So yesterday I been to cool basil and never heard of this place before. So I give it a try. The place is very clean and modern than other Thai restaurant I been to. I order drunken noodle and Iowa roll. The drunken noodle I choose Thai spicy which is perfect and make my experience more enjoyable like back home. The roll is also tasty as well all they use is high quality ingredients and the wasabi is high grade therefore I think you should went to cool basil and I will go again sometime in the future read more

I don't visit Cool Basil often but once I'm there, I always wonder why I don't come here often. The menu is extensive and I have never had anything I didn't like! I was with a group celebrating a special event and the staff was attentive yet gave us space. I really appreciated that! I ordered a new dish, Pad Woon Sen. It's a glass noodle dish with lots of vegetables and chicken. It had such a great flavor and the portions are quite generous. I ordered the lunch portion for under $8 and had over half leftover to take home. The heat can be intense so I pressed it medium and it was perfect. If you need more heat, they can bring the spice rack to your table. I will definitely be ordering this dish again and will visit more often. read more

Cool Basil - Thai Near Me - Clive, Iowa

Our waiter was very friendly and helpful. The food was delicious, I got one of the fried sushi rolls and it was amazing.

Updating my review, deservedly so. After going back a few times and regaining trust in the staff's knowledge of ingredients, I have been able to confidently order all the dishes I used to love, modified to fit my dietary restrictions, without winding up ill or worried that I might be. I think the lack of knowledgable staff and kitchen mentioned in my previous review may have been a set of unique experiences, because I haven't had an issue since. Cool Basil is still one of our favorite local restaurants, despite the small hiccup in service. We don't care for sushi, and we stick to the noodle and stir-fried dishes. We always start with a small Egg Drop or Corn Crab Soup ($3.95), which can easily be modified for dietary preference or need. For an entree, it's always a tough choice between the naturally gluten-free Crab Fried Rice ($11.95), modified Curry Noodle or Pad Thai (both $10.95), or the fantastic Panang Curry ($11.95). My husband will either go with the BBQ Pork Fried Rice ($12.95), Broccoli stir-fry ($8.95), or the Sweet Basil stir-fry ($10.95). The portions are huge, and make for some pretty killer leftovers- especially if you order with spice. For the quality and size of each dish, their prices can hardly be beat. They prepare fresh sushi in the dining room, and have a full drink bar, too. The building is huge, and their seating accommodations range from intimate booths, to cafeteria-style dining room, to being seated at the bar, and can even accommodate large parties. In warmer weather, they also have a large patio for outdoor seating. Even on their busiest nights, we've never had to wait more than 5 minutes. Bottom line: whether you're looking to get sushi and drinks with some friends, stop in for a laid-back lunch (at even lower prices), or want an intimate meal on date night, Cool Basil is a great choice. read more

Super Scrumpious Sushi, Salmon, and Savory Duck...Was the Headline of our Latest Lunch Extraviganza brought part by an Awesome $50 gift card. We both had Green Tea, saved some funds to go towards Food. Usually go with a Bubble Tea "Melon"...Des Moines Roll is Super Flavorful with that sweet Tempora Temp, Eel is always a true go to Asian BBQ Blast with the Tender Fatty Skins in a Succulent Crisp, Teriaki Salmon was The Showstopper surrounded with Crisp Veggies, Asparagus Stir Fry with Tender Sweet Duck and highlighted with multicolor Bell Pepper Bites. Perfect Steamed Rice, Wasabe, Soy Sauce, and Pickled Ginger made everything on Top Flavor Fantastic...Let this WDM Masterpiece ~ Booth Ladden Eatery make your day too!!! read more

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It's one of my favorite restaurants! Food's great, service is fast, and the pricing is solid. Do the Cool Basil please!! read more

Cool Basil - This is me waiting for Cool Basil. One of bestest things!! - Thai Near Me - Clive, Iowa

Maybe one of my fav places to eat in The area due to the food being very good but 8/10 if we order to go or through an app the order gets messed up in some way. Not an exaggeration. Still very very good food. Service is horrible. If you call to do curb side they'll have your food sitting 20+ mins before it's walked out the door read more

Came here with family out in IOWA for the first time. It was amazing food. Would come back.

