Sweet Basil

Date: Saturday, March 2nd 6:15pm
Reservation: A must
We ordered the octopus ragu, carbonara and a bottle of wine to start. For our entrees, I got the Cod and he got the Scallop dish.
And for dessert, although we were full there was absolutely no way we were going to pass on dessert!
We got the no brainer STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING CAKE, however, there was a dessert called the "SNOWMAN!!!!!!!" and yes I had to ask if it was in the shape of a snowman and when our waiter, Esteban said Yes!, I said, we would like one of those as well please. I checked every review platform and could not find a photo of the snowman dessert so I have attached one to delight you, but oh my oh my, imagine if they made the snowman dessert like a baked Alaska style kinda like a flambé!!! Ughhhh it would've been a show too!
So. To sum up, Sweet Basil is a Michelin Star restaurant.
Location is nice and easy, hotel had their own car service for travel within Vail.
Hostess was fine, but expected friendlier being the first point of contact.
Woman at coat check was absolutely lovely, wish I got her name.
Restaurant ambience, layout, color, where the wine collection was when you walk in, was nice and cozy, I even like the feeling of the ceiling being a bit lower. There was one issue during dinner with the lighting, not sure if the dimmer was glitching or there may have been a power flicker or outage, not sure but there were quite a few people who had to use their lights on their phones to look at their menus, and Ofcourse they kept it on which took away from our evening.
Wait, Esteban, made amazing recommendations, wonderful smile, great attitude, timely check-ins, the wait staff and was great with the timing/sequence of the food as well.
Dessert, Sticky Toffee was yummy it wasn't too sticky and it was moist definitely would get again I wouldn't say that I haven't it's the best I've ever had, but it was yummy. The snowman was yummy as well, totally wish they would think about doing it flambé or baked Alaska style, however it does come with a raspberry sorbet and OMG, the combination of that tart, refreshing sorbet and the chocolate ganache like cream snowman was just perfect.
So overall, WORTH IT. DEFINITELY WOULD DO AGAIN.

Honestly this was our least favorite restaurant in Vail. The food is highly overrated. My son and husband both had the Wagyu steak, My sons piece was a terrible cut with a huge tendon running through it, Given that they slice in the back, they had to know. I couldn't help but wonder if they intentionally gave the crappy piece to a 12
Year old. My other son thought his chicken was very dry. I had the Alaskan cod and it was fine but nothing remarkable. For apps, the whipped feta was sickeningly sweet. It was not a balanced dish but others seem to like in other reviews so I wonder if the chef threw too much sweet stuff on ours. Tuna tartare had a decent flavor but also seemed oddly dry. The desserts were cute but they couldn't make up for the mediocre meal.

The atmosphere is cute but I could not recommend this place to anyone.

Anniversary Bliss at Sweet Basil, Vail. Our special evening at Sweet Basil was a culinary delight!

From yellowtail sashimi to Spanish octopus, lobster raviolo, and Halibut - each dish was a tasty adventure. The octopus stole our hearts!

The lemon and fennel dessert was the sweet ending we needed. It lingered on our taste buds, making the celebration perfect.

Impeccable service and friendly staff made our anniversary memorable. Sweet Basil, you've won our hearts.

Very slow service and nothing special about the atmosphere. Food looks pretty but I didn't enjoy it. If overpriced, fancy food with small portions is your style then definitely try it. I wouldn't recommend coming here.

Difficult to get a reservation, but the food is pretty nice. Service is good. Overall, I think this place is a little overrated and the cost of dining is off the charts.

We had the best experience here for dinner. Sat right at the windows overlooking the beautiful creek, our server was super attentive, and the food was INCREDIBLE. We enjoyed the oysters, caviar, and venison tartare to share - all perfect for 2 people. We had the venison meal - perfectly cooked! & the scallop meal - incredible flavors. For dessert we did the sticky toffee pudding - so light and fluffy with a great sauce.
We ranted and raved the whole way home. Best meal we've had in a long time! Huge compliments to the chef!

Only got a couple pictures... too busy enjoying.

We recently dined at Sweet Basil and I thoroughly enjoyed my meal there. Although the waiting area can be a bit cramped when it's busy, the dining area in the back of the restaurant with views of the river is lovely. We had the Ahi Crudo and potato bombs to start, both of which I thought were delicious. The sauce on the potato bombs was particularly intriguing. I had the venison for dinner and shared some of the duck entree with another member of my party, and although I thought my venison was really good, I think the duck was better. For dessert, they had a special that was a snowman with chocolate ganache and raspberry coulis constructed as a snowman, which was both incredible to look at and delicious to eat. Overall, I very much enjoyed my meal at Sweet Basil and would recommend for anyone looking for a more classy place to eat in Vail.

We were excited to try out this restaurant, especially as it has recently been awarded a Michelin Star. Our reservation was on Monday for 6pm. We arrived a few minutes early and the bar area was already full, with many also dining at the tables. We were seated by the window in the back with a beautiful view. The restaurant filled up quickly after we were seated.

The drinks menu was a bit limited and the service was incredibly slow. I'd never been to a restaurant that didn't have a glass of Prosecco. The table of 4 behind us was served bread to start, but we were not, nor was the couple next to us. It took 45 minutes to get our drinks (sparkling wine and a ginger ale) because the drink machine had to be fixed first?

We ordered 3 appetizers and an entree to share: the whipped feta, sashimi, and steak tartare. These were all delicious, once they arrived. We were served appetizers almost 90 minutes after our reservation. We were told that there was a mixup with the order. Our shared entree - lobster ravioli was less than mediocre. The presentation was very nice, but it lacked flavor.

The waiter was nice enough, he kept apologizing about the long wait time. Apparently there was a dinner event at the restaurant and it was causing delays. I can definitely appreciate a restaurant being busy having worked at restaurants before, however this level of disorganization at a Michelin restaurant is unusual.

Unfortunately I can't recommend Sweet Basil.


For the food, my husband and I ordered 3 appetizers and an entree to share.

This place was so sweet and cool! We came here for our anniversary. This place you need reservations about a month ahead of time as well. It is a nice clean, and modern place.

We were seated in the back patio with heaters and let me tell you, it was still freezing. It wasn't a busier night but we felt like we were last resort. It took awhile for them to clean our table after our entree. And we felt like the night was long.

The menu is seasonal but we were able to try these entrees:
Iberian Duroc Pork Chop 5/5-- the pork chop was cooked to perfection. It wasn't dry. The sauce pair so well with the pork chop and the vegetables. It def was the star of the show.
Colorado Angus Beef Tenderloin w/ Corn Soufflé 5/5 -- the steak was cooked to perfection. I got mine medium and it was perfect. I enjoyed the side salad with it along with the butter. Sooooo perfect honestly and refreshing. The corn soufflé was a nice touch to it as well.

Dessert -
Lemon and Fennel 5/5 - this was def not what we expected it to be but the flavors paired and complemented one another so well! It is a cold dessert but so worth it. It's got a touch of the fennel taste with brown sugars and a beautiful crust below. So good!

Overall, I would def come back again. We really enjoyed our dinner here.

Sweet basil was my favorite restaurant i've tried in Vail! The Hamachi with the sweet basil was 1000/10! I was dying to try something with their signature sweet basil and it blew me out of the water mixed with the flavors of the hamachi! Super different and super great!!! The calamari was great too and a huge portion! Oysters were very fresh. The only critique is the ramen was a little salty but still delicious. Overall I would go back to try their dinner menu since this was only their lunch menu.