sauce was pretty good pairing for the steak. They gave us a large slab of butter on top of the steak that was pretty hard. Had to cut it up and stick it in between the steak to melt. I would think they let the butter sit at room temperature so that it would spread easier on the steak when it arrives to the guest. Chocolate Mousse Croccante(3/5) I did like they had 2 gender neutral bathrooms and it was clean. Parking was free in any of the lots and there were 2-3 lots by the resturant. Unclear at this time if I would return again. read more

Came with a group and had a very nice time. PARKING - like anything in downtown Westport it is a major challenge. HOST STAFF - pretty much non existent but when you come in folks do recognize and accommodate. SERVICE - the place on a Saturday afternoon is pretty empty. That being said, we got full attention. MENU - I'm used to old school menus but the new deal is the Q/R code placard to view menu etc. They were kind enough to bring one paper menu. TIP - the online menu had a few options not printed on the paper menu. APPETIZERS - we tried about 9 different ones and they were very good. The calamari was great as well as the chorizo and mussels. I'd show you a photo but who wants to see an empty plate. Also try the mozzarella and bacon. A real hit. ENTREES - I tried the Osso Bucco and it was good not great. Rather than risotto it was prepared with parpadella pasta. The sauce was O.K but nothing to write home about. The seafood paella was prepared differently with Arborio rice. As a result the rice was harder. In addition the was peppery in a way that would not be good for 90% of folks. The GF grilled chicken was a hit. DESSERT - most folks chose the lava cake which was excellent to say the least. COFFEE - they had a full compliment from regular, cappuccino, espresso, or macchiato. No black sambucca but clear. STAFF - super friendly, helpful, jovial, and accommodating. PRICE - in reality $$$$ but worth it. For 10 people a few bottles of vino and cocktails the tab was $900 without tip. You decide. read more

Basso Restaurant & Wine Bar - Outside view - Mediterranean Near Me - Westport, Connecticut

Food was great; flavorful, lots of menu options, good at accommodating for allergies. Service could've been better; the waitress was unfamiliar with the menu and could not answer basic questions or explain why items were unavailable. One of the buss-girls had terrible BO that reeked every time she passed by which was not appetizing or appropriate for such a nice restaurant. Ambiance was lovely, perfect for date night or a family dinner, nice outdoor options too and giant doors that were open giving fresh air to the whole restaurant read more

We held private office event upstairs and it was phenomenal. The food was excellent. The service was spot on. The manager was very attentive to every detail. The ambiance was classy and I felt like they genuinely cared that our experience was top rate. Park in the library lot, walk across the street and enjoy. read more

A place to avoid. If you are looking for good Italian food, keep looking. The pasta was over cooked and mushy, which is typical of pre cooked pasta. Even when we asked for "al dente" we were served overcooked and tasteless linguine. We also ordered some appetizers which were bland and poorly presented, despite a hefty price. The arancini tasted acidic and the seemingly interesting calamari was also bland. The worst part about this place is that you pay extreme prices for terrible food. Even for drinks, The wine was marked up three times, and even mineral water (750mL) was almost $9. Meaning it was a 7x markup. That's absurd! A bottle of Prosecco that you can find for $12 in any liquor store was sold for $40. The service was good but food experience was very disappointing. Definitely a place I will not be returning. read more

Decided to take a quick stop here and was delighted by everything it has to offer from really cool setting and delicious tapas! Selected the squid stuffed with lobster Risotto and chorizo and bean dish! Fantastic drinks as well! Definitely coming back for a full dinner soon! read more

See all

Came here for a late snack- food was excellent, great service and drinks! Pizza over the top - tapas on mark!