Fabulous food! I will confess I didn't dine in, but was snowed in and I ordered Uber Eats and had them deliver the food to me! It was delicious!! Everything! I think it might be the best Thai/Asian food I have ever had. The dishes tasted so fresh. Veggies were crisp and tasted fresh, the chicken in my Cashew chicken dish was thick nice tender slices of mostly white meat. Veggies excellent with the right amount of sauce. The Jasmine rice was the perfect texture rice should be. I ordered the crab Rangoon which was very good also! Probably the creamiest best tasting crab Rangoon of any Asian place ever. The chicken egg rolls were thin with a delicate wrapper not those thick ones. So much better the roll was bursting with flavor and the right amount of crisp crunch. I will definitely eat here again. Best food EVER! Seriously I can't wait to come back and dine in for the full experience! read more

Huge place and their Thai tea is super yummy. Service seemed like they were a bit confused and scattered as we people bring us food that wasn't ours and the same beer out twice. But the curry was huge and delicious! Price point was perfect. If the service was better, they'd definitely be higher reviewed read more

Cool Basil - Thai tea - Thai Near Me - Clive, Iowa

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Everyone and their mom has told us we needed to come try Cool Basil. We've been to Thailand and are really picky about our Thai food. And I've never been a fan of Asian fusion places. But anyway, enough people told us to go that we finally did. And we were disappointed. Firstly, the place was absolutely boiling. Yes, it was one of those extra hot days, but your HVAC system should keep up! If not, get a new one. No one wants to eat food while they sweat, and hot people aren't hungry. It's bad business all around. We had some potstickers for an appetizer (not Thai, I know, but they sounded good!) They were okay. My Thai dish was solid, but it was spicy and making me even more hot. I ate about half before I was just done and overheated. This was not a great experience. We will stick with Eat Thai, Thai Eatery just down the street. read more

I keep going back to this restaurant in hopes that its carry out service will improve. It has not it was 15 minutes between the time I Arrived to pick up my food and received it. Mind you this was after I got a text saying my food was ready. It was a total of 25 minutes. I have to find somewhere else that cares more about providing my food on a timely basis. They could've cared less that they served me luke warm food. No apology. No offer to remake. Nothing. read more

Great atmosphere, quick service and an awesome courteous staff. Food was terrific and served as expected! Best Asian cuisine around and lots of gluten free options. read more

Cool Basil - Sweet and sour stir fry - Thai Near Me - Clive, Iowa

The staff here is awesome! They are always willing to work with me. My bunco group holds our annual Christmas party here. It never fails we end up with more people than our reservation. They are more then willing to accommodate us. The menu here is very extensive which give my group of approximately 12 a wide variety to choose from. The portions are very generous, I always leave with a to go box. read more

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Food was delicious! Waiter was horrible, rude, and aggressive. She (Stacy) was very unagreeable even with her own coworkers. I've come here several times and the past waiters I've had have been nothing but kind, caring and attentive individuals. I was very disappointed this time! At the end I had asked for a receipt because Stacy hadn't given me one and I went upfront to ask the desk and they couldn't find it so they had to go ask her and she was getting upset with them! I love Cool Basil but this was not at all a positive experience. read more

Perfect green curry. I like heat and said a 3-4 and it was solid. I'll easily get 4 next time. It has carrots, bell peppers and green beans in it, which I'm not accustomed to, but I think that might be to make it more friendly to the customer. The smell, ingredients, chicken... wonderful! I've been craving a good green curry, and this took care of it! read more

