Basilico’s Pasta E Vino

We came here for date night and could not have loved it more! It’s tiny and quaint, and the food is amazing. The lighting was beautiful, the waiters were attentive and friendly, and the prices cannot be beat. This is such a sweet, classy little place. We will become regulars soon, I’m sure!

SO yummy! My kids loved their fettuccini as did I. I had scallops on mine. Free warm bread and a yummy salad to start. Small dining room but friendly staff and great food. Highly recommended.

Do not be fooled by the unassuming appearance, this little one holds it’s own. Located at the end of a somewhat slightly seedy strip mall, one could easily drive past this place a dozen times and unknowingly miss out on this hidden gem. Food that tastes lovingly prepared accompanied by friendly service with intimate candlelit setting, makes this an ideal place to share with someone special.

Had the Mezza Mezza !!! So damn flavorful !!! Perfect if you can’t decide on just one dish !

I had the seafood linguine and it was plain but had good amount of seafood. Girlfriend got mezza mezza with meatballs and thought red sauce was too sweet and meatballs weren’t good, but fettuccine was good. Asked for more bread twice before main entrees came out, never got another basket…

One of the best! The restaurant is small, so be sure to call ahead to check if there are tables available if you are planning to bring a table of 5.
Italian wedding soup
One of the best I’ve had! It wasn’t bland and had the right amount of savory flavor. They also use lots of herbs as well.
Sausage pasta
This pasta used an Alfredo sauce. I honestly thought it’d be with marinara by mistake, so I was a little apprehensive of having it since I typically try to stay away from cheesy dishes. But this was really the best Alfredo pasta I’ve ever had. Yes there is cheese, but it’s not overwhelming at all and perfectly balanced. So you won’t get sick of eating this dish!
Meatball spaghetti
It’s out of this world. The marinara sauce is perfect, nails the right amount of tart consistency. Meatballs were delicious as well.
Seafood linguine (also had the scallop linguine)
These were pretty disappointing, not going to lie. I really couldn’t taste the sauce. Scallops were cooked okay.
In a gist, get anything else besides from the seafood pastas!

This is definitely my new favorite Italian Restaurant. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no expert when it comes to Italian, but I definitely love pasta, and this place makes some amazing pasta.
To begin, Basilico’s is quite small, and they have quite a few tables squeezed into a small space. If that’s not your style, then look elsewhere. I, however, felt like the setting was significantly more intimate that way, not only in a date-​type fashion, but also the restaurant as a whole. The waiter was always steps away, and if I had any questions, they were enthusiastically willing to help! The other member of our party was unsure of what to get, so the waiter helped him make his own custom pasta dish. The value for what you get is great, the food tastes perfect, the service is amazing, and it feels like a very personal dining experience. I will be coming back, there’s no doubt about that.

This place really surprised me. The space is tiny and didn’t look that promising from outside but I was wrong. Their seafood linguine came with unexpected amount of seafood for what they charge.
My husband wasn’t too hungry so he order their meatball panini — it was huge!
Both meal came with dinner salad that was just a right size.
I will go back and try other stuff!

Holy smokes! This is my new favorite restaurant. It’s tiny, but oh so quaint! I feel like the size makes it so charming. Great atmosphere, strangely romantic too. The food is out of this world. Best Italian food I’ve had. Fresh made pastas, and you can taste the love in the delicious sauces. It’s definitely a locals spot. The service was top notch too. Entrees come with fresh warm bread and a crisp salad of romaine, onions, cucumber, vinaigrette and Parmesan cheese. Both the bf and I had the fettuccine Alfredo with Milanese. The Milanese was perfect, flavorful and cooked to perfection. The fettuccine Alfredo was hands down the best I’ve ever had. Can’t wait to go back and try another dish.

My wife and I have been regulars at this place for more than 5 years. Back when we were dating, this restaurant would be one of our go to places for date night.
This place never disappoints. The food and the service are always consistently amazing. We love the mezza mezza and the chicken parm. The scallops here are huge.
The waiters are nice, easy going, and attentive.
The place itself is tiny and there may be a wait during peak hours but it is totally worth it.

If you’ve never been here and you like Italian food. :(
This is some of the absolute best Italian food I’ve ever had. Fairly limited menu, but everything on it is a homerun.
Portions are huge. $ 4 split fee may be worth it if you’re not a big eater.
Favorites of our family are Alfredo with Milanesa (a big fried piece of breaded steak), chicken parm, and the Wedding Soup! excellent!
Wait can be brutal as it is a very small shop with little seating, so maybe a weeknight at off hours would be better. But there is a cool restaurant next door called Reefs Edge Grill that we typically go in and have a drink at while waiting for Basilico’s … the basilicos servers will even come over and notify you when you’re table is ready.

