Thai Basil Restaurant

I ordered yum won sen and the dish was very small with barely any chicken n maybe 4 shrimp barely noodles in it. Was very disappointed and for the price I should have eaten elsewhere.

Thai Basil used to be so good. Though that could’ve been before I knew what good Thai food tasted like. I have to believe they’re living purely off their name now. Coconut, Thai Canteen, Thai Orchid, and Bangkok on 12 are all superior in my opinion. The other restaurants are either cheaper, serve bigger portions, taste better, or all of the above. A group of 8 of us came here to introduce a friend to Thai food. Most of the food was decent. In terms of taste it was good enough for me to come back if a friend really wanted to go there after turning down my other suggestions. The pad si ew however was the worst I ever had. All I really tasted were plain rice noodles. Thai food and bland should never be said in the same sentence. It was hands down one of the worst noodle dishes I’ve ever had. The service at Thai Basil is still really good. Waters were filled without having to ask and all of our servers were friendly. Until Thai Basil makes some changes in the kitchen I highly encourage everyone to go to the other restaurants I mentioned.

One of my favorite Thai restaurants in Sacramento. The rice dishes are good, the drunken noodles are great and the Thai Tea is good. My favorite is the Pineapple rice. yum-​yum, Now if they can just get the Yum-​Tofu I would give it 4 stars!

I love thai food. Literally this is the only spot to go to!
Pad thai! With tofu… Mmmm!
Also, wish they delivered a little further then the bike service.

Beef Drunken Noodles here is absolutely the best Thai Dish I have had. Service is usually stellar even on the busy nights and most everything on the menu is pretty darn good. We had Samosas here last weekend and they fresh and wonderful, heavy in the center with a crispy fluffy crust.
Hard to beat this place, I wish I could give 4 ½ stars b/​c every once in a while they put the wrong order in. Considering I have only been 7 or 8 times this has happened more than a couple, it can get a little annoying. Just something to make sure to confirm your order before they head to the kitchen.

Love this place! The nf1 and NF5 are great! Excellent service. Will be back. ************************??!

The food tasted pretty good. The portion sizes were nice and large and all of our entrees had a lot of flavor.

Thai Basil is okay. This was another regular stop in high school. Too bad it’s kind of expensive. It is in midtown after all.
The restaurant is decorated nicely as I recall, and outdoor seating is nice too. Good atmosphere. Service was on the slow side. Maybe it’s changed. Feel weird writing a review since I haven’t been there in years but it’s just one among many I s’pose.
Being vegan I tried most of their vegetarian dishes. Average for Thai food. Customer service was nothing special. There’s better places you could be going for Thai especially in midtown.

After revisiting this place a couple of times recently, I must say that their customer service has definitely improved! However, I tried the chicken larb a few weeks ago and was quite disappointed. It was overwhelmingly salty to the point where I left the plate untouched. Nevertheless, I still love my Thai Basil’s Grill dish and the Thai Iced Teas are super yummy!

Went to Coconut across the street only to find them closed. Came here to grab a quick lunch. The place is spacious and much bigger than coconut. They offer patio seating. The service here is very fast and on point. I was in and out in less than 30 minutes. They were also honest regarding their sweet thai ice tea. I don’t like when its that sweet. I got a rice dish with a side of beef and veggies. At first it looks like its too little but maybe due to the brown rice I was full after eating half. A bit too msg-​y for me but overall not bad.
Restroom is pretty clean.
Street parking
10% off if you check in on Unilocal

Great service, food was awesome. Went for dinner by myself. I’m a Thai restaurant regular. This is good quality. My server Tony was great!

This restaurant used to be one of my go to Thai restaurants. Not sure if I just came here on a bad night but the service was very slow and my friend’s soup was cold when it arrived. She had to send it back and ask that they reheat it. Although she asked for the soup to be spicy, it barely had any heat to it. The fried rice was okay but not very flavorful. It didn’t have the strong flavor I usually expect when I order Thai Fried Rice.

