Basil Leaf Cafe — Restaurant in Town of Oyster Bay

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, we aren’t from Long Island but after going to an event there, my husband and I decided to pick a random restaurant, for us to have a proper meal, as opposed to getting a drive-thru and eating in the car. And that’s how we ended up in this restaurant.

When we got there, I approached a staff and asked for a table for 2 please. This gentleman looked at me from head to toe before saying “okay” with an uncertain tone, there was this evident shock on his face. By the way, my husband and I are of Asian and Spanish race and we both have dark brown skin color. We ordered our food, and as we were waiting, I noticed the rest of the customers were all Caucasian looking and very well-off looking. We were the couple with the darkest skin color in there that day.

This other gentleman, who I assume was the restaurant manager - wearing a coat, busy walking back and forth and greeting other customers as they come and go, going from table to table - didn’t even stop at our table to ask if the food or everything was okay.

The food was okay, nothing too “special” I would consider, if anything, that place is a must go for the vibe as it is a pretty cute restaurant with nice outdoor seatings. But getting that kind of treatment made our vibe about the place totally off. They don’t seem to value and appreciate the diversity of customers. What a turn off!

And also, who serves soda in what seemed to be a tiny goblet? My husband loves soda with his meal and he was served this goblet which can be emptied in one sipping. He had to order two. I say, charge the customers however you feel is necessary for a soda, but please serve it in a proper glass. I ordered for spaghetti with clams and white sauce, only spaghetti with clams on top was served, there’s no white sauce. The description may as well be “spaghetti with clam and clear sauce”, that would’ve made a perfect sense and set a proper expectations!

I will not recommend this restaurant and we certainly aren’t...

just don't know where to start.. we made a reservation at this restaurant as it was close to a relative's house and we wanted to meet them for dinner. I had a reservation for 7:30. We got there to find the place very crowded. It is a small restaurant with very little room to move. We stood at the bar and had a drink. The ONLY good thing about this place was the bartender. He is very nice. I asked the mgr. at around 8pm. How much longer it may be. He said we were next. Great! There was a table paying that was by the bar. The mgr. walked past the table called my name and said "next". Well, much to our surprise, after the table was cleared, he sat other people there! When I questioned what he did, he told me that we had to request a table in the bar area when we called. How the Hell would I know that! I didn't know that there was a seating hierarchy. We were given a table in the main building, which apparently is the less desirable area. The entrance area stunk of mothballs. The small dining area was extremely loud. I now know why it is the less desirable dining room. The waiters were stressed and overwhelmed. We were given menus, we sat, and sat, he never came back. I had to flag him to take our order. If we wanted something, we had to flag the waiter. I had the macaroni and meat sauce. It was good, not great. My husband on the other hand, had the spaghetti and white clam sauce. Well, it was spaghetti with clams on top, no sauce to speak of. How the heck,can you screw that up? It is an Italian staple. Needless to say, I will not return and will not...

I was excited to finally visit this establishment and take my parents out to a cute restaurant. When we arrived we weren’t hungry for food because we had eaten earlier so we decided to just get dessert. The restaurant was cute and my parents were really excited. Once I asked for just the dessert menu, my server looked shocked and got the manager / owner. The manager told us that this was not okay but he’ll let it slide this ONE time, next time we had to get dinner.

I was shocked but didn’t want to argue because I just wanted to have a nice time with my family. I have never in my life been instructed as to what I was required to order or not allowed to order at a restaurant. My mom felt extremely uncomfortable and offended as if we were accused of doing something wrong.

Next time, if you’re going to serve us regardless consider saying nothing. I thought the establishment was really cute and came here to spend my hard earned money on your menu items. It was our first time visiting and all of us felt uncomfortable the entire time and instead of gaining potential customers you’ve...