Basil Thai Restaurant

exceptional!!! We stayed in Paseo for Valentines weekend and actually went to dinner twice because we loved the service and FOOD so much

*Sad Trombone*
Expensive. Small potions. Crappy service. Why in the world would someone eat here when they could take a lovely walk across the park and eat at a REAL Thai place instead?

I love this place. I always get the same thing, and it’s always delicious. The Thai tea is delicious too.

We ate here 4 years ago and we were pleased to find them still around when we came back to Paso on a visit. The food was good, not stupendous, but tasty and reasonably priced. They can be very busy, so I would suggest a reservation.

Best thai place i have ever had or what. their specials are great. we had the oxtail soup it was so flavorful. And entrée banana leaves salmon. again flavor in a wrapper. and icing on the cake was coconut crème brûlée. a must try place in paso robles

Basil gets the top rating. I have been coming here since they opened and they started out with a bang, and then kind of fizzled out. But they are back at the top of their game these days! We went for a work luncheon and the menu was spectacular. I definitely recommend them for groups of 15 – 20. We didn’t share, ordered individual entrees. They have such creative menu items, in addition to the traditional Thai favorites like soups, noodles and curries. One such dish is an appetizer called «golden bags». Not sure I like the name, but they are different and delicious! Small bite-​sized dumplings wrapped in thin pastry similar to phyllo, with a light curried sweet potato filling. Deep fried to a golden brown. So delicious. And if they have the shrimp dumplings on the menu, get those too. They are wrapped in a rice wrapper which gives them a nice chewy texture, filled with a ground shrimp mixture, steamed perfectly. I chose something new for my entrée. Very amateur because I don’t remember the name, but it was so unique. Sort of a Thai-​Italian fusion. Rice noodles in the shape of spaghetti with a lovely green curry (looked like pesto). Then topped with breaded, deep fried eggplant, broccoli and shrimp. Other highlights were a sesame noodle dish and a beef soba. It wouldn’t be a five-​star review without superior service. Kenny was our server for the luncheon and he was awesome. But, I’ve been many times and all of the ladies and fine gentlemen there are prompt and attentive. Their wine list is approachable, with plenty the better local selections. If you’re in the mood for hot tea, the Thai hot tea is also offered. Same flavor as the rich iced tea, but less strong and with no milk. I am very glad Basil has rolled with the punches and graces our downtown.

Two guests accompanied us here and all agreed this was a true treat. The food and service were excellent. Nothing like Tom Kha Gai on a cool Autumn or cold winter night! Everything we ordered exceeded our expectations. I don’t know about others, but Thai food seems the most consistently good, so I’m thrilled to find a Thai restaurant a notch above the norm.

This is our second time here… damn it’s great. Started with the Crying Tiger appetizer. The meat is so tender and the sauce is flavorful and spicy. I dig the wine selection that focuses on local vineyards. Their wine selection matches very well with their offerings. My son had the Pork Osso Bucco, super interesting flavors. I had the chicken in pepper and garlic sauce, super yummy. I highly recommend Basil!!! Cheers!

We popped in for a quick bite and ended staying for a while. The food was so great, the wait staff we friendly and knowledgeable, and the ambiance is very comfortable. The flavors were all subtle and nothing we had was over done. The ice tea was cold and the food came out hot. I will be back every time I come to Paso.

First time here for lunch and the service was good and the food was hot from kitchen. Not that crowed at 1:00 but the rush must have been over. The food was spicy and mild very tasty. Our lunches cost $ 12 and came with soup and small salad. I would definitely come back

Absolutely loved this place. Excellent service, outstanding food, lovely atmosphere. Saved room for a beautiful and amazing coconut crème brûlée

This place gets a 4 because they have good service and the Banana Leaf Salmon with coconut rice is fan-​freakin-​tastic. I, however, did not order this dish. I got the Crispy Basil Chicken and it was not something I would recommend. It’s equivalent to the Chinese Orange Chicken from a fast food place. But I’m going to take the hit on this one.
Since my boyfriend ordered the Salmon, was nice enough to share it with me and I absolutely loved it, I’d still recommend this place. But maybe you should skip out on the Basil Chicken. Mine is currently in a to-​go box that will only be eaten if I wake up starving after drinking more wine tonight.
A scout always prepares.

Loved this restaurant! Great thai selections and decent wine and beers on taps.
I had the basil chicken and my husband has the prawns and veggies. We will definitely be back next time we’re in town.

The first thing I noticed was how empty it was and then after the five minutes it took to get service including the menus I saw the menu was worn and torn in places.
Basically I was very unimpressed with the service. There was two servers, a blonde and an extremely rude latina. It took five minutes in an empty restaurant to get water.
Asked for a runny fried egg that came with a side of attitude when I asked to be more runny. They took another five minutes to redo the egg, meanwhile the dish got cold.
It didn’t taste good and I won’t recommend or come back. There are better Thai places and this one has gone downhill. The only good thing was the Crying Tiger appetizer which I have a picture of, but I wasn’t there for that and even that took a while to come out.

