Thai Basil — Restaurant in Boston

I am absolutely appalled by the abysmal service I experienced at Thai Basil during my recent lunch visit with my family. This dining experience was nothing short of a nightmare, and I feel compelled to share my dreadful encounter with this establishment.

The day was freezing cold, and I ordered a glass of hot water to help warm up. To my astonishment, the waitress rudely informed me that the restaurant did not serve hot water, even though they clearly possessed the capability to do so. Instead, she suggested they could make tea, which was an contradicting her previous statement of "not having any hot water". Regardless, I decided not to further pursue the matter and try to enjoy the rest of my meal. I have never encountered such a ludicrous and unreasonable denial of a basic customer request, especially considering the fact that they do provide complimentary room temperature water. It is utterly unacceptable for any restaurant to refuse a simple request for hot water on a freezing cold day.

Despite the glaring red flags of subpar service, I still chose to tip our server generously. However, my ordeal did not end there. After settling the bill, I proceeded to use the restroom, only to find the waitress lurking outside the door, seemingly ready to pounce and demand more gratuity from me.

When I calmly tried to explain the situation to her and even involved the manager (who thankfully sided with my point of view), the situation took a horrifying turn. The waitress completely lost her composure, and in front of all the patrons, she launched into a disgraceful tirade, hurling insults at me and my family while displaying aggressive and unprofessional behavior.

Such a deplorable display of customer service is inexcusable and an affront to basic decency and hospitality. Apart from the poor customer service received from the server, I cannot negatively criticize Thai Basil on all aspects. Other than the poor encounter with my server, I must admit that their food is delicious and one of the better tasting Thai restaurants in the area. It is a shame that they employ a server with a rude attitude as the manager, and all other employees are friendly...

So, I had a late lunch today at the Thai Basil restaurant on Newbury St. in Boston. Usually, this is a good place to eat, and I’ve never had a problem with them, but today the experience was not one that I am used to. Usually, the restaurant is quiet and mostly empty, the waitresses are nice and the food comes out pretty quickly. However, today, we walked in, and the first thing that my friends and I noticed was that none of the waitresses ever asked us if we wanted anything to drink. They just gave us water with no mention of any other available beverages. I just thought that was a little annoying. When the waitress came back to the table to take our orders, she actually told us to hurry up with our orders. She rushed us before we ever ordered our food. To rush someone makes no sense in this restaurant that is hardly ever full. The food took longer than usual to come out from the kitchen and by the time my plate was in front of me, my food wasn’t even hot! I ordered their mango curry dish, and I thought that the food was good; kudos to the kitchen staff.

After we finished our main dishes, one of the waitresses brought the check over to our table. I wanted to order dessert, but the waitresses just dropped the check onto the table and walked away. After I was finally able to order the mango and sticky rice, the waitresses brought it over and forgot to bring me a fork. Once again, before noticing that I had something to ask, the waitress just walked away. Eventually, we finished our meal, and then we paid for our meal. As we walked out of the restaurant, the waitress actually stopped us to say that we owe her a larger tip. It was outrageous to me. The service was terrible. The waitresses were totally inattentive; they basically ignored our table, and I was supposed to give them a bigger tip? Can someone explain that to me? Anyway, the food was good and relatively inexpensive. The restaurant is in a good location. If you want great service, then I’d recommend going to a...

If I could give this place zero stars, I would. I’ve never left a review in my life (let alone a negative one), but this experience was so shocking. We left a very reasonable tip despite the place where we were sitting smelling like garbage and the food being far too sweet, only to be chased down and harassed by the server, who insisted we should’ve paid the “suggested” tip printed at the bottom of the receipt. Suggested doesn’t mean mandatory, and I see this at the bottom of every restaurant receipt I’ve paid. He did not let us leave peacefully and escalated the situation with rude and entitled behavior that was completely uncalled for, essentially demanding we pay the suggested amounts.

An older woman (I believe the owner) made it worse by throwing in a few racist remarks along with some very rude gestures. As we were walking out in an attempt to leave the situation the waiter said to us several times, “If you can’t afford to eat out, eat at home, don’t come here.” If you aren’t satisfied with how much your customers tip, then add automatic gratuity to your bills. And make sure your restaurant doesn’t smell like waste. Don’t embarrass yourselves by chasing after your customers like this. It’s unprofessional, disrespectful, and frankly pathetic.

Save yourself the headache and go literally anywhere else. I don’t know how they’re still...