Thai Basil — Restaurant in Capitola

Quality of Service: 5/5 stars Quality of Food: 6/5 Stars Quality of Pricing: 5/5 Star

11/10 do recommend.

I go there once weekly, sometimes twice weekly, and have been ever since I started quite a few months back.

QoS: It is a 100% family run business, meaning they're somewhat short staffed. The server, (I really need to learn her name) is a very caring woman. Very nice and courteous, never had an issue, never missed a thing. NOTE: They have numerous signs stating that it is a family restaurant with limited staff. Meaning: They may take longer to get to your order than most restaurants. You may wait longer to get your food, but it's well worth it. My suggestion, just go at a time when they aren't busy, and you'll get your food promptly. They make that very clear, and if you have a problem with that, it's your fault, not theirs.

QoF: I get the Pork Fried Rice and my girlfriend gets the Tofu Pad Thai. Seasonings are off the chart delicious. The pork fried rice is the best dish I've ever had. It's a great size to where I can bareeely finish it, but it's soon delicious I can't stop. The Pad Thai is her favorite dish as well. (She's a Vegetarian with Celiacs, so decent food for a good price is very hard to find. And there are plenty of options here, the Tofu Pad Thai is just simply so wonderful she never gets anything else! The waitress always asks us if we want spice on a 0-5 scale. I don't like spice so I get 0, and my girlfriend gets a 1. The scale is legit, and they know how to handle their spices. I really appreciate that. Take the levels seriously. Both of us get the Thai Ice Tea which compliments their food wonderfully. Bonus!: If they're not busy, normally the waitress gives each of us this amazingly flavorful vegetable soup

QoP: You get what you pay for. And a little extra. Both of our meals are around $10, which, for the QoP, is extremely generous. The food is well worth much more than that. We pay around $23 for our meals and two ice teas, which for a quality, healthy meal, is decent. (I always tip at least 20% because she's always been wonderful to us and the chef is incredible.)

(The only drawback, which isn't large enough to drop a star is the fact that they're often not open during their posted hours. They are a family owned restaurant, and it's posted there that they are sometimes closed due to family matters, which is 100% understandable, it just sucks when we really want Thai food and no other Thai place is nearly as good! We hate when they're closed, but we completely understand, so it's not a big deal.)

My girlfriend and I had been on the hunt for a favorite restaurant for a while. The Crepe Place was it for a long time, but about 5 months ago we decided to try Thai Basil. She read and 100% agreed with my synopsis. IT'S OUR...

We went to this restaurant last Saturday for an early dinner. There were no other people at the restaurant when we arrived. We were not even sure if they were open because the entrance door was closed and there was a huge lock on it. The server brought us water and the menus and wanted to take our order right away. We asked for a few minutes since we were not familiar with their menu. We asked for fresh vegetable rolls to start with and the server just wanted to rush us to order everything we wanted. We asked him what dishes he would recommend for someone who is on a plant based diet? He didn't seem to understand the question and when I elaborated he said that the wok dishes. However, there was nothing marked on the menu about wok or anything else. He seemed to be annoyed when I asked him to show it on the menu and he just "circled" a few with his finger. We ordered a dish and a soup to share. He confirmed it multiple times and switched plates, brought us cups. We got our food which was absolutely delicious. The portions were smaller than in other restaurants and there was no rice on the plate with the vegetables... We ordered one, but he forgot to bring it to us on time... We felt like eating one more dish and wanted to order a basil dish, however they told us that we would have to wait at least 25 minutes because they were busy with takeouts. They literally wanted to convince us not to order more, but leave. They even said no to the desserts and brought us the receipt. We left disappointed and there was nobody to say goodbye to when we exited the place. They should at least communicate their "order policy" better towards...

A litttle off the beaten path, Thai Basil is conveniently located close to Capitola Beach. Their lunch prices are reasonable - under $10 - and the flavoring is fantastic!

Came on a Saturday, which happened to coincide with Capitola's annual Begonia Festival. Now when I think of Capitola, I think "Begonias!". Not. But it is still a popular event with sandcastle competitions, float-building and the like.

Annnnyway, it was busy here, but not super busy. There was just one other table that had ordered before us. The service was slooooooow. We sat outside on one of the two small tables and the only reason we secured a table was because the couple who were sitting there before us got tired of waiting for a menu and left.

I waited for a menu. And waited. Finally I went inside and got my own menu. Spouse got the green curry and I got the spicy noodles. You can order what level of spiciness and medium is just right.

Tired of waiting for the food (I think 30 - 35 minutes is pushing it), I went inside to ask how long it was going to take. I was told that there is a new chef, hence the delay.

In any case, the food deserves four stars plus. But I had to knock off a star for the service. I just get impatient and grumpy...