A hidden gem in town, Basso has transformed their space into a Mediterranean haven with amazing food. From tapas to entrees and incredible pizza, Basso delivers. I had the Octopus and shared a margarita pizza ... both amazing. The staff is grateful that you are there and it shows. You can't be in a bad mood when around their cheerful staff. Always present and ready to answer any question or handle a request but never pushy or intrusive. That's the definition of great service. Food came out at a perfect pace and our table of 8 ordered a pretty diverse amount of items...all good. Table favorite was the Mozzarella and Bacon (but how could that ever be bad). Reservations are suggested, they get busy. They strictly follow COVID rules even providing heaters so diners can sit outdoors. A great find in Westport! read more

Wow, I'm generally opposed to visiting a restaurant in its first few weeks but I really wanted to try Basso. It blew away my expectations in every way. The fungi pizza was the best part...barely, chicken scarpariello was perfect, gnocchi excellent, sprouts delightful, chocolate lava cake YUM & an affordable wine list. I'll be back soon and often. Bravo Basso. Just so you know this isn't an employee, the Spicy Margarita needs, well, spice read more

Basso Restaurant & Wine Bar - Mediterranean Near Me - Westport, Connecticut

See all

The four of us enjoyed this restaurant and we all agreed we'd return, so that's very positive. The big, yet only negative this evening was the fact that service from our waitstaff, both server and busser/asst were rushed, sporadic, and frequently not available. Yes, Allie, our server was friendly and helpful, but still exhibited a distasteful attitude when she was frustrated by having to return to our table to take our orders, which we all commented on.....not an experience diners want!!!! Apparently they were short-staffed, yet on a Saturday night they appeared to need at least two additional staff attending to the diners in the small dining room, and which shouldn't impact the server's attitude. Food was excellent which is the main draw for returning. We shared a few starters: brussel sprouts, gnocchi, and fried artichokes. Our individual mains were: stuffed pork chop, panseared halibut, and a combination of two appetizers of octopus and salad...all delicious. Two desserts for the table were the chocolate tart and the chocolate lava cake. Plenty of wine for the table and we all left contented. read more

See all

The decor here is very warming, would definitely come back and have a drink at the bar. The drinks were good but not great. However the food was incredible. The soup was very silky with great flavors. The hanger steak was fantastic and the grilled calamari was perfectly cooked. The molten lava cake for dessert was out of this world. We can't wait to come back in the better weather and sit outside read more

Basso in Westport is excellent. It is a complete package: great food, service and ambience. I have eaten there twice recently and will return soon. You can do small plates or a regular entre, both are excellent. They also have music on some days!! read more

Nicely outfitted little spot in a quiet, slightly off the beaten path area of downtown Westport. A friend and I ventured in on his recommendation, following a rainy afternoon of shopping. The black clad facade is about the most pretentious element of an otherwise welcoming and charming spot. In fact, for Westport, the amount of restraint shown on the interior design and menu choices is actually fairly surprising. For a town that often goes overboard, it's nice when an establishment overall avoids the urge to "fancy" themselves across the line to gaudy. They keep it simple and in some instances, like the stunning copper-faced pizza oven, even elegant. The food is solid as well, offering a sort of pan-Mediterranean tapas/small plates set up. The fried eggplant croquettes and octopus were highlights but whoever does their dessert program deserves the maxim of kudos for their genius Tres Leches cake alone. Giving it a brulee sugar crust was truly inspired, although the rest of the offerings while very good didn't reach the same level of adventurous flair. I quantify that by also saying, we didn't go for full plates so it's entirely possible those would be more intriguing. Decent bar program that, on our visit, was being manned by a bubbly young lady who clearly cared for her profession. We appreciated her manner probably most of all. Though neither of us went for a glass, their wine program was also very thoughtful. One minor caveat, whereas I didn't think between the two of us we'd done much damage, the bill was in the area of $100 and this was during happy hour. I don't actually believe their pricepoints are any better or worse than their neighbors in the area, rather I make mention to highlight it may be easy to underestimate your own ordering. Especially since there's a significant amount of things you'll want to try. Overall, completely recommend. Especially for special occasions or parties of a significant size as they sport both a generously sized loft space and a private sort of "chef's table" in its own room, both very nice touches for an already stacked deck. read more