Can I get a HOOT HOOT for JOEY!!! He was the nicest, most attentive JOEY I’ve ever met. It was raining hard last night when I stopped in to check this place out. It’s been on my «Hit List» for a few months as friends and families told me to stop in. So I did and so happy I did! The welcome/​greeting was so warm and fuzzy as you walk into this place! The crew is «All Men» and they are all so nice (you heard me right, all MEN last night — I don’t know if it is like this on other nights). They also sang pretty good too (they were singing along to the Holiday music in the background) which was so refreshing. Totally like something you would find in an old Italian «Family Run» Restaurant in NY or Italy.
Here’s our dinner:
01. Complimentary Warm and Soft Bread w/​Butter — 5 Stars of course!!!
— The bread was crispy on the outside and so warm and soft inside, it’s good BREAD!
02. Garlic Bread $ 4.95 — 3.5 Stars
— This is good but we quickly realized with the Comp Bread, you really don’t have room for more bread. I know I’ll be fine not ordering this next time. But try the Cheesy Garlic one if you do. On this note, this bread was garlicky as its name says. If you love Garlicky bread, this is calling you now.
03. Dinner Salad $ 4.95 — 3.5 Stars
— This was actually very crispy, fresh and light but I added a lil Balsamic Dressing on mine to give me that hint of flavor I love. Nothing wrong with their oil dressing but I like a lot of PUNCH in my food.
04. Chocolate Milk — $ 2.00 — 5 Stars (according to the little ones I had with me)
— Per the little people I was with, they claimed Joey made the BEST Chocolate Milk they have ever had. He put it in the ICE COLD glass so it was extra special for them.
05. Mezza Mezza $ 14.95 — 4 Stars
½ Fettuccine Alfredo & ½ Penne w/​Red Sauce
— I liked this combo a lot, it’s really the BEST of both worlds. My FAVE of this combo is their amazing Alfredo Sauce. It’s more herby than other places. The flavor was amazing and the sauce did not separate, which I LOVED!!! Thumbs up for sure! Tiny tiny bit on the Red Sauce, it was a bit more garlicky than most other Red Sauces I’ve had but was still good.
06. Seafood Linguine w/​Alfredo Sauce $ 20.95 — 3.5 Stars
Shrimp, Scallops (big ones), Calamari & Clams in their Alfredo Sauce.
— Very good indeed. I gave them a 3.5 Stars becuz the seafood had a lot of salt in it so the sauce was a bit salty but still very good. All of the Seafood was cooked just perfect. Nothing was chewy.
VERDICT — Definitely like this place a lot. Their customer service was amazing and I loved how tiny and cozy this place was. It’s tiny, as you can see from my photo of the dining area, my photo covered how tiny of a space it was.
RECOMMENDS — If you wanna take a date here, do so, it’s really tiny and dim-​lit so you both will look FABULOUS while eating and staring at each other.
Say hello to Joey too! You’ll love him too.

My gf and I visited Basilico’s last night for dinner after reading all of the rave reviews on this place. We were definitely not disappointed. We were seated right away and was given fresh out of the oven French bread with butter. I love bread, especially hot toasty bread, so I really had to control myself because I almost killed the whole basket.
Anyways, I ordered the Mezza Mezza (half fettuccine alfredo /​half penne with red sauce) and my gf got the halibut and penne pasta. We loved it! I especially loved the fettuccine alfredo — i have a thing for cheese and the alfredo did not disappoint. The pasta was al dente and the sauce was cheesy, chocked full of garlic, and extremely flavorful (without being too overbearing). The red sauce also had so much garlic, which I loved. My gf’s halibut was also cooked perfectly, with just the right amount of seasoning — and it was huge!
The staff were all very attentive and friendly. The ambiance was lovely and quite romantic. It just felt super cozy in there. Love it and will definitely be back!

I can’t believe that I have not written a review on this hidden gem in HB!!! I was first introduced to this spot by a really good friend of mine, Lanny N. She invited us here to celebrate her birthday dinner. And celebrate we did. We allowed ourselves to indulge in the delicious home-​styled cooked pastas, bread and sauce. Can you say, hello carbs and oh so rich, garlic-​y, creamy sauce — get in to my belly?! I ordered the clams and linguine (staple dish I always order at Italian restaurants) It was so garlic-​y I would have been able to kill off 20 vampires that night. I don’t know about you, but my pasta needs to have that perfect balance of noodles, sauce and seasoning, and protein… Boy, do they know how to make damn good pasta here.
Tip: It’s a small place, so there’s usually a wait. But well worth it.
Location: Located at the very end of the strip mall, next to a pizza place

