Calibasil Vietnamese Eatery

I have been back here at least a dozen times since my last review. This place is still awesome! I’m a huge fan!

Love having a place for phở on the north shore! Clean, quick, and friendly service.
Enjoy the phở and bahn mi! Great for a fast and affordable meal.

Vegetarians beware…
I ordered rice with tofu. I asked for extra veggies, because it wasn’t going to come with any, and they offered me a little broccoli. So it was a scoop of rice, small portion of fried tofu, little bit of broccoli and about half a button mushroom thinly sliced. And they didn’t give me the salad that it was supposed to come with. Everything was cold. I happily dumped the sweet chili sauce all over everything, before finding out it had fish sauce in it. I had ruined my own plate of food because I didn’t think to check the sweet chili sauce. To be fair, I did not say anything to the staff because I felt that it was my mistake. But WHO gives fish sauce to someone who has ordered a vegetarian meal?

Fresh ingredients, inexpensive, piping hot, delicious… What else can I say? This place is really excellent for «fast food.» No drive through, thank goodness, or I might be getting this every day on my way home from work.
I got the beef (regular, not brisket) with extra scallion and extra cilantro. Exceptional.

This place is great. Good prices, amazing quality of food. They are wonderful people although the second time I was there it was taking a while because they were clearly understaffed. Working in the restaurant industry on the weekends I couldn’t help but to relate to them. Even understaffed they brought be everything I asked for and at the same great quality as if they had a full staff working. Will be back!

Nice atmosphere, great service, great banh sandwich i ever ate here i new england, better then a lot of banh mi sandwich shops in California in Vietnamese areas

LOVE IT!!! I have eaten here almost every day for the past two weeks. I just can’t get enough of this!
The concept is like a Vietnamese fast casual which is pretty cool because it’s not like anything I’ve ever seen before. You can customize everything that goes in your phở, bahn mi, vermicellie etc. All the veggies are fresh and you can get as much as you desire which is amazing. Very unique compared to other phở places and the food tastes very authentic just like my family makes back in Vietnam. I am a health nut and this really is the place to treat yourself without adding to your waistline. I also have a Gluten allergy so it’s really hard to find good gluten free food at restaurants but their entire menu is gluten free (with the exception of the bread and egg rolls) which is amazing and basically unheard of!
Friendly staff and a clean environment and great prices for my college-​student budget. I would recommend the rare beef phở, the shrimp spring rolls and the Thai iced tea… since its basically my go to meal. I also love the smoothies, avocado being my absolute favorite.

Have gone here many times now and love it! The place is very clean my favorite items are the fresh spring rolls and the avacado smoothie there phở is great too! I am curious though if they have a low sodium broth? would love to take my friend with me but she can’t have a lot of salt

This place is great. Quick, cheap and delicious. The bahn mi was really good and fresh with the right amount of spice and pickles. The chicken spring roll was also fresh and tasty. The phở was amazing, broth was excellent and meat was tender and delicious. Can’t beat the prices here. No longer do I come to this plaza for chipotle, now I only come for calibasil. Highly recommend this place and I hope they do well and continue to stay open.

Just tried this for the first time when I was in town visiting for Thanksgiving. Their spring rolls and phở are out of this world. The peanut dipping sauce is some of the best I’ve ever tasted. I would highly recommend them and the vegetarian phở. I’m not a vegetarian and I can’t say that I eat tofu on the regular, but the texture and flavor of the tofu here are great. You can really taste how fresh all of their ingredients are. I liked it so much that I ate there twice during my trip.

