Nonna Rosa (Now Basil & Bourbon - New Ownership) — Restaurant in South Carolina

After living in Italy for 4 years, 32 years ago, I don't eat Italian in the USA. My wife wanted Italian and begged me to take her. I half-heartedly search the choices for Italian restaurants and this seemed to have the best chance of authenticity and taste.

You all!!! This place was amazing. The atmosphere reminds me just of an Italian restaurant overseas. This is like the front part of a restaurant where the mafia brings their family for dinner and celebrations lol. The place is nice and cozy!

The food choices are very similar to what you would see in Italy.... not like a lot of fakes with everything coming with some version of a tomato based sauce....or appetizers that don't have antipasti, calamari, bruschetta, etc.

The owner is very active in the store, meaning he's seating folks, taking orders, and talking with guests, in between bites of food at the bar. This guy is from Naples, about 2 hours north of where I used to live. I mean, this guy is so authentic, you can barely understand his English if you're not used to foreign accents.

The service was excellent.... the food is superb...I ate so fast, my 11 year old son made fun of me! I'll definitely be going back! After reading some other reviews, I felt it necessary to comment on the wait time to get your food. Our appetizer was a cold dish, so it arrived fast. Our meals were hot plates, so it took barely longer than expected of a typical wait time at other restaurants. Keep in mind, 1, we were seated about 15 minutes before it got a little crowded. 2, the food was freshly made, so it wasn't the reheated food you...

We read many of the reviews of this restaurant before deciding to make a reservation on my birthday. We spent the day eating out, that’s how I wanted to spend the day. At 81 and with poor weather for Golf I decided I wanted a culinary day. Lunch was Italian and a light lunch. They sang happy birthday to me and presented me with a fantastic chocolate desert gratis. Service was wonderful as was the food.

In the evening we went Italian again only this time we had a heavier meal complete with cocktails. The dessert was a Bomba that was also chocolate. Excellent dessert complete with a candle, however it was not free as had the lunch meal been ( first restaurant ever to charge for a dessert on my birthday or my wife’s). The service was excellent, the food plentiful, even though another review said it was not. That person must be a very big eater. I too am a lover of food and lots of it. We had enough for us to take home a doggy bag for lunch the next day.

All in all a pleasant evening. Oh, did I say we had a great waitress. Her name was Kassandra, that’s with a “k”, not a c. Would we go back? I believe we will, just not on an anniversary or birthday. The price had nothing to do with my comment about it not being free. It just surprised us that they thought to put a candle on it and then charged for it. That was our only negative thought about Nonna Rosa. I’m sure management can afford to spring for a dessert on a...

Went here for dinner on a Saturday evening with my husband, daughter and my parents. We didn't make a reservation, as nowhere online recommended it. After waiting a few minutes at the entrance, we were greeted and told they might not have availability. After another few minutes we were told yes, but it would be a 15 minute wait, so we chose to stay, as other reviews said the food was worth it. Once seated our server came to take our drink orders and apologized for the upcoming wait. He said he'd bring our bread (never got any cause they ran out and the kitchen wasn't making anymore). The chef did seem frustrated and raised his voice a few times. Another customer lost her cool when she was waiting for her pickup order. We ordered the fried mozzarella, bruschetta, a side salad, chicken parmesan, and spaghetti and meatballs. Everything was amazing. Delicious food. The sauce and meatballs are fresh and everything was cooked perfectly. We will definitely be back, but will make reservations for a less busy day/time. It's a typical problem with the Bluffton/HHI area, a lack of good, hard-workers. Our server was busting his butt all night!! They need to hire more help, but, I know from experience, that is almost impossible in this area. You hire 20 people and get 3 or 4 really good ones and only 2 that end up staying longer...