Beautiful little spot with intricately carved flowery tree in doorway that inspired me to post my first Unilocal pic.
But really what inspired me to go above and beyond for this pretty space is the excellent service thus far. I was greeted with friendliness and given menus for a taken out order.
It isn’t easy eating vegan generally but here its a breeze! Most dishes come with choice of meats, tofu, or mixed vegetables. That’s right with both tofu and vegetables as an option on many dishes, tons of options. I love that I don’t have to avoid tofu which I tend to eat sparingly and rarely. Plus the friendly service was very knowledgeable steering me away from I options made with fish sauce.
I highly, highly recommend Basil Thai, and I haven’t even tasted the food yet! Probably the best bet for vegan eaters visiting Paso Robles. And fast for take out!
Was four stars before tasting the food now five. Sure it isn’t the cheapest food option, but you get what you pay for. The dish with young peppercorns was astoundingly good. I’d never seen young peppercorns before, and they were delicious. The golden bags were amazing too. Everything was fantastic.

More like a 3.75, not quite a 4 because of the price. On the expensive side for Thai food.
That said, everything we had was delicious, except for the Thai Spring Rolls, which were bland w/​an unimpressive dipping sauce. Hubby loved the Red Curry Chicken & I was impressed w/​my Sweet Crispy Basil w/​Chicken. Each of these dishes can be ordered w/​choice of meat or tofu. Additionally, you may order any dish as spicy as you would like or not at all. My Sweet Crispy Basil w/​Chicken was described as lightly breaded, which I would agree w/​. Unlike other dishes at restaurants like PF Chang’s, who describe dishes that way, but they come out kind of wet & soggy, this breeding made it crunchy & stiff (in a good way) w/​a sweet & spicy kick to it. Probably because I ordered it spicy. Pretty sure it was the lunch special, due to the time of day, which came w/​a small side salad w/​Asian style sesame dressing, a crunchy wonton wafer & hot/​sour soup. Picture I included doesn’t do the visual presentation well, since I had already started eating & shoveling my food around.
Also ordered the Thai iced tea, which was really good. Not too sweet. $ 48 w/​slightly more than a 20% tip. Only because the staff was super friendly & respectfully attentive, including clarifying my husband’s order to assist him in ordering what he wanted, not what he said.
Restrooms were old, but clean.
Convenient location in the middle of the city center, a couple blocks from the courthouse & city services, as well as all of the other restaurants, pubs & desert shops (Powell’s Sweet Shop, ColdStone Icecream & Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory).

Simply failed. Over the decades I have walked out of maybe 3 restaurants without ordering. This is one of them.
The words from their Unilocal ad are: «At Basil Thai you will be treated like an honored guest. Our friendly staff will ensure that your visit to Basil Thai Restaurant will not be forgotten.» HONORED guest??? In your dreams… Not be forgotten??? We were.
Greeted when we entered by a person who seated us and left five laminated menus for two people. Three of them were about other than meals. The greeter said nothing, offered nothing and walked away.
Looking around the large dining area we spotted five tables with a total of about 12 people. Three of the tables had been cleared of dishes and the guests were just talking. One table had a server and another server was at the kitchen window working on orders.
Mr. Greeter was occupied behind the bar and handing out take-​out bags to call-​in customers.
15 minutes of waiting resulted in about another 12 – 15 people being seated and 1 table placing their order. We looked around and saw one server shucking and jiving with the same table for well over 5 minutes.
FAIL. Never got water, utensils or a visit from a server to even ask what we wanted. As more tables, which were occupied after ours, started to place orders we made a decision.
Walked out.
Save your money, save your time. Stay away. There are plenty of properly run establishments nearby.

The ambiance is better than that of most thai restaurants. This is more spaced for 60 plus people. Nigel came hete! What you will notice is the large mirror with a naked woman. Try the papaya salad. It has a bite to it but really healthy ans made of lettuce shell topped with greens and tomatoes. lime as well. The sizzling bbq chicken was good. Fair enough. The service was average. Try this restaurant if you like something different in food fare.

Good, solid 3.
The staff was excellent and the ambiance was great.
The food was good, but not exceptional. It is a very Americanized, tame version of Thai. There was hardly any basil in our stir fried basil dish. But the flavor was good, albeit mild.
The Yam Nuea was also very good. They added pineapple to it, which I had never seen before but was quite tasty. My mom got a wonton soup; I thought it was bland but she loved it.
Will go back.

On our way back from Big Sur, we passed by Paso Robles to satisfy our Thai cuisine craving! We found parking (luckily) on the streets, and went inside for lunch. It happens to be the restaurant’s 10 year anniversary, so they are giving 10% off all meals.
We ordered:
(1) Pad eggplant with seafood combination $ 15 = so tasty! i love seafood in general, so this was the perfect combination of fish, shrimp, squid, and scallop, tossed with eggplant, basil, bell peppers in a savory chili sauce. yum, i ate it up so fast… it’s a bit embarrassing. :)
(2) Green curry with tofu $ 12 = my husband had this dish and thought it was delicious too; he is a fan of tofu so incorporated that into his entrée. green curry is supposedly more spicy than red/​yellow curry. his dish also came with eggplant. the curry was served in a bowl.
(3) Mango sticky rice $ 8 = we got this dessert to-​go and ate it back at home. it was the usual mango sticky rice that you can expect at any thai restaurant. it’s our go-​to dish whenever we are having thai dessert!
Each lunch entrée came with their ‘soup of the day” = Tom kha soup, a side of salad, and some pineapples.
If we ever visit Paso Robles again, we wouldn’t hesitate to come here for another meal!