BASTA — Restaurant in Thousand Oaks

Basta has opened a new restaurant in the heart of Thousand Oaks, across the street from Tarantula Hill Brewery. I had previously dined at the Basta in Agoura Hills at the Whizin Center. While I was never a fan of that location, a friend enjoyed it. I didn't dislike it, but I certainly wasn't a fan. Another friend suggested we try the new establishment in Thousand Oaks, so I thought, why not? It might be better.

We decided to have lunch and sat outside, where it was quite noisy due to the traffic on Thousand Oaks Boulevard. The weather was beautiful, with a slight breeze. At around 2 p.m., it seemed that we were the only patrons in the restaurant. The waiter came over to greet us and seated us very nicely. We ordered drinks, and he ran off the specials. I ordered the ravioli with mushrooms and garlic, which was good, while my friend chose the pappardelle with slow-braised meatballs made from beef, pork, ricotta, and Parmigiano, served with pomodoro​ sauce. She liked her dish as well. For dessert, we tried the Basta Tiramisu,​which is made with homemade biscotti, espresso, and mascarpone. It​ was acceptable. We enjoyed sitting outside for a while, soaking up the sun and good company. I appreciated that the restroom was clean and well-maintained. However, I believe the restaurant could enhance the experience by using cloth napkins and better wine glasses. Since it's supposed to be an authentic Italian restaurant, it seems inconsistent to skimp on the glassware and napkins. If they do use cloth napkins inside, it would be nice to carry that theme outdoors as well, as paper napkins tend to blow away in the wind. Drinking wine from a cheap glass feels similar to drinking it from a plastic cup—just saying. Overall, I had a pleasant experience, and I might consider visiting again;...

Reason for visiting: brother's birthday dinner

Date/time of visit: Saturday night, ~6:00 PM

Parking: Street parking, free. they offer valet too but there's plenty of parking. Not sure how much valet was. There's parking across the street for Tarantula Brewery; pretty sure you can park there and no one would know.

Party size: 5

Environment/ambience: busy; there's no reservations so you have to come in person. This Basta just recently opened (there's another one in Agoura Hills) so assume it's a little easier to get in here. 5 min wait but we came early.. around 5:45 - 6:00 PM. The Agoura location is usually an hour+ wait. It was ok at the start but got really stuffy and hot at the end. Restrooms are clean. Pretty busy overall. Small bar area with the NBA playoffs on. Indoor and outdoor seating.

Service: was great. He provided the specials, etc and recommended what we should order. Came around pretty often and refilled water (water was sooo good for some reason 😀). No complementary dessert for 50th birthday! 👎

Food: had the complimentary bread + vinegar and balsamic, Tagliatelle al Ragu, Fiorentine, Burrata + Beets, El Volti wine, Gnocchi, Salsiccia e Funghi Pizza, and the desserts, Lava Cake and Butter cake. Everything was good.

Cost: $450 with tip

Would I go back...

What a disaster ! We arrived at 9 pm and the restaurant was very busy , but it died very fast. We only ordered 1 appetizer and 2 salads with a bottle of wine . Half way through our salad , around 10:10 the server Ivan dropped the check ( we were still eating and didn't ask for it ) and in 10 min he came and said we had to pay other wise he could clock out and his manager would write him up. Then they proceed to close the restaurant not carrying at all at us. They were swiping the floor , moving chairs around, making even hard to walk through. I work at the industry and I understand very well how this things work, if the restaurant says they close at 10 PM, and they let us in at 9 , they should at least wait until their last guest finish their meal, but no... we felt very uncomfortable, like they were kicking us out. No manager were at the floor and that is probably one of the reasons why the staff were acting that way when there's still guest inside. The food was OK, nothing special but the service was Horrible, We were very excited to visit the place but will definitely never Come back. It's really unacceptable how the staff can close the restaurant with guest inside. If they want to close yearly then change their operation hours and don't...