The banh mi sandwich is an addictive thing– beware! (One banh mi is not enough… and once you’ve had one, you can’t stop thinking about when you can get more!)
For that reason, since my move to the North Shore from Boston about 2 years ago, I have strategized ways, reasons, excuses to go into the city in order to get the sandwiches I used to consume at least once a week, if not more than once a week.
When I heard Calibasil was opening in the North Beverly plaza near my house, I began the countdown to when I could begin eating these delicious sandwiches again on a regular basis.
I’m not sure what it is about them… the creamy delicious homemade mayonnaise, the fresh assortment of vegetables and crunch, the warm and crusty bread with a soft interior, or the strong, flavorful marinade in which the meat soaks in order to give it a bite of perfection, every time.
For this reason, my husband and I are creatures of habit and get at least a banh mi (OR TWO, unfortunately for the waistline) at every visit. We have also been pleased with the phở (pronounced «FUH» to be correct), although it’s not the best I’ve ever had in my life (I have Vietnamese friends who have taken me to some amazing authentic places on the west coast and have cooked for me)… but certainly better than the alternative of not having Vietnamese cuisine in Beverly.
The owner is incredibly nice. The service is quick (unfortunately a bit slower than Chipotle– my only semi «complaint», because usually I’m famished when I arrive), and the restaurant concept is a breath of fresh air for Beverly (generally inundated with sub shops and pizza shops on every corner).
We will continue to visit this establishment on a very regular basis and are thankful they landed here in Beverly.

Authentic, fresh and tasty! The staff is super (no pun intended) attentive. Love this place for Phở in my backyard, no need to treck to Chinatown anymore!

This place is amazing. The food is fresh, fast, and healthy. The workers are incredibly kind. Vietnamese food is my absolute favorite and I’m so glad to have a local place now! Get the mango smoothie!

The food is super fresh and delish. We had chicken Phở and shrimp spring rolls. Service was friendly and prompt. The restaurant is very clean. A great first visit! We will be back :)

Stumbled on this place heading to Chipotle right next door — which was appropriate — think Chipotle but Vietnamese! Line service, fast, you can choose fixings you want /​don’t want, open seating, etc — layout JUST like a Chipotle. And right next door!
Phở beef brisket with all fixings was great — I added some jalapeños to give it some kick. And awesome shrimp spring rolls. Super fresh and tasty!
Smoothies look amazing but I am FULL! Next time. Two TV’s were not loud as someone noted — on mute — so maybe they fixed that. Service super fast and friendly. Bathroom clean too! I live near Chinatown Boston and this is as good as anywhere — Le’s too — and CLEAN! :) You will NOT be disappointed here!

After migrating to the North Shore from Worcester I was seriously missing good phở, and Vietnamese iced coffee. CaliBasil easily met my needs for both!
I ordered chicken phở with a shrimp spring roll and was absolutely delighted. The food was super fresh and broth was flavorful but didn’t feel like I was drinking sea water. The spring rolls were probably the best I’ve had in the north shore, with tender vermicelli, lots of shrimp, and fresh herbs.
Best of all was the iced coffee. Stronger than any of the others I’ve had up here – and it looked like it was made with condensed milk instead of half and half – perfection!
Definitely more CaliBasil in my future.

Honestly, best bowl of phở I’ve had (aside from homemade of course). Yes it’s not your typical sit down, order your food and have it delivered to your table type of restaurant. Your typical phở restaurant is actually doing the same thing preparing your bowl of phở in the back of their kitchen, but the plus side here is that you can see it made! And it’s fast!
Had the avocado smoothie and it was just as good as DK (every smoothie lover knows what I’m talking about). Also had the Thai tea and was made just right. Not to sweet.
I ordered some banh mi sandwiches to go, haven’t tried them yet but I’m sure it’s delicious!
Will definitely be back!

Place is «as good as it gets» for what is it — good line service fast food (al la Chipotle). Better than Green Papaya, great prices (Phở, half banh mi and fountain soda with refills for under $ 10), lots of options, clean, friendly staff and management. Also, they’re open 7 days a week until 10pm — good news for people traveling home late. Most importantly I found the food delicious. Phở was very flavorful, good size, lots of add-​ins, and not too salty. The banh mi was great too — french bread, veggies, fresh meat (I caught a glimpse of an old guy cooking it on the grill in the back).
I’ve eaten at a lot of Vietnamese places in the Boston area is this is just one step below Le’s which I consider the best, understandable as this isn’t a sit down restaurant and not in the city. The only negative thing was the service was slowish but I won’t knock them a star because they’re new, figuring our their staff and the flow of things which I’m sure they will soon. Also to their credit they are looking to hire so service will only get better.
I really hope this place stays around.

