Sweet Basil's Cafe — Restaurant in Livingston

It is a shame that I have to write a disappointing review about a local business in my hometown. I am a strong supporter of honest, homegrown businesses and this is why I feel impelled to speak to the discrimination and disrespect I experienced at Sweet Basil's. I hope this encourages more training and better standards of human decency for future customers.

My story: I called 1 hour before arrival to inquire about hours, dining policies and to see how busy they were. I informed the employee that I and 10 other friends were interested in dining and were willing to follow all rules and procedures implemented by the establishment and government.

I called again 30 min prior to inform the establishment that we are excited to head over and we did not mind having to wait in our vehicles while tables slowly opened up. We had not been to any restaurant since the beginning of quarantine, and were very careful to make sure we were following all procedures. The person informed me that they had plenty free tables at the time though they could not guarantee our seats as they did not take reservations. We again confirmed we were willing to wait as it was crucial for everyone's safety.

When arriving, my partner and I waited in the designated waiting area until greeted by a waitress. The waitress reinformed us of the policy that they could not seat more than 6 people. We agreed to be seated in 4 different tables if need be, already aware of all CDC guidelines and NJ policies. We gave her our phone number and she told us that we were the only ones waiting so she would call us as soon as any table opened up. We even received menus to browse as we were waiting.

More than 40 min. passed and a few more customers came. A different hostess (the manager, Michelle) came out to greet these people. In attempt to inform the manager of our patient waiting, I went over to speak to her. I never even imagined how we were treated next, as I had been a resident of Livingston my whole life and pride myself in being respectful and kind to others. I spoke to Michelle and told her that we had been waiting for any table that opens up and already gave our number to the other waitress who can confirm. While speaking to her, another customer came over to interrupt our conversation and say "Do not seat them, we were here first." Michelle responded to her, "Don't worry I am just talking to them." I was not concerned at first because we had been waiting a while, been polite, and had proof we were there before the new customers. However, after walking away from me mid-conversation and without even checking with the waitress who took our number, Michelle proceeded to seat the older, white group of customers.

My heart dropped and I was truly embarrassed that I was completely disregarded. I went to inform Michelle that we had been there for almost an hour, and she proceeded to say "well, that lady made a big stink about it and I wasn't here." That is how entitlement and privilege works. No matter how nice, patient, understanding, and professional I was about the situation, at the end of the day a white woman got her way simply because she "made a stink about it."

I even further clarified the situation saying we don't mind having to wait even more. Michelle didn't even attempt to rectify the situation. She superficially said sorry, then blamed me for having such a large group. In reality, I brought business to Sweet Basil's as I am a strong supporter of local businesses! I expected no special treatment or preference, simply fairness.

Michelle, I understand you were intimidated by this woman and it is a shame that you chose to cater to the privileged, rather than advocating for what is right. You accepted your ignorance and it is a shame that you still hide behind it in your responses to my group's experience of...

4 1/2 stars

Sweet Basil's has the best pancakes I've ever had. Full stop. I've been here now three or four times, and I have yet to try anything else on the menu because I keep falling in love with different pancakes. Why mess with perfection?

I came here most recently with a chum for Sunday brunch. Sweet Basil's does not take reservations so depending on the customer traffic, you might end up schlepping over to Livingston to encounter an hour wait, or you could get seated immediately - an exciting mystery! We decided to chance it though, deciding that the nippy weather combined with a recent snowstorm would mean that a lot of potential brunchers had given up on doing anything for the rest of the weekend and had resigned themselves to drinking on their couches. We were correct and ushered to a table upon entering.

I can't say that this place has a ton of personality - in hindsight, I don't recall anything unique about the interior, and it's pretty much just a big room with a lot of tables. It's also in an awkwardly located strip mall with limited parking and a lot of traffic nearby. At least one other time I had to park in a completely different parking lot, so this is a place that would certainly benefit from a standalone location if circumstances permit in the future, especially given how popular it is.

I ordered a lavender vanilla latte to start off, and honestly wouldn't do it again. I didn't taste any flavoring, and the latte was foamier/heavier than I'd like - it bordered on cappuccino. On the way home I actually stopped at Cedar Beans in Cedar Grove to get another, far superior lavender latte. Next time I'll just opt for a normal coffee and keep my expectations in check.

On prior occasions, I've usually had the banana/pecan pancakes, which are delicious and provide enough calories to avoid requiring sustenance again for at least 12 hours. This time around, I went on the specials menu and decided on the wildberry mascarpone pancakes. They were heavenly - the wildberry sauce/compote that's used perfectly complements the other topping ingredients, which include tart and sweet berries, along with some oats. I saw a number of references to these specific pancakes in prior reviews, so I'm a little mystified that they'd keep this on the specials menu and not just make it a permanent brunch fixture. (Maybe wildberries aren't accessible for chunks of the year?) I also ordered sides of scrambled eggs and whole wheat toast, which were perfectly fine. The eggs were slightly above average, moist without being runny. They accomplished what they needed to do.

My chum spent a solid portion of the meal glaring enviously at my plate. She ordered the southwest breakfast wrap and enjoyed it, giving it a four out of five rating, but part of me strongly suspects that her rating was affected by her strong feelings of regret over not having ordered my pancakes.

The service was solid - I don't recall an instance during the meal where we had any noticeable delays. They were very busy when we were there (several larger dining parties showed up about five minutes after we did, so our timing was magnificent) so our interactions with the waitstaff were pretty pro forma - no one had time for too many pleasantries, which was fine/understandable.

Strong recommend on almost all fronts, but the pancakes are unquestionably the star...

Came with a party of 11 people (in 4 separate vehicles) well aware of CDC guidelines, so we asked to be separated into groups of 3-4 and did not mind having to be seated at completely different times with separate bills. Functionally, we were 4 separate parties who just so happened to know each other and were excited to support local business and give Sweet Basil’s our business.

While waiting for about an hour (which we didn’t mind), we talked to Michelle the manager to infer more about the table availability. Mind you we already discussed with another waitress who took our phone number to call, we already had menus, etc. During this conversation with Michelle, another customer came to talk to Michelle saying, “Don’t seat them, we were waiting longer (in a condescending tone)”...when in reality we were waiting atleast 30 minutes more than the other party (which the other customers admitted later on). Rather than confirm with the waitress, Michelle responded to the other customer, “Don’t worry I’m just talking to them” and then promoted to seat their party with 2 available tables, and within a few minutes a third table opened up too. But, that’s how privilege works right? Getting the benefit of the doubt regardless of the context.

We questioned Michelle, why she didn’t ask us or even the other waitress about the situation. She immediately went on the defensive and in denial of her subtle, but clear bias.

It was disheartening to have this occur so close to home, considering all the social injustice going on in this country. Rather than make a scene out of what happened, we took our minority dollars elsewhere.

I hope it was an isolated event, but I am writing this review because I do not wish this mistreatment and embarrassment upon anyone else. What happened to us, was simply unacceptable and the fact that there is no genuine apology on top of what happened is disgusting and alarming. I am not looking to get anyone fired or in trouble, but there needs be more accountability. There should be retraining of the staff, so they are more socially aware that situations in this day and age are not okay and should be condoned.

P.S: I shouldn’t even be having to state the obvious, but hiring minorities in the food business doesn’t mean you’re automatically diverse or aware... Stating that further exposes your complacency...