I recently discovered Thai Basil on one of those group food walking tours. After trying it on the tour, I think it’s arguably one of the best Thai restaurants in Sacramento.
We got to try the drunken noodles, both the vegetarian one and another with chicken. Both were really good, but I surprisingly thought the vegetarian was better. It had really good flavor and was a little more spicy. Also, I learned that the noodles are made from scratch daily in house… they tasted noticeably fresher and more pillowy!
On a more recent visit, I tried the green curry with chicken. I was initially worried because it was a bit runnier than most curries, but ended up really enjoying it. It had a lot of depth and was packed with veggies. I would definitely get it again.
The restaurant itself has a pretty calm and mellow ambiance. I also noticed that they have an outdoor patio area which I bet would be great for those warm Sacramento evenings. I am looking forward to my next meal at Thai Basil already!

Stopped here on Saturday for a late afternoon snack. We tried the Pad-​Kee-​Mow (Drunken Noodles). Delicious… great noodles, spiced perfectly with lettuce and bean sprouts. You should try it. We will return.

Maybe I just don’t like Thai food but it just isn’t good… I had the «drunken noodles» and maybe you have to be drunk to enjoy it but it wasn’t good… The wifey got some kind of a beef fried rice that was alright but didn’t warrant the 9 $ price tag. However the ambiance was cool and the outside eating was a treat. Out server Alexis was nice…
Oh and another thing. This is my PET PEEVE!!! They sell sodas for $ 2.75 for a can… Yes one can with no free refills. Are you freaking kidding me?!
Never mind ONE STAR!

In my effort to find the best pad thai Sacramento has to offer, I began my search at Thai Basil, which Sacramento News and Review rated the apex of our city’s Thai cuisine. I ordered (over the phone) the meat-​filled Po Pia Tod (fried spring rolls) in addition to a large chicken pad thai, and the server was efficient and direct in taking down my order.
When I arrived fifteen minutes later, as directed, I found my food beautifully packaged in a monogrammed paper bag. Within it, the spring rolls were placed atop the larger brown box containing the pad thai, the uppermost flaps of the take-​out container seductively opened to provide a view of 4 large, evenly brown cylinders.
These spring rolls were excellent. Perfectly cooked, they were much firmer than most spring or egg rolls I’ve encountered, many of which fell apart after being stabbed with a fork. These held their shape, but when bit, were flakey and crunchy as a good fried spring roll should be. Included in the box was a sweet and sour sauce, bright orange, with flecks of spice floating in it. The sauce was much thinner than spring roll sauce tends to be, but was very flavorful — taste triumphs over consistency. All in all, the spring rolls were the best I’ve had in Sacramento.
The same cannot be said for the pad thai. Like the spring rolls, the pad thai looked beautiful, orange-​tinted rice noodles mixed with large chicken pieces and tofu chunks. Atop the noodle pile were green onion stalks, and in opposite corners were stacked mung bean sprouts and chopped peanuts. However, the taste of the pad thai did not live up to its presentation. Something was missing in the taste: It fell flat. The flavor was mostly rice noodle, not the sweet tamarind taste I’ve come to associate with pad thai. Additionally, there was little scrambled egg (maybe none?), which tends to add a richness to the noodles. Regardless, the chicken was fine, though a tad rubbery, as was the tofu. To top it off, the portion size was on the small side, despite my having ordered the large.
In summary, while the Po Pia Tod surprised me with its excellence, I found myself disappointed with my pad thai. My quest for Sacramento’s best continues.

I had somewhat high expectations for this place as it came highly recommended. However, I felt that there is a better Thai restaurant in Elk Grove, and I expected more authentic flavors from this restaurant.
Tip: Make sure you specify whether you want a SMALL or LARGE size, otherwise you’ll get a larger size by default, which is better for sharing rather than for one person.
: Tung-​tong: Similar to fried spring rolls but with a meatball inside. I prefer the style with chunks of meat and vegetables rather than meatballs.
: Pad See Ew: Too watery and salty. After being graced with the pad see ew from the Thai Basil in Berkeley (different owner), most other pad see ew just doesn’t really compare. The noodles were a light brown color rather than the dark brown that it should be. They didn’t use nearly a hot enough wok or add enough pepper, and there was too much salt and sugar.
Others at my table ordered the curry chicken and the Nuah-​Yang, which looked passable. I didn’t try them for myself though.
The prices were very reasonable with most dishes at around the $ 10 mark for dinner. There were some specials in the high teens, but for the most part, it shouldn’t cost more than $ 15 per person if you order small entrees. Nice that they offer both indoor and outdoor seating.

