Basilico New York Deli — Restaurant in Fredericksburg

Every now and again, we forget how bad the food is at Basilico and try to eat there. And each time we get a rude reminder that this place is quite literally a disaster.

Our most recent reminder was because I felt like having a chicken caesar wrap. If I had known what awaited me, I would have convinced myself to eat anything else.

I ordered a cup of the tomato and orzo bisque to start, and the aforementioned caesar wrap. My wife ordered their citrus chicken entree.

A bowl of soup was brought to the table. It looked like tomato bisque, but it wasn't. It was lobster bisque. I can't eat seafood or shellfish. In large quantities, it makes me very sick. Thankfully, I realized the error after one spoonful, and brought it back to the counter.

Instead of apologizing or offering to comp the soup, the gentleman at the counter just yelled at the girl at the register and said they'd bring out the right soup shortly. They took it VERY lightly considering they served someone with a food sensitivity something that could make them very ill.

When the right soup - the tomato and orzo bisque - arrived, it was lukewarm, had literally zero orzo, and no real tomato flavor. It was like eating Parmesan cheese melted into heavy cream. The sad, cold, soggy roll served with it was also highly disappointing.

One of the roving employees saw that the soup wasn't getting touched and asked what was wrong. We told them that ingredients were clearly missing (orzo) and that it was like drinking whipping cream, and they took it away.

Then, the entrees arrived. The chicken caesar wrap was missing listed ingredients (croutons, shredded parmesan). It was also dry and bland.

My wife's citrus chicken was dry, tough, and flavorless. The chicken was served in a low-walled bowl on top of rice. That's a problem, because any citrus sauce that was supposed to flavor the chicken that might have been added was lost to the starchy pile of unseasoned rice at the bottom of the bowl. The vegetables were also undercooked and under-seasoned.

A new caesar wrap was provided with all of the promised ingredients, but it was still dry and bland. It's clear that they pile the ingredients on the wrap and then apply dressing, instead of tossing the ingredients in a bowl, and then placing them on the wrap for wrapping. The result is inconsistency from bite to bite and a VERY dry wrap.

Food aside, this place basically runs like a cafeteria, which sucks considering they struggle to put out edible food. If they forgot ingredients or served you something unpalatable (which is pretty much the norm for them), you've already paid and there's really nobody to talk to about it.

Food runners zoom by and ignore your polite "excuse me." You have to bring food to the front counter, cut in front of people waiting to order, and try to explain what's wrong. The most they'll do for you is remake something, when all you really want is to get your money back and go someplace else that can actually execute on its food.

And god forbid you have an acute or intense food allergy. At least they're close to the...

TL;DR: Gluten free pizza crust BAD, but overall rating GOOD.

While traveling through Fredericksburg, I searched online for a place with gluten free pizza and found Basilico suggested. The place was clean, the staff were very nice, and the atmosphere was pleasant. I also loved that I could both get a meal and a dessert there, and that there were gluten free options for both. I'm always happy when there are gluten free options!! I wish I had been there early enough in the day for the gluten free Ho-ho's, they sound delicious.

However, if you're hoping for a good gluten free pizza, know that while the topping (cheese and sauce, etc.) was great, the actual crust tastes like cardboard. Despite some opinions out there, you CAN have a delicious gluten free pizza crust. Kroger makes a good frozen one. Caulipower does, too. And Mod Pizza has two great gluten free crust options on the restaurant end of things. I'm also a fan of Mellow Mushroom's option.

If Basilico can get a different crust provider, the pizza could be really delicious there. As-is, it brings down the quality of the whole pizza. Dominoes makes a tastier gluten free crust than Basilico had, and Dominoes' gluten free pizza crust tastes like what my elementary school served back in the 90's.

I'm still grateful when there are gluten free options, even if they're not great. It's hard hanging out with a friend with no diet restrictions and being the one to shoot down restaurants in a row because they don't have anything you can eat except for maybe a house salad (hold the croutons). I love salads, but when that's all you eat in restaurants for too long, you start developing a twitch in your eye when someone mentions lettuce. Though I didn't eat them, Basilico said they also have gluten free pasta and bread for sandwiches, and that's great! I really appreciate the options...

I've been waiting to eat at this establishment for a while. We finally made it there, easy to find and nice inside. The desserts on display are the selling point for anyone entering. They are also separate from the actual lunch/foods one might buy. The only real issue I had was the menu. When you walk in there's a large menu board that you can see. This is an abbreviated menu, and the full menu is located in a basket, which I didn't know existed. It wasn't offered or even referred to, until I was going to leave because I saw nothing that I wanted and thought the online menu was now nonexistent. I thought the menu was larger because I went online. The menu online does not match the full size menu that was in the basket, and did not match the menu board in the store. Another words, three different menus which will cause confusion. At least have your online menu, and full size menus match, and disclose the full menu to those coming in.

We ordered our food, and surprisingly it came fairly quickly. I had ordered a cheesesteak stromboli. It was baked and larger than i expected. It was fresh and well made, slightly greasy but expected. My little one got a bowl of spaghetti, also made fresh and well made. All the food was presented simply, but well.

After eating all this food, I got what it simply looks like a giant "ho ho". It has chocolate surrounding whipped cream with a strawberry on top. This thing was amazingly delicious. My little one got some gelato which didn't last long and she...