I was a regular at Cool Basil, but my recent experience has left me concerned for food safety and customer service. While chewing my pad thai, I noticed something hard in my food and removed a piece of metal from my mouth. The waitress had served us numerous times in the past and has always been wonderful. She handled the situation professionally and kindly. She informed me that the metal was likely a bristle that fell off one of the tools used to clean their cooking pans. She talked with management and suggested they not charge us for the meal. However, management decided to replace the meal and only were able to offer a discount of $4.48. By that point I had lost my appetite due to the incident & barely ate any of it. Management did not approach our table to speak with us personally. The incident raised serious concerns about food safety, and the lack of a more significant gesture from management only reinforced these worries. I will no longer be returning to Cool Basi read more

Always a pleasant, delicious experience. This is our go-to place whether just grabbing a bite or special occasions

Stopped here for lunch while visiting some friends in Des Moines. We went a little later in the afternoon on a weekend and it looked as though the lunch rush had just died down so we were able to get a seat right away. The service was super quick and friendly. Large menu with several different categories to choose from, the main ones being sushi and Thai. Prices were pretty reasonable for most things. Everyone in my group ended up ordering the pad see ew but at different levels of spice. Never having eaten here before, I think if I come back I will definitely go up at least a level or more for the spice. I have an okay spice tolerance and got it at a 4 and didn't feel any heat whatsoever, but it was still really good despite that. It was also a really large portion, definitely enough for me to have for dinner later that night. Our only problem that afternoon was that my friend had also ordered a miso soup as an appetizer and didn't get it until we were almost finished with our meal. She had to remind the waitress about it but the waitress apologized and brought it out right away. The waitstaff here was great! If I'm ever craving Thai food in the area, I'd definitely give Cool Basil another try! read more

Ordered takeout of Crab RAGGOONS and Fried Rice w/Shrimp. Everything was DEEEEELICIOUS

My opinion of Cool Basil has gone down hill. They obviously don't care about their customers. We ordered on line last night, and the food was delivered by uber eats. The food was not what we ordered and didn't match the ticket. I went in to talk with them today and asked for a refund. I had a photo to show them what we received. The person I talked to said they couldn't give me a refund since i paid uber eats, but she would have her supervisor call me as soon as she came in which was estimated to be 15 minutes. It's almost 8 hours later and no call. It certainly appears Cool Basil does not want to stand behind their orders. Just because you use a delivery service doesn't mean the customer should not get what they ordered and doesn't deserve a refund. We have eaten at Cool basil for years and have used the delivery service from time to time, but no more. read more

The food was good and service was very pleasant. The table caddy's need a serious wipe down, kind of a trend in Des Moines we have found. Gross to put hand on caddy and find sticky substance. Weird also to see a mop bucket at front entrance. I have it a four star only due to food being descent. The cleanliness was a bit sketchy. read more

Cool Basil - Some GF options. - Thai Near Me - Clive, Iowa

I've eaten here several times and the food has always been great. Good service, nice interior. I will return

One of my go-to's. Always a fantastic meal! Ordering online for pick-up is super easy. Dine-in is really nice as well. When the weather is good they have a large lovely deck. Fresh delicious food, great variety. My favorite dish is Healthy Fried rice with chicken. Meat and veggies are high quality and fresh. You pick your spiciness 0-6. I like the 2. Just enough kick. read more

We have been here a couple times now. ( I am really sure I have written a review before but don't see it. ) The restaurant is clean and they have booths and tables. Service over the last couple visits has been rather good. I have to say if you can make it in the evening during the work week you might be able to get in good timing. I have also been in during a lunch time period during the work week. Depending on your timing is if you are going to hit the crowd just like any other place. I will have to say that I was not super impressed with the sushi. Word of mouth from others is also don't go here for the sushi and I agree. This place has so much to offer that you want to spend your tummy space on the other food. This day we were here for the lunch. We got seated to the right of the entrance way in a smaller group area. We had our own waiter which I thought should have given us a little more attention than he did. We all got something a little different. I was really impressed on the size of the soup bowls. They have great options for fried rice, Thai meals and salads. This restaurant has lots of options for quick lunches and you will still probably need a to go box. I will be back again as we really enjoyed the variety of meals this place offers. I will update my review on my next visit. read more

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Once again Cool Basil came through with flying colors. I highly recommend the cashew chicken.