I’ve been keeping my out there for an Asian eatery that has healthier fare and have always been disappointed. Fortunately, I had a chance to try CaliBasil a couple of days ago and could not be more blown away. My boyfriend and I on the first day of their opening had 2 Phở Bowls, fresh spring rolls and a smoothie.
Phở Bowls
Overall we both loved our Phở Bowls. The broth was hearty and the rice noodles perfectly cooked. I got the beef brisket and my boyfriend had the chicken. My only qualm with the chicken was that it lacked flavor and was quite simply a cooked piece of chicken. The brisket had a more appetizing taste as its fat density added to its flavor.
Fresh Spring Rolls
These were some of the most well prepared spring rolls I have had. You get a choice between a fresh and a fried spring roll. Then you have a choice of meat (we got the shrimp and fried pork). As we bit into the rolls, they did not rip and were bursting with fresh herbs, rice vermicelli, and shrimp.
UPDATE: On day 2 we got 1 Banh Mi Sandwich, a Phở bowl, and Fried Spring Rolls
Banh Mi Special Sandwiches
The sandwich I ordered was their special (Vietnamese Ham with Pâté). The bun was perfectly toasted and the Vietnamese ham and pâté perfectly paired with the fresh herbs, jalapeño, and garlic mayo. Upon biting into the sandwich I was surprised that there were stems of the cilantro in the sandwich, although this is not normal I adjusted as I continued eating the sandwich.
Fried Spring Rolls
These were crispy and bursting with flavor and paired very well with the sweet and sour, as well as the Tamarind sauce in the condiment section (a dark brown sauce).
Smoothies
I’ve tried both the mango and strawberry smoothie and both were delicious. After watching the employees, I could see they were pouring a mystery liquid from a bottle and mixing it with ice and some sort of milk. After going online and doing research, I can not find out what is in these smoothies. This is a bit of a let down, as I consume smoothies largely for their health benefits and it would be nice to know what is going into my drink. I guess I’ll have to ask next time.
UPDATE 10÷25÷15
I asked on their Facebook page what was in the smoothies and the managers let me know the basic ingredients. Tart yogurt, fruit purée, and ice.

We managed to find out that CaliBasil was doing a soft grand opening and decided to get in on the action. We love us some phở and this was some phở to love.
First off, it’s a line service type of joint, think Chipotle or Subway but serving up hot phở, bahn mi, bun, or rice. They have some killer specials for the grand opening which makes their already low priced food a killer deal. Regular prices will have you leaving with a fat belly at lunch for $ 10. Not bad. If you spend $ 15 you’ll have to be rolled back to work. Anyway, you walk the line and ask for you toppings, at the end of the line they ring you up, you squirt your condiments, get your soda, and eat in or leave. Easy.
The phở is pretty darn good. We were surprised at how good the broth was considering it’s a chain. It isn’t homemade, but it’s really good. It is full of flavor and if you ask for loads of basil, they give you loads of basil. The noodles were perfectly cooked, the toppings plentiful, and the bahn mi was awesome. As for toppings they have plentiful sriracha, garlic chili, hoisin, and a few other sauces. Whatever, skip the sriracha and dive deep into the garlic chilli sauce, it’s the hot sauce for everything on your plate.
Anyway, the food is good. The food is plentiful. The food is inexpensive.
Given that it was a grand opening, it alternated between a clusterfluff, and smooth operations. The lady training people seemed a bit over attentive, but I’m sure the kinks will get worked out. Over the next few months expect them to be crazy busy and go during off hours. But do go and fill your belly with some delicious cheap eats.
They have 2 big screen TVs and it is loud. I’m not sure if it is loud because of the general din of the place or the design.