When I first walked in, my impression was «Man, this place is darn cozy.» It seats about 25 people total, so I was scared that waiting for a table would take forever. Luckily, 30 min we all it took for our party of 8 to be seated on a Thursday night. An acceptable waiting time? Check.
The food choices were normal pastas and appetizers, so I went with the classic cheese lasagna and a calamari appetizer. I like a little kick to my pasta and some meat too, so the extremely nice waiter told me that they could add a spicy meat sauce to my order. Customizable orders? Check check.
The food was DELICIOUS. The free bread came out warm and fluffy. The salad wasn’t special but was a good start. I especially liked the calamari: well battered and not greasy at all. But the entrée, the lasagna with spicy meat sauce, was what put me over the top. The portion was large (took some to go) and it tasted spectacular. My friends all got something different and everyone was reeling over their food (granted some of them have been here and continue coming). Delicious food in good portions? Check check check.
The service was great! Given it was a small place, but I can tell the waiters definitely cared about the customers. They made sure all the food tasted Ok, and that our waters and bread baskets were always filled. Service is a big deal in my book, and they were super friendly and helpful (refer to customized dish above). Check check check check.
What was the best part? The waiters knew we had a pair of newlyweds and it was my phd graduation, so we got TWO pieces of delicious cake ON THE HOUSE. With candles. I’m sorry, but the key to my heart (and that 5^th star) is free succulent sweets. Check * 100.
Will I come back? Heck yes. Is it worth the possible wait? Heck yes. Hope to see you there, too!

I can’t believe I haven’t written a review of this awesome neighborhood place! Basilico’s is on Magnolia just South of Garfield in Huntington Beach. They have been in biz since 1994.
On this occasion, we started off w/​the cheesy garlic bread ($ 5.95). For our entrees, I ordered seafood linguini ($ 19.95 — Calamari, clams, scallops, shrimp in a garlic, white wine sauce). On the other hand, my dining companion ordered the lasagna ($ 13.95 — not pictured). Entrees include a dinner salad & bread (not pictured). For dessert, we bought a tiramisu to go ($ 9).
First of all, the cheesy garlic bread was daaaaank! There was plenty of garlic flavor and the bread was crunchy. The gravy (sauce) on the side had a lot of texture and flavor. I ate one all by myself: 5 Stars. Likewise, my pasta was also excellent. The pasta is homemade, there was a ton of ingredients, and the sauce did not overpower the dish a la Mama D’s in Newport Beach: 5 Stars. Lastly, the lasagna was also outstanding. The gravy was the same as the cheesy bread, and the lasagna was layered nicely & had good flavor. Basilico’s blows away Maggiano’s commercialized crap: 5 Stars. I am not normally a dessert person, but the tiramisu brok da mout (tasted really good)! It was light & flavorful that would have gone well w/​an expresso. I would have eaten the whole thing had the portion not been so large: 5 Stars.
Regarding the ambiance, this place is very small & cute. It gets very crowded at prime time, so come early: 5 Stars. In addition, the service was excellent. Our waiter was super nice, the food came out quickly, and my request to have garlic, white wine sauce vs the spicy red sauce on the menu was handled w/​ease: 5 Stars.
If you are in my hood, and craving some authentic Italian w/​o any hoopla, Basilico’s fits the bill. We are so lucky to have a place like this in mediocre food laden HB.

Came back and tried the Seafood Linguine and Tiramisu.
The Seafood Linguine was excellent! I asked for extra spicy and extra garlic and they did it and it came out amazing! Great flavor throughout and the taste was exquisite.
The tiramisu was pretty good too. It was nice and creamy with a good touch of sweetness that wasn’t too overpowering.

Basicilio’s Pasta e Vino
If you have stumbled upon Basicilio’s Pasta e Vino in Huntington Beach (Magnolia & Garfield) then you are one of the lucky ones. A small but cozy Italian Restaurant at the end of a strip mall on Magnolia since 1999 with a warm and friendly feel as soon as you step through the front door.
Lunch is bountiful — I had a meatball sandwich with a salad — it was extremely good considering the homemade quality, freshness and quantity. It was worth every penny — and not expensive.
Great Mamma’s dining room décor, welcoming ambiance, attentive service, amazing food, and overall experience was outstanding. Basilico’s ti amo! (Basicilico’s I love you!)

Tutti a tavola a mangiare!
My complete meal was excellent! Surprisingly, the side salad was lightly dressed and very delicious. Wow! A little piece of heaven in a form of carbohydrates known as the garlic cheese bread with marinara sauce. Another favorite item is mezza mezza which is half white and red sauce. It is a meatless pasta dish but there is the option to add sausage or Milanese. I split this delicious dish for an extra $ 6 which was enough to fill me up.
The service was fantastic, our cups were never empty and the servers were super cool. Additionally, the restaurant has a lot of character with the cute interior and mismatch dishes and bowls.