Delicious food and wonderful service. Their Tom ka kai is a family favorite, as are their sushi rolls.

We've given this place a chance several times and it's been consistently bad, the popularity by fellow locals perplexes me a bit. The food is bland, rice was soggy, and the imitation crab in the fresh spring rolls was oh so bad. We've never been really impressed with the service, but it's not been terrible either. I try not to leave overly negative reviews on yelp, but having previously lived in a location that had amazing Thai food this restaurant just doesn't come close. read more

Yep it's in the name this place is COOL! And by Cool I mean awesome! Great new space for a gem of a thai place! I love the Yellow Curry, I get it with tofu, and this pack it in! I love this coconut milk dish, it's like no other in town and topped with a little garnish on top, the portion is just right, but I always want more cause it's so delicious and spicy! The veggie spring rolls are no fool either! If you are Vegan, this is a must spot in Des Moines not only for options but just for being a beautiful restaurant with great service and great food! I'm excited to sit on the patio here when it get warm, cause dang it looks COOL! read more

Cool Basil - Great night on patio - Thai Near Me - Clive, Iowa

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Probably the best Thai food in town that I know of! I've been to their smaller location in Altoona and always enjoyed their food and service there, this place is just bigger and better! (Was just informed they are not associated with the Altoona location) I know they just recently opened at this larger location in a prime Clive spot. Their parking lot is big and spacious. The atmosphere here is wonderful, low lighting and soft music. Their menu is very big, primarily because they offer a full sushi menu as well. Also for the record, I think Cool Basil offers the best sushi for a non-sushi restaurant! On this inaugural visit to this location we started with the prawn cake for appetizer, it was very good! I also ordered the VIP sushi roll like I normally do, it's one of my favorites because it gives you a good portion of raw fish inside and on top of the roll, lots of flavor. For the entree I had the green avocado curry (I think), it was very very good! Lots of flavor and Their rice quality is always good! My friend had the drunken nnoodles(I think) and it was good as well! Perfectly prepared and had a great experience with the food. Staff members were one of the best I've seen, friendly and helpful. Would definitely return again! read more

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I don't know if I'm ordering wrong or what, but I have not had a good experience at this restaurant. It's not for lack of trying; I've gone three times. The service was slow and dismissive. I had sashimi, soup, and a noodle dish. I didn't like any of those meals. I tried the crab rangoons. They were not cooked all the way (doughy in the middle). I felt it was overpriced. I'm sorry; I can't recommend this restaurant. read more

After hearing such rave reviews, I am pretty bummed that I didn't get the same quality of food that everyone else got. I ordered streamed shrimp dumplings to start and when I bite into the first one, it was frozen in the middle. I sent them back and they did offer to take them off my bill. Next was my entree, I ordered the pork larb, and came with a sad wedge of lettuce with and was..okay. I just wasn't impressive with the taste and I have had better at other places. One thing I was happy with was our service, the waiter came by several times and offered to get me new shrimp dumplings or for me to be refunded, he was probably the highlight of the visit. It will probably be a while before my next visit but I will try to get up the courage to try this place again. read more

Cool Basil - Larb - Thai Near Me - Clive, Iowa

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I did it. Asian food in dsm, and this is how it went down... Price: Look to spend about $10 per entry. Parking: Large Lot Service: ok, no complaints. Food: Ok. Tasted quite bland.. I ordered the 2nd to highest spice level and it was NOT spicy. Notes: I've been here when the wait was an hour and when the place was half empty. It's a hit or miss. read more

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Came here on a Tuesday night and they had sushi happy hour from 5 to 7pm. Choices range from calamari salad, seaweed salad, spicy tuna/salmon roll, shrimp roll, capt crunch, Des Moines roll, and a couple more. We ordered 4 rolls and a calamari salad. Spicy tuna was good, the spicy salmon was a bit fishy, the capt crunch was pretty tasty and the shrimp roll was decent though the shrimp was a bit cold. Calamari salad was very good. We also ordered dessert, which was the fried bananas with ice cream. We chose the green tea ice cream which was very good. The fried bananas were in egg roll skins so it was not what we expected. We just scooped out the bananas :) Service was excellent, food came out fast and it was a good dining experience. I always enjoy eating here. read more

