Sweet Basil Cafe of Skokie

This is one of the worst breakfast places I’ve ever been to. The food was not fresh and don’t even get me started on the presentation of the food. It was horrible. We should’ve known better when we showed up and the place was empty, But what made it inviting was the server and that’s the place looked clean, but it’s not worth all the money that they are charging and the food is completely trash. I would never ever return to this place and I would never recommend this place to anyone. For the skillet, the meat was so stiff and the hashbrowns were extremely overcooked and for the crêpes it was like they put a whole tub of Nutella inside of them and just threw Nutella on top. We couldn’t even eat the food

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 1

Service: 3

Our waitress Taylor was wonderful. We will come back whenever we’re nearby!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Open from 8am-8pm Tuesday through Sunday
Now open for Dinner
Rib and pasta specials Friday and Saturdays
BYOB
Free Smoothie with purchase of a meal
We look forward to serving you and making your time here great!!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

I reviewed this restaurant with 5 stars a while ago and it used to be great. There was one waiter and one waitress who were very friendly and very professional! That was then and now after my last experience which was similar to a lot of the other negative reviews!

Very rude waitress, very dirty floor under our table, not nearly ready for customers when they open at 8:00, no cash in cash register so I had to pay with credit card and just generally a horrible breakfast experience!!

We used to go regularly and now I won’t be returning!!Steer Clear!!

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 2

Can't tell you what happened here. Open sign, cars in parking lot, customers seated inside but rudely greeted and told not taking anymore customers today. Poor way to handle this first impression. Won't be coming back for a second impression. Not even apologetic!

Terrible service and food.

I went with my aunt the food was nothing special the was horrible
I ask for bacon and she said ok 15 went by finish my breakfast my auntie ask me where my bacon was I said the probably went to the farm to catch the piggy
So we asked her where was my bacon and she said ooooooo it was still cooking🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️
the server with the tattoos was very rude and was not she what I order
I would not recommend nothing special about the place

WARNING DO NOT GO HERE!!The place was dirty, there was dirty silverware and dishes, the workers didn’t seem surprised at the fact that there was dirty dishes. They were out of pretty much every drink. They didn’t get our orders right and the food was undercooked and under seasoned. I ordered french toast which was completely uncooked, wet and runny in the middle. They have a sign that says byob in the front of the restaurant but there’s a full bar and kids running around very unsanitary and very unprofessional. Negative stars If I could

DO NOT GO TO THIS RESTAURANT!!! If I could give zero stars or even negative, I would. Seemed to be understaffed which caused slow service. BYOB?? But there was a bar. Out of stock on so much including drinks but weren’t willing to give free refills/bigger cups. Silverware came dirty with actual dried sauce left on. When we asked for plasticware the server wasn’t apologetic or surprised. Pancakes were extremely dense. I asked for glaze with my blueberry pancakes but they came dry with few blueberries on top. There was dried blueberry glaze in the plate but no glaze on the pancakes. Hash browns were barely cooked, bacon was overcooked. French toast came later than the rest of the food but wasn’t cooked in the middle. It wasn’t even mushy like most French toast it was completely runny. Extremely disappointing. Thumbs down.

Incredibly racist environment. I asked for water and coffee and before asking for clarity waiter took our menus away.

Our waiter was really rude. When we asked her what type of beverages they had or if they had oak milk, she commented saying this is not a Starbucks. When we asked for water, the waiter asked for what type of water. They were incredibly disrespectful and I will not be coming back here because there is no need for unnecessary backhanded comments.

This is the second time i’ve went and they are supposed to open at 8, we walk in to eat breakfast before having chemo treatment at 9:30, and the lady is just coming in at 8:15 no lights on, no cooks or anything there. I asked her was the cooks there she said no but there is one but he’s not good, so we left, second time this happened, it’s awful.

I was SO EXCITED to eat here because I truly enjoyed it!! The first time I sat in, this time was pick up.

I ordered GrubHub pickup and arrived three minutes after the estimated pickup time. When I went inside, the hostess had no idea what I was talking about. She said there was no order. When I showed her my order, another person told her how to retrieve the order. So, I waited an extra 20 minutes for my food.

Did arrives and order is incorrect. I got fried eggs and ordered scrambled. Received the new order with the correct eggs but note the crispy hash browns I ordered are just regular. When I asked the hostess if they were crispy breccias they seemed soft, she said yes with a small laugh. I was over it.

I’m going to chalk this experience up to service being better for those who are sitting. If you are ordering for pick up, maybe your business isn’t as important.

Side note: I neglected to take pics of the fried eggs I first received, but here is the picture of the non-crispy hash browns and original order from GrubHub.

Took my son to breakfast before school. We walk in @ 8am which is right when they open and all of the lights were turned off. Nobody was at the hostess stand for a good minute, fine. Nobody else is in the entire restaurant except us keep in mind.

We're seated and order by 8:05. From 8:05 to 8:30, not one other person came into the restaurant. In that 25 minute span, our server did not come to check on us nor provide any update. In the midst of that, my son and I got up to use the restroom and saw our server sitting in the corner texting on her phone. As soon as she made eye contact with us she got up to walk back to the kitchen.

Food came and was fine. Overall this is poor service and will not be back.

The first time we went there a few months ago, the service was great, the food was great. The second time we went several weeks ago, they said their latte machine broke so they can’t make any coffee drinks, just regular coffee. Okay, it happens.
We went today and I asked if your latte machine is still broken, the waitress said “we don’t have one”. All the latte and mocha etc drinks are still on the menu, but you can only get regular coffee.
My husband asked for tea, she said “we only have citrus chamomile “. Our food came and one of the dishes is supposed to come with cucumber, we asked and she said “we don’t have cucumber “. What?..
I think this restaurant is going to go out of business soon, looks like they’re not even trying to repair anything or replenish food supplies when they run out. Which restaurant doesn’t have simple items like black tea or cucumbers???