Basil Pizzeria — Restaurant in Oakland

I moved 2 blocks away from this place a few months ago.  My buddy from the neighborhood insisted on giving me the rundown of every restaurant around.  He never mentioned this place even though it is so close.  Since then, I have discovered why.

The place doesn't seem to stick to their advertised hours.  Ordering online proves to be challenging, and when you call, the phone sometimes just rings forever.  This is the reason why it took me so long to try the place at all.

Their pizza is pretty expensive, so when I finally tried the place, I got a calzone.  The flavor was way off and, while not terrible, I would never eat that again.

Decided to give them a second chance last night.  I wasn't very hungry, I just wanted a snack, so I phoned in an order for 2 of their appetizers (first time they ever answered).  When I ordered, I was told that my food would be ready in 10min.  I told him that was quicker than I thought it would be and that I would be a little longer.  15min later, I was a block away when I got a call from them basically asking why I wasn't there yet.  Seemed pretty unfriendly and slightly confrontational.  I have NEVER had that happen to me before, and I order a lot of takeout.

When I got there, I was rang up and then I noticed that I was charged a dollar more per item than the price listed on their website.  When I mentioned it, the person at the register tried to claim it was tax and then tried to fast-talk his way out of it.  They pointed to their in-house sign where the price was, indeed, $1 more than what was posted on the site.

I was a little annoyed at this point because I had a feeling I was gonna regret coming here, just based on anticipated food quality, and now I was paying even more for something I felt was already overpriced.  I mentioned the false advertising on the website and that they should honor that price for me, as I was on the fence about patronizing them anyway.  They tried to reduce it down to convincing me that I could afford to pay the extra $2, implying that I was complaining because I didn't have the money.  Pretty insulting, as I promise you my bank account is fatter than any of theirs (run your business better and maybe you'll catch up).  Although they insisted on charging me the full amount, I was promised that they would give me a discount next time.  This was a sleazy move considering 1)He was trying to hook me into coming back after this terrible service, or 2)Assumed I would never come back again and by saying that, he would shut me up and have me on my way.  If it was the second, he is correct.  I left confused and slightly insulted.

Story’s not over.  They put my food in a brown paper bag and I left.  A few steps out of the store, something stabbed me in the thumb.  I realized these people thought it was a great idea to stable the bag closed with massive, loose staples, and one of them penetrated my thumb about a quarter of an inch and hurt like hell.

To top off this wonderful experience, the food sucked, as expected.

With the high prices, low quality food, and combative customer service, I don't expect this place to be around too...

This place was pretty pricey for pizza, and especially for pizza if the quality that we got.

The dough was chewy and tough, and the pizza wasn’t cooked very well. IDK if they used bad yeast or their oven temperature is too low, or what, but it was not good. It was like the pizza was half baked and half steamed.

I put it in the air fryer for a few minutes the second time, which improved it a lot - crust actually had a crispness to it and the pepperoni cupped up a bit - but no way should I need to be cooking it at home for $30 a pie.

A lot of reviews raving about their pizza but most are over a year old; so maybe new management? Regardless, not worth a second attempt from me when I can get tastier and cheaper pizza from Dominos a couple blocks away, or pop over to Drake’s if I want something...

Being from Philadelphia, I'm always on the lookout for a good stromboli, and this is the best I've found in East Bay, not that there is much competition. The dough is just right (i.e., not crispy), and the fillings traditional, with one exception: the sauce comes on the side, like with a calzone, instead of being incorporated. Either way is legit, but I far prefer the former. Also, their dipping sauce isn't great, and there isn't much. Since it has usually cooled quite a bit by the time I get it home, I generally stir in a bit of pizza sauce before briefly reheating. It's difficult to find stromboli at all outside the Philly region, but despite my nitpicking, this is one of the best of the Bay. Expect it to take as long as a pizza to prepare, like 15–20 minutes, but it's worth it...