Sweet Basil - Needham

Some of the best Italian food I've had in a while. Run, don't walk.

The food was good but not phenomenal. I think the portion size was very generous though. Make sure you remember to BYO alcohol as they do not serve on premises.

This place is the absolute best, hands down. The service is impeccable and the food is out of this world.

This is not a restaurant review. Instead, this is a story about two beautiful human beings entering into their favorite restaurant and feeling completely taken care of, in a gastronomical sense. In a way, this is a Love story. It 's a Friday evening. The love of my life and I are hungry, and decide to head towards our favorite area to dine. I speak of downtown Needham, MA. It is rife with great establishments geared to satisfy any type of food hunger. We head straight towards one of our favorite restaurants, Sweet Basil. We get near the restaurant and by some miracle, the parking space right out front is available! The universe is clearly smiling upon us tonight. Now, under normal circumstances, there is almost always a wait to get a table here, but this night was pleasantly different. Because of the 4th of July holiday weekend, it seemed most locals were off and away to the more majestic parts of New England. This means that upon entering the restaurant, we are greeted by the host and he offers us a choice of table! Truly amazing, 3 actual tables to pick from on a Friday night! We choose the cozy little table for two near the wall, so we can gaze into each other 's eyes and profess our love without much distraction. Once we are seated and settled in, we are greeted by Daphne; the kindest, most patient, proficient and rockstar server I 've ever had at any restaurant in near memory. Her style and energy is profoundly lovely and attentive, and I can clearly sense her pride for the restaurant and its selection of sublime edible masterpieces. She suggests the bread and pesto starter (which I believe was only $5 to which my girlfriend and I gleefully accept. How could one pass up the most magical combination of fresh pesto and bread? As we wait for the pesto, we select our main courses and then chat about life while holding hands, truly in awe of our good fortune on this lovely evening. When Daphne comes back with the pesto and bread, she informs us of the specials that evening and I decide on selecting the salmon special. As we place our order I mention to her that I have a dairy allergy, and if the chef could prepare the dish accordingly that would be much appreciated. Upon hearing this she mentions that they actually have their fresh pesto available without the usual cheese they mix in! I am just in awe! This means I too can enjoy the glorious pesto along with the fresh Iggys bread. I thank her profusely and within 3 minutes my girlfriend and I are in pesto heaven. We laugh, we talk, we try to restrain ourselves from eating all the pesto and bread in front of us, and before we know it our mains come out. The braised chicken my GF ordered was enormous and smells irresistible. You could easily feed 3 people from her dish alone! I exclaim what a value! as I normally do when we get large portions at restaurants. Then I turn my attention to my salmon. Again, a rather large portion, and it smells looks so tasty! I don 't even bother taking pictures because the lighting in the restaurant is fairly dim and it wouldn 't have done it justice anyways. There is a mashed potato base, with smokey bits of bacon embedded, some apple slices I believe, and a couple other vegetables interspersed under the salmon. I am so thoroughly satisfied, words can barely suffice. All I had to do was give my GF the look and she knows the chef has hit a home run. Also worth noting, The bill was about $60, extremely reasonable for a wonderful meal out. Every part of our experience, from Daphne 's graceful service, to the chef 's keen attention to detail, is spot on and we leave the restaurant feeling very well taken care of, and with plenty of leftovers (including the pesto! It 's safe to say I Love Sweet Basil and look forward to dining there again and again in the very near future!

My absolute favorite italian restaurant. Food is all fresh and delicious and the pesto is absolutely delicious. I keep coming back here because service is always great and the bring your own bottle policy is nice. They always let me take some pesto home and are very friendly!