Cool Basil - Fried banana and green tea ice cream - Thai Near Me - Clive, Iowa

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My favorite for green curry chicken, love this place, friendly service, always great food n service we come here read more

Cool Basil - Thai Near Me - Clive, Iowa

Normally this is always a 5 star, tonight a couple things weren't quite right. We ordered sushi this time, and the California roll was just not as good as usual. The fish was good, but the combo wasn't flavorful enough. We also paid extra to get the Thai fortune rolls, and they weren't even in the bag:( I don't know why they are standard in the restaurant, but you pay extra for takeout, which makes it stink they weren't in the bags! read more

READ before eating here!! My family has had a range of dishes from here before, however last night we had a TERRIBLE and scary experience with the food and customer service. We ordered 5 dinners from the restaurant, four of the dishes were ordered at a "level 2/6" on their spice rating scale. Each dish was inconsistently spicy. As my boyfriend bit into the last few bites of the grilled beef noodle (ordered at a level 2/6), he bit through a ball of paste that made him instantly scream (I thought he broke a tooth on something). He typically eats his food very spicy, and has had experience with Carolina reaper paste before however this was spicier than anything hes had. The ball of paste was stuck to his back molars and it took him over 30 minutes to just get it all off of his teeth. We called the restaurant and spoke with the supervisor that insisted the spice was only ground up red pepper that just didn't get mixed into the dish properly and offered to refund the 1 meal or remake it. After seeing him in extreme pain for another half hour, we called back and stated there was no way this was just a crushed red pepper ball that didn't cook down in the meal. She then admitted that it was a mistake, and when I asked how they flavor their spicier dishes she said it was all the same type of spice but they just use a lot more. She repeated over again that it was a mistake it was in his meal but didn't seem to understand the consequences if this ball would have made it into someone else's dish. When I told her how bad he was in pain, all she had to offer was "even if we refunded the entire bill, he would still be in pain." They were very unapologetic and didn't seem to care that they could have killed someone with an allergy or sensitivity if that ball accidentally fell in someone else's dish. If you eat here, make sure you shine a light on your food and thoroughly check that there aren't any surprises, especially if you have a child, elderly, or someone with stomach issues eating a meal - even if you order with no spice. My boyfriend has one of the highest spice tolerances, and was hurting so bad to a point we were afraid his throat might close. Restaurants are expected to use precaution when preparing people's food, so if you have a known allergy, I wouldn't eat here at all because random stuff ended up in a dish and they don't seem to care! read more

I was skeptical about this place but after a stop on Friday night I was impressed on how big the place was inside. The parking lot seemed mostly full but inside plenty of seats to be had. We seated right away, tried an non alcoholic drink with guava, it was delish. I need to find that stuff at a store to drink often. I found the menu to be very large to satisfy most cravings. My meal was quick, hot, and very good. I will recommend this place to others. Keep up the good work. read more

Cool Basil - Specials! - Thai Near Me - Clive, Iowa

I've ate here quite a few times and am a fan. My favorite Thai place in town. That being said, not all dishes are great. I have to give their fried rice and pad Thai 5 stars. It is delicious here. Their appetizers were also all pretty good. The sampler had a ton of food. This last time myself and two others tried their curry. I would say their curry is OK. The portion is large, but it was more runny than most places which I am not a fan of. This was tried for all three curry dishes. The atmosphere is nice also. Its nicer than most Asian restaurants without compromising the price too much. They also serve sushi, but I can't say how good it is as I have never tried it. read more

Cool Basil - Sampler was good. - Thai Near Me - Clive, Iowa

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Great service, excellent food choices! So much to choose from, but all good. There are different variations of hot. I like hot, but the medium one is very hot, so be careless. All in all it is a wonderful place to eat. read more