Red, White & Basil
The Golden Rule of restaurant reviews: if you have nothing nice to say, then say it anyhow. Visits to Red, White and Basil start with the expectation that you can enjoy a decent Italian dinner at a reasonable price, and end with the realization that at least it wasn’t too expensive. Let’s start with the good: the service is attentive and there is surprisingly a decent Italian red wine list, even if the bottles are exposed on the back wall on a DIY wine rack which may have been ordered from Ikea, which ran a special if you also