As per usual... "Uly needs his pie!"…read moreHad the Bufala, which was Buffalo cheese pizza. Walked back to the Swissotel with the takeout and the pie was still hot when we got to our room. Little on the pricy side but relative to everything else in Basel, WORTH IT. It was super fresh! Only lost a star for the challenge in communication. Be prepared. German/Italian speaking only. Or in another words... No English.

For good Italian food with great service and casual dining ambiance at very reasonable price, Roma…read moregets 5 stars. I loved the complimentary basket of bread balls (soft pizza crust in a ball shape) and italian speaking super friendly server (speaks a little German and english). I had grilled squid which came out surprisingly big portion and side of pasta and this pasta convinced me to try the main pasta dish next time. It was great. Overall, highly recommend for date or business meal. PS: a glass wine was 5-5.50 CHF (cheaper than most restaurants)

Interesting concept and approach to dining. We were seated right away for lunch. I had a margherita…read morepizza and it was very flavorful. It tasted fresh and delicious The service was pretty good.

So you're in Basel. You don't want sausage, cheese and bread. You don't want to take out a loan…read moreto eat dinner. And, you're with a group of people with varied diets - or with fussy kids. Where do you go? VAPIANO of course! This is actually a chain restaurant directly from Italy and in Italian, Va Piano means 'go slowly'. So I'm guessing they are poking a bit of fun at 'fast food'. But this is a sort of fast food restaurant - but where everything is made fresh, to order, right in front of you. So a bit of dinner theatre thrown in for free! Even though the menu is the holy Italian trinity - Pizza, Pasta, Salads; that's where 'normality' ends. I knew this was something unique as soon as we entered. We were stopped at the door and each person was handed what looks like a credit card. We found a table (these are big, banquet style and you may end up sharing with others), grabbed a menu and planned our attack. This is self serve - once you decide what you want - you take your credit card to one of the food stations - Pizza, pasta or Salad. The menu was only a guide - we were able to customize everything based on the fresh ingredients available. I was happy with the Capricciosa Pizza as is (my favourite toppings of black olives, artichokes, mushrooms and prosciutto) but my Aunt wanted a light, sauce free pasta. The pasta is fresh - not dried. And there is a glass wall in front of the pasta extruder - great fun for the kiddies to watch the pasta being made. In addition to picking your sauce and toppings - you also have at least a dozen pasta shapes to choose from as well. She choose tagliatelle with aglio and olio with some sautéed shrimp and spring onions. She loved being able to watch everything being made in the wok and loved that she was asked how much oil, how much garlic...... She did think the portion was too large for her to finish but it was so good, she cleaned her plate! (darn no leftovers for us!!!). While I was waiting for my pizza (pizzas take a bit longer so you get a buzzer) I headed over to the salad station for a rocket and parmaggiano salad to share with the group. The food stations meant everyone in our group could have something different, using their own card. Drinks are available at each station or at a central bar (which also houses the desserts). Throughout the meal you can get more food and drink - just hand over your card. When you leave, each person must turn in a card. It is possible to just use one card during the meal and pay as a whole - and then the other cards will show a 'zero' when you come to pay. Or, use individual cards - which can be totalled into one bill - or if you are with a group of friends - it makes paying for yourself so much easier! This isn't 'fine' dining but it is fresh, fun, easy and tasty.

Great pasta and friendly attentive service. Loved my rigatoni bolognese. The sauce was perfectly…read morebalanced and reminded me of my mother in laws sauce.

We just arrived at Basel yesterday and looked for a place for dinner. We found this place by…read morewalking down by our hotel. When the host took us to the back of the restaurant, we knew we came to the right place because it looked like we were in Italy. We ordered a salad, pizza and spaghetti bolognese. Everything was excellent. The service was very good. We highly recommend.

Great authentic pizza in a fun environment with good service and value. Perfect Italian pizza, and…read morefor the reviewer also from New York...real Italian pizza IS very different, and these do it very well. Thanks for a great experience!

Be careful when entering and exiting the outdoor seating! A…read moreSIMPLE rearrangement of the outdoor furniture should correct the situation. This outdoor seating arrangement is dangerous to patrons, especially at dinner after dark. I have provided a photo of the arrangement. I am posting this as a public service post because after pointing this out, I was told, "Stay home you will be safe there", and an insulting emoji!!

This was such a fabulous spot for dinner in Basel. We were seated near the window, which meant on…read morethe water, the views were excellent. Our waiter was reluctant to make recommendations, but easily able to correct us when we chose something he didn't recommend! We ended up with the Fiorentina pizza - excellent!, the carbonara (good enough - the waiter didn't like our choice but I wanted guanciale!) and a pasta with huge tubes and a delicious meat sauce that the waiter suggested as a correction to whatever we ordered first. And he was right! The carbonara was ok, but everything else was better! We had panna cotta for dessert and it was lovely.

Lovely restaurant with an upstairs patio that has stunning views of the lake and city of Basel…read more Service was excellent and the food was good and the ambiance was nice.

Cozi place, food was ok. Staff was friendly with the exception of the cashier. If you want…read moresomething fairly quick and easy then this place will suffice. We had pizza and salad, both of which were acceptable but nothing special.

Very cozy place, with nice and helpful staff. The food was…read moreexcellent! Great taste and fast! I recommend everyone who love Italian food to come here and enjoy the food!

So glad I dropped into this place. It was just a few steps from my hotel and it was pretty quiet…read morewhen I first arrived. However, I soon learned that I was just early and within 30 minutes it quickly filled. Location - Lovely! Conveniently located and amazing views of the River with huge picture windows, so even if you're not seated right AT the window, you'll still enjoy the view. Ambiance- friendly and inviting. Colors were bright and the place had an overall modern feel to it. Service - waiters were very friendly and helpful, without being overbearing. While service wasn't particularly fast, after receiving initial salad and beverage. Then received the focaccia, that's when they got pretty packed - so the main course took a while longer. Almost so long I got too full from the salad & bread as I was starving upon arrival. Food - whatever spritzer they recommended was divine and utterly refreshing! The salad was ok, typical green salad - which I inhaled as I was starving...didn't seem as "fresh" as I would have liked, but was ok. The dish they served as garlic focaccia was, I will admit, different from what I expected - which is maybe why I was a little disappointed. It was essentially a thin pizza crust baked with drizzled olive oil and garlic. But again, I was starving and eagerly awaiting my lasagna....waiting...and I ate it. Not bad, but - not fulfilling. The lasagna - I was almost too full to eat at this point because, despite my best efforts to not eat all of the "focaccia" - it took so long, it could not be helped. However, I was so pleasantly surprised to find that it was most certainly worth the wait! It was just the perfect balance of meat, pasta and cheesy, heavenly deliciousness. If I were staying somewhere it could be reheated, I would have ordered another for later! Overall, I loved this place! Would definitely come back here in the future.

This is a small little pizza parlor located on the banks of the Rhine in Basel, Switzerland. The…read morepizza is delicious, a fairly priced in a town that is quite spendy to eat out in. They have a lovely bank of windows along one side of the restaurant that allows views of the river. It's a lovely place to visit at sunset. I look forward to my return.

This might be the best pizzeria I've ever been to. The restaurant itself is absolutely spotless and…read morethe staff simply could not be more accommodating and pleasant. The food is fantastic, fresh and made exactly as ordered. I ordered a four cheese pizza with Gorgonzola and I was actually a bit taken aback by how good it was. Much less greasy than a comfortable pizza I would order in the United States. It feels family oriented inside and is pleasantly decorated and well lit. Very cozy.