Basta Pizzeria Ristorante — Restaurant in Iowa City

Sadly, it was our first time and it will be our last time. I was in Iowa visiting my niece for family weekend as she just started college at university of Iowa. We all were super excited to tour the town and to see the football game. After we left the stadium , we stopped at Basta to have dinner. We arrived at 5:45 and were told it would be an hour wait, we agreed to wait. As we stood outside waiting for our table we saw groups of families being called and seated, as the hour wait time came upon the end. We were getting a little impatient as no updates were given and it was over the hour wait limit we were told. We walked back in to speak with the hostess, and the manager was at the front check in and told us we were next on the list. We went back outside to wait and we could tell there were tables open with no one seated at them. When we asked why those tables couldn't be used, we were told those are tables for people with reservations. Those tables remained unfilled for the duration of our visit there. After another 45 mins from when manager told us we were next on list, we went back to ask for an update where we were met with a hostess who was not happy to answer our questions as to why others were being seated while we had been waiting for a table for almost 2 hours. No apology was ever given from the manager or the hostess. After about 20 mins we were given a table outside that had been open for most of the time we were there waiting. Sat down still giving them the benefit of the doubt. Trying really hard not to believe that we were being treated differently because we are not caucasian. We placed our order for appetizers (focaccia bread & burrata). As we waited for our appetizers, waitress never came to ask if we needed anything. We saw tables that arrived after us get their appetizers, we asked about ours (bread & cheese) as it had been 45 mins since we ordered them. They were finally brought out and than our entrees were brought out 5 mins later. There was no room on our table for everything and you just brought out our appetizers. At this point it was really obvious that we were experiencing racism because there was just no other valid explanation as we saw how others were being taken care of. Our waitress never checked in on us, but heard her ask the tables around us several times. At this point all of us felt uncomfortable and lost our appetite. We proceeded to ask to cancel our entrees as their solution was to take our entrees to the kitchen and keep them on the warm tray as we finished our appetizers. We spoke with the manager and told him how discriminatory they were to us giving him examples of what we witness first hand from the wait time to the whole experience there. Sadly, the manager answer was even more confirmation of the racism felt here. His answer was "our kitchen is full of Hispanics". Never again, and if you are not caucasian don't spend...

Edit: I’ve been here several times since my original review, and unfortunately the food and the experience has never been as good. The thing I like best is the beet salad. $15 seems a bit steep, but it is packed with fresh greens, beets, bleu cheese and pistachios. Seems like the quality of beets changes as well. It is still good enough to eat though. I like the zero proof grapefruit drink is good as well, but priced like alcohol when it’s not. The service is usually okay—it varies. This last time it was really slow though—and they gave us the wrong menus, so when we tried to order, we couldn’t get what we’d decided upon. Our server this last time kept getting tied up helping a group and just brushed it off to us. We waited about 10 minutes for her to come around after being completely finished eating and drinking. Not cool. Overall, still an okay place—but for the being quality of food and service, the price isn’t worth it.

We really enjoyed our experience here! We went a little later, so it wasn’t insanely crowded, which was nice. The ambiance was as lovely as the food. Our server was attentive and helpful but also gave us our space. I had the ribeye which was mouth-watering. I think my husband got the filet mignon, but I can’t I remember. I remember that we were very pleased with both of our plates though! We were full, but when we saw the dessert menu, we could not resist the chocolate budino! We were NOT disappointed! Sooo delicate and delicious. I really appreciated that the quality of food and quality of service, as well as the ambiance, seemed to match the prices on the menu. We will definitely come here again!...

A few tweaks and it could have been a 5 star rating.

My husband and I visited one weekend and then I brought my college daughter back another weekend. We had BOGOs and wanted to try the restaurant out since we had not before. The radio was super loud the first time we visited. The waiter was great - Sam answered questions and was prompt in service. We shared the breakfast pizza (minus the fried chiles as I didn't know how hot they would be) and the four cheese penne. The pizza was very tasty. The pasta was nothing super fancy but tasted good. Their website says that their rolls are baked in house.

The second visit we ordered eggs benedetto with pancetta and margherita pizza (website says they make their own mozz.) The potatoes were room temp at best and the egg, since it was soft was definitely not room temp due to cooking temp and the whites were still clear. I slid those bits off to the side and ate the rest. It was very tasty and I enjoyed the rosemary biscuit that was on the bottom. I was worried the herb would overpower but it was nice. The Hollandaise was very good. So while the food was tasty, it needed to be on a warm plate (not sure if was ready and waiting on the pizza or what) and the egg more done. The other egg was fine. I did not fuss with the waiter (Wyatt) as we had a BOGO and it was already free. He was very nice and chatted with us about college and ranch/ketchup and Iowans.

I did give them feedback with RESY. I do recommend reservations, just because. I think evenings, especially on a weekend could get busy.

They do have...