BASTA Restaurant - Agoura Hills — Restaurant in Agoura Hills

Worth the wait.

I'll be back. Here's why.

This is definitely good quality food, at a mostly fair price. I mean you're going to pay $60 for an aged New York steak. But at the same time, there are a lot of dishes that I believe are mostly within most people's budgets.

We were a decent size group, and some of the highlights were:

Trout: more like a pink salmon. It was moist, tender, tasty

Whole Chicken: juicy, tender, crispy skin. The brown sauce was delicious, tangy and savory.

Kale Salad was crisp and refreshing. Get extra dressing on the side.

Mussels were plentiful, tasty, delicious.

Individual Pizza Margherita is about 12 - 13". Crusty, chewy, tangy, fresh. I loved the char.

2 things Could use improvement: the Octopus Salad. It's 80% potatoes and tomato. 20% octopus. It would be nice if there was at least maybe 25% more octopus. I'm just being honest.

The $60 NY Steak was ok. I'm kind of biased to eating steak out in a restaurant, because I can make it better at home. But for what it is, it was definitely medium rare. I didn't taste anything special about it. But honestly, you might enjoy some of the other dishes more than ordering the NY Steak here. But, It's up to you.

On a bright finishing note, the Butterscotch dessert is by far THE best thing. The tiramisu is a close 2nd. Order both.

Service was exceptional, from our waiter all the way down to the bussers. Our table was checked on quite often, and frequently throughout a 2-hour experience.

Only downside to the entire experience, just in general, is that this place does not take reservations. You do have to expect anywhere from a 10-minute to 1 hour wait depending what time of the evening you arrive for dinner, and also which day of the week it is.

Dress code is what I would call Casual to business casual. It's not exactly a five-star Italian restaurant where you need to wear a black tie or anything. You'll find an occasional Patron that wears flip-flops, shorts and a t-shirt, but honestly you really should dress up a little.

Plenty of parking for free in the main lot, otherwise you might have to park on Agoura road, or a long one of the other side streets. Make sure you read the street signs.

As a last and final note, it's a great spot, I would totally come back here on a date, as a family gathering, special occasion, or even just to sit at the bar. If you get here earlier, you can expect to get a table and be served faster. Weekends are very popular, more so when there's a concert going on next door at the...

Great food HORRIBLE service. Besides the fact they don't take reservations which is my own personal issue with restaurants, we waited for 1hr to get a table. One would figure if the wait staff knows people are waiting that long to get a table that they would be attentive as soon as they get seated. 15minutes (not lying) passed and not one waiter approached. The friendly busboy brought out bread and our teas but we then waited for 15minutes before a waiter even came to the table. A waiter never did so I had to stop the woman who I presume to be the manager she never identified as such though she seemed to be running the house. Told her that we haven't even been able to order and asked who our waiter was, she had no idea. She took our order great, but after our appetizer came out we then proceeded to wait 40minutes for a short rib and pasta dish. What made this worse is that during this entire 40minute wait not once did we meet our waiter, not once did he or she come over and let us know the food situation and when it would be coming out and we sat directly across from where all the waiters congregate. Finally again I had to ask the manager and another waiter what the hold up was and he went back there and shortly after the food came out... I honestly ate the food so fast I don't know if it was good because I was so enraged and just wanted to leave. Good food ends up being ummemorable because of bad service! The waitstaff should spend less time being cordial kissing and hugging their regular customers which they spend so much time at their tables joking around with and focus on new customers to ensure they too can become repeat customers. I've been in restaurants all over the world and this was by far the worst service I've experienced and that says alot traveling and eating throughout Eaatern Europe for years. The entire night not one apology not one form of accountability and I'm sorry giving my wife a slice of coconut cake just doesn't make up for such disrespectful service. You should all be ashamed of that as business owners. If you make people wait 1hr to get a table at least be attentive and get the orders and food as soon as possible. Way too many great Italian restaurants in town to return...

Some restaurant menus make me feel good, prompted by good ingredients, spotless floors and a staff that understand that it’s as hard to keep a customer as to create a new one.

Other places, and you probably know of a few, offer a lot of pastas and entrees, or maybe a few signature dishes that make a place unique, but disappoint when overpaying for a lower experience. I wish them well.

But some restaurants surpriseme. I just had lunch at Basta, in Agora’s Whizzin Market and gotta say I’m surprised, and a little miffed.

Sure the staff are great with each one genuinely happy I came in. They even smiled. The atmosphere is open, inviting, warm and has a great combination of Mexican blues, warm tones, and wrought iron.

I’ve never been here before as Whizzin Market is a little out of the way for me. But in spite of all the reasons it should have all been in the feel good category, my lunch went another direction.

I had originally thought to order one of the bowls which cater to veggie, meat, or fish prefs. The Jidori Chicken Bowl seemed my speed which I asked about. My server, Cruz asked if I wanted the roast chicken or the bowl?

Roast Chicken is my comfort food and I lost my mind for a beat. Then committed a classic amateur restaurant goer move:

The panic order.

“Roasted, please,” I heard myself say. Cruz refilled my coffee and disappeared. The dice now rolled, I waited.

The chicken was good. No, not just good, but magnificent. So good I felt a mix of relief, surprise and annoyance. None of this was directed at the staff, Basta’s management, or the even the poor chicken.

First, being from a small town in Indiana originally, I’ve eaten chicken at least 23x a week since 1970 and I’ve never tasted chicken like this. From the light golden sauce to crispy skin, it was ideally cooked and served immediately. I had no idea. No exaggerating.

Second, that this lunch in terms of price point is a super value. Check the menu when you stop in, but you’ll find Basta a wonderful value for the level of care and attention to it all.

All that to say, I’m so mad I haven’t been here earlier. Regardless of the distance, it should have been on my list.

Consider yourself warned you may...