After trying Basso for the first time, I can say that I had a great experience. I had wanted to try it for a while, and I am glad I finally did. The atmosphere: of Basso was fantastic. It almost had a nightclub feel to it but in a good way. They have a nice bar, and I loved the open wood fire oven. The Staff: was amiable. They were understaffed on the night, so the service was a little spotty, but you can't blame the ones working for that. The food: was delicious. We ordered a few small plates, which were all flavorful. I had the rack of lamb as a main and did enjoy it. Cleanliness: Everything was clean, from the table to the restaurant itself. read more

Other than a small hickup at the end of our meal with one of the staff, our evening was especially pleasant. However, it did cost them a star. I will blame it on a misunderstanding and leave it at that. With that being said, my SO and I chose to try a number of the small plates that were available. We started our evening with the Roasted Spanish Olives and the Spinach and Chickpeas. The olives were amazing and were plentiful. I am not normally a spinach eater, but this dish was delicious. The olives were oven roasted and included roasted garlic cloves that just kicked this dish up a few notches. The Spinach and Chickpeas' dish had a bit a lemon that just brought together the spinach and chickpeas perfectly. For our main course we shared the Pulpo a la Gallega, a Galician style fresh octopus with potatoes. We both can say, without hesitation, that this was the best octopus we've eaten. The octopus was so tender that we could cut it with a fork. The flavor was spot on and I would highly recommend this dish. Though the octopus was outstanding, I did think the potatoes needed a bit more attention. For such a great dish the potatoes didn't have a lot of flavor. Our last dish was the Gnocchi. Another fantastic dish that was creamy, served with shitake mushrooms and drizzled with 36-month old white truffle oil. It was wonderful. We finished off our meal with the Chocolate Lava Cake, which was another winner and would have this again and again. If you are looking for a great meal in downtown Westport, you should really consider this place. read more

Basso Restaurant & Wine Bar - This evening's menu. Small plates. - Mediterranean Near Me - Westport, Connecticut

Stopped in for dinner before a concert in Fairfield on a cold Saturday night. We were seated promptly and our waiter took our drink order. The service was excellent throughout our time there. Very attentive staff and also knowledgeable about the food that is being served. We ordered bread with a tomato spread, eggplant croquettes, gnocchi, grilled hangar steak, and the Galician style octopus. All the dishes were fantastic and perfectly cooked! Never had a eggplant croquette and it was excellent...the filling was packed with flavor. I always order octopus if it's on the menu and this dish did not disappoint. Tender octopus perfectly seasoned with potatoes. The rest of the food was equally as good and definitely get the bread for mopping up the sauces from your tapas. Definitely on my list if I'm in the area again. read more

See all

Got away from the overpriced restaurant by the Hilton Garden Inn and tried Basso. Wow....super impressed!!! Great vibe in a small spot. Phenomenal service with a nice wine selection and nice concise menu. I had the Alaskan Halibut with potatoes and beans. Maybe the best potatoes I've ever had! Started with an incredible gazpacho which rocked me to the core!!!! Service behind the bar was great. You can just tell everyone is happy when they leave! Gooooo!!!! Awesome local place that deserves the visit. JR. Toronto guy. read more

Basso Restaurant & Wine Bar - Alaskan Halibut over beans and potatoes - Mediterranean Near Me - Westport, Connecticut

Ava was very nice and accommodating, staff was even nice enough to make me one of the best pizzas I've ever had (I don't say that lightly) when they were technically closed. Highly recommend read more

This place has probably the best empanadas I've ever had in my life. Cocktails are on point. Ask for Cesar at the bar. Friendly service. Great music. Beautiful decor. Very convenient location. This is definitely a go to spot in Westport. read more

Nice restaurant for drinks and appetizers on a night live music is offered! Great service and delicious food!

