Basta Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Cranston

An experience from the first moment we arrived at the parking lot all the way to dessert. Basta has a big parking lot in the back with free parking. Since we were 15 minutes early to our reservation at 9pm (there were no free tables available at earlier times so we took what we could get) we parked there, and wanted to walk around the cute town of Pawtuxet before heading to the restaurant. This meant that our intended trajectory did not lead us straight from the parking lot to Basta's front door, which turned out to be our first mistake of the night. Right as we were leaving the parking lot, we were surprised by what seemed like a private security person of the restaurant running after us and trying to get our attention by shouting. At first, we didn't know if we were actually the point of his attention, but it turned out we were. He just wanted to know if we were intending to dine at Basta, which we confirmed. To prove it to him, we actually changed our trajectory straight to Basta and waited inside to be seated. A very nice waitress asked us for our reservation and told us that we were a little early and it would only be a couple of minutes until a table cleared. Since the atmosphere was very lively inside, we decided to wait outside and actually walk a little before our dinner. At 8.55pm we came back (our second mistake of the night), eager to be seated and ready for a nice authentic Italian meal. The waitress from 10 minutes earlier told us that we were still too early and that there was still no available table. Fine, this one was on us. So we went outside again, and waited another 5-10 minutes until roughly 9.05pm. This time another nice waitress greeted us and let us know that there was no table available at the moment, but a party of 4 had already paid and they were just waiting for them to leave. Here comes our third mistake. We decided to awkwardly stay in the entrance and wait for a table to clear. It could only be a matter of minutes. 25 minutes to be exact. During this period, several groups of people had left the restaurant and at least one table right next to the entrance had been cleared, but not set up for new guests. We would have loved to be seated outside, but during our 25 minutes of waiting at the entrance, only the owner (or what looked like the owner) came up to us to tell us that it would only be "few more minutes" and that "he would make it up to us" (this will be important for later). At 9.24 we had decided we had waited long enough. Right as we were about to leave, a waitress came running up to us to tell us that our table was now ready. It turns out the table was the one that had been cleared for at least 10 minutes. We got seated at 9.25pm, and a very nice and capable waitress took care of us. We started with the Beet trio salad with arugula. It was good. We then followed that up with the daily special pizza (with green asparagus and other greens) and Tortellini with Vodka sauce. Both dishes were prepared quickly, but were both quite disappointing. The pizza had 10 tiny strips of asparagus and some arugula on top of it. What is worse, the dough was somewhat soggy. The worst dish were the Tortellini, however. The were very much "al dente". This, in combination with the fact that they looked store bought, makes me believe that there is a high chance they were not prepared by hand. We ended our meal with "nutella pizza" as a desert. It took a while for the dessert to come out of the kitchen, because the cook had dropped the pizza in the oven and made a new one. This was also underwhelming. The dough was better, but it resembled more a pizza bread than an actual pizza. I hate to say it, but Antonio's (a fast food pizza take-out store in Providence) offers a far better nutella pizza. At least the cocktail was good. Also, the owner never interacted with us again and never "made it up to us". Overall, the service was decent, drink were ok, the food overpriced for the quality. But we did have a dining experience we will not forget for a long time, unfortunately for the...

My family and I had an 8pm reservation at Basta to celebrate my brother’s engagement. Upon arriving (on time), we were told by the hostess we would have to wait for people finishing up. No apology, no invitation to sit at the bar and she walked away immediately after. We waited and some of the party ended up waiting outside, since we had young children as well. We watched other large parties get seated before, who had reservations after us. The hostess was hardly around and we were provided no updates. My future sister in law voiced her disappointment to one employee who asked if we were the party of 9, then we watched her go over and stand by the server’s station and watch as a table was bussed. We were finally seated after waiting for almost 20 minutes. Our server ended up being the same employee my future sister in law had spoken to and she arrived at our table with again, no apology and didn’t bother giving her name. There was no wine menu at one end of the table and we had to ask for another one, since one wine menu for a table of 9 people wasn’t adequate. Drinks were slow to come out, and we placed our order. We waited quite a while for our starters (the seafood tower and two orders of a dozen oysters). The oysters were brought out all on one plate, even though two separate people ordered them. Thankfully, my young niece was willing to share a plate. There was no horseradish on the oyster dish so we shared the horseradish from the seafood tower. The oysters were essentially flavorless. As someone who grew up in Boston and now lives in Florida, I can say I’ve had better oysters from a tank. The linguine special was absolutely awful as well. The pasta (which was supposed to be handmade and fresh) was doughy and undercooked and the most flavorful part was the sauce, which just tasted sour. The scallops in the dish also had zero flavor. All of the food was served barely room temperature. My father ordered the special as well and his was cold, so he didn’t touch that. My mother also ordered the special and was not impressed. My brother ordered the veal tomahawk which was cold and had mushy breading and was overall not well prepared. My 7yr old nephew’s steak was chewy and he even complained it was not a good steak (and he’s eaten at more upscale places than most adults). The server had no idea who the engagement was for (hint, probably the person wearing the large diamond) and asked my younger sister (not wearing a ring) if it was for her and her boyfriend. The only employees in the entire establishment that had any sense of customer service at all were the busboys who were exceptionally polite and apologetic for everything. Overall this was a massive disappointment and I feel so bad for my future sister in law for having to go through such a poor experience to celebrate her engagement. Hopefully the staff and the kitchen can learn from this so they can provide a better...

ok, i read the earlier review by the local basta patron of over 20 years. i'm one too. and i have visited the restaurant 3 times since it's opening. here's the scoop - interior is fresh and bright. it is louder, but it is just different, not bad. and it's lovely. overlook the suspenders on the bar staff that look like benigans,because it's open now , and while you might miss the old basta - the new one, while different, is great. it's under new ownership ( old landlord with a colorful past ) has created the revamped basta with his kids. we were REALLY skeptical of the pizzas because really, who needs yet another pizza place. they are impressed with the oven, and it's cool, but the pizzas are on the pricey side, and all the prices have been hiked a bit. faces? you'll see some of the old ones. mark, guisseppi, chuck, and 2 of the kitchen staff remain. it is beyond great to see them.

as a whole they are new and are still working thru growing pains. but this is a worthy place not to be discarded.

the food is a little different, and the menu far expanded. they are really putting in an effort to put the old favorites back as they were. let's talk chicken parm. EVERYONE loved anthony and joanne's chicken parm. celebrity chefs came specifically for the old simple rendition of the dish. the new basta chef has heard and is doing his best to recreate what we all loved so much. really, we get really cranky when you mess up our chicken parm. but having had it now twice - it's getting closer and closer to the old fav.

other dishes are fantastic. meatballs alforno, fresh fish dishes, salted dried fava beans at the bar ... for your nice chianti ! honestly, i have nothing bad to say.

in our neighborhood, we are so lucky to have brilliant dining options within walking distance. you can't beat that. and basta, while new, is a great addition. look, if you are an old-timer like me (us) sure you're gonna miss the old one. BUT, it wasn't going to last forever, and how fortunate are we that the new owners care and listen to the patrons and bend over backwards to accommodate.

i'm hoping to redo this review in 3 months and say it's al excellent. it's heading in...