We have been here in the past and we remember the food being good. This time we were greatly disappointed! :(
We ordered the Panang curry, pad sei eww and fried rice. The curry was good, the favor was great but the portion was really small for $ 14. There’s no veggie of any type in the curry. The pad sei eww came COLD and the portion was really small for $ 14. We pretty much paid for a lunch potion and they told us this was large. The fried rice had an okay favor, it was a mix with brown rice and white rice.
I would go somewhere else because it was just all around disappointing! There are much better Thai prices that are far better than this place. Sorry! Hope you guys improve on your portion size and quality of food.

In the heart of Midtown Sacramento, there’s this local restaurant that makes the finest Thai food in the region. It’s called, «Thai Basil.» Thai Basil is a Thai restaurant where you can experience the exotic flavors of Thailand. I’ve been to this restaurant for the first time 2 – 3 years ago when I was 22 years old during my birthday with my father and my sister. As I returned, I revisited this place last week for an another try. The atmosphere is very remarkable and quiet showing all the artifacts and souvenirs from Thailand. Of course, everything is very clean and heartwarming.
The service is well received as I welcomed. No issues or problems at all!
For the food ordering process, I ordered the most signature Thai dish, «Pad Thai». In this dish, I can choose any protein like chicken, pork, steak, or tofu, so I chose chicken for my Pad Thai order. As the meal arrived 10 minutes later, the display looked fantastic although in some cases, they’ve even added an another protein, tofu altogether with chicken! I’ve never realized about it, so I have no problem about it because I can eat anything. So far, the Pad Thai after I mixed it up, it tasted very good, yet it’s closely sweeten from that sauce through my mouth as I ate. Otherwise, as I mentioned, it’s a fine meal.
The parking can be harder across J Street. You can park at the surface side street parking for 2 hours stay. Otherwise, you can bike, transport by transit, or walk there in no time.
In the end, Thai Basil is a great, finest Thai restaurant that every residents of Sacramento will enjoy the taste of Thailand. Highly recommend! A worthy visit!

So I consider myself some sort of Thai conisueur because I have spent time in Thailand & have tried out many Thai restaurants. Anyway, I was just meh about this place. I know this place is always busy, but the service wasn’t that great. We sat for an extended amount of time before we were greeted by our server!
One thing that I did like was the menu size. They had a fairly extensive menu which was amazing to choose from. Down fall, everything is sitting on top a bed of romaine lettuce. Like, what? I don’t want lettuce under my drunken noodles.
The portion sizes weren’t that great and the food was just okay. The coconut in midtown (another Thai restaurant and across the street) is way better, in my opinion.

I came with fellow Unilocaler Patrick M to Thai Basil for lunch on a rainy Thursday. It was packed inside with almost all tables filled and had a nice clean modern vibe.
Service was nice and attentive. I ordered the Drunken Noodles with Tofu and Patrick ordered the Grill Nuah-​Yang which came with Marinated Sirloin and Brown Rice.
I thought prices were a little high for the amount of food that you got. Mine was about $ 9.00 and his was about $ 12.00 which is on the high side for lunch with smaller portions.
With that being said, I really enjoyed my Drunken Noodles! I thought they had a really good depth of flavor and were spicy but not too spicy where they masked the other flavors in the dish. I would definitely order it again. I believe my dining companion also liked his meal, but again, was a super small portion.
I would come back to Thai Basil again when in the area. Next time I might try dinner (where my Drunken Noodles goes up to $ 12) to see if the portions are any larger where I can get some leftovers.