This place was much better during the summer but something seems to have changed since. You feel rushed with wait staff constantly clearing plates in middle of your meals. Tapas are very small portions. $5 coke!! Cocktails not using top shelf liquor but charge top shelf prices. Enjoyed this place several months ago but have to strongly consider to visit again. Expensive bill for mediocre service/food. read more

You guys sure weren't wrong about the excellent quality of food at this restaurant! What a fabulous addition to the Westport community. Only improvement I can suggest is to space the tables out more or take a couple out entirely. We felt like we were on top of the couple sitting to our left so it was a tad awkward but that could just be my weird post covid dining vibes that I've been experience recently. read more

See all

Excellent food and fantastic service. We ate outside and enjoyed several tapas (grilled calamari, tortilla espanola, grilled hangar steak, patatas bravas, chorizo casserole), balela salad and mixed paella. Everything was delicious and Mike was an incredible waiter & host. He made our experience extremely enjoyable and relaxing. He and the team were very conscious of a gluten allergy one of the diners in our party had, which was also very helpful. Looking forward to returning soon! read more

Basso in Italian means 'low'. That exactly describes my feelings about the place after dining there. Upon arrival to Basso, I really liked the vibe of this place. Situated in downtown Westport, it had chic decor, a cool bar area and was a perfect date night spot. We were sat upstairs (not as much in the action as downstairs) & were promptly greeted by our waiter. My fiancée and I decided to order some of their specialty cocktails. I ordered The Lift & she ordered The Arsonist. I'm the kind of guy who will drink anything but my drink was undrinkable. It was way too spicy...all you could taste was jalapeño, nothing else. My fiancée also did not like her drink so she gave it to me and ordered a wine instead. Hers was actually pretty decent so I'm glad she gave hers up to me. In terms of the food here, I really love the concept of this joint. I'm a huge sucker for tapas so I love that they not only incorporated Spanish cuisine but Italian, Venezuelan, etc. as well. We decided to order just tapas and not order any main dishes. We ordered the mussels alla diavola, meatballs, arepas, fried burrata & arancini. Everything that we ordered was just okay....nothing to complain nor rave about. What dishes I liked most? The arepas were flavorful but I'm not an expert and haven't had many in the past so hopefully I'm not steering any connoisseurs wrong. I also like the broth of the mussels, it was creamy and popping with flavor. What I didn't like? The meatballs were interesting. They weren't your traditional meatballs. They had good consistency and texture but it tasted like they put olives in the meatballs. They described it as 'traditional Neapolitan' meatballs so that could be true if that region puts olives in their meatballs. If so, definitely not a fan of that style of meatball. 5.7/10 compared to my mother's meatballs and it's only getting that high because of texture & consistency. I'd also steer clear of the fried raviolis. In theory frying them seems like a good idea but in actuality they were dry and sucked of all flavor. For dessert, we got the churros and it was like eating sticks of sand paper....so dry! All in all I could take or leave Basso. If I was told I was going back again or never going back again, I wouldn't be upset either way. read more

See all

Ambiance was good, as was the service but the food was not. Pan con "tamate" tasted more like a pre made marinara sauce as opposed to the traditional dish which usually consists of freshly chopped tomatoes. The croquettes also did not taste fresh. The Jamon iberico was a low quality product which also did not appear to be fresh. Cocktail was advertised as having fresh juice, which it did not. Overall food quality was poor. read more

I have never been treated so rudely by the manager of a restaurant in all my travel. Tonight we had an issue with the wine we chose. The manager came over and berated us. He was extremely hostile. I tried to explain what had happened but he would only look at the my male guest. I tried to get his attention and he nastily snapped at me and became more insistent that we were at fault. I did not want to cause a scene so I said I would pay for the bottle and then requested another bottle of a different wine. I paid cash for our meal and the two bottles of wine. I made sure the server was tipped. It wasn't her fault the manager was so awful. I refused to take it out on her. But I will not be back and my guests will not be back either. read more

Had a great lunch. Four small plates that were all wonderful. Excellent cheesecake. I plan on going back and trying the pizza. I would recommend Basso to everyone. read more

We live near Basso, and had eaten there a few times before tonight, but went there to celebrate something tonight. The food was EXCELLENT. Better than before. We will be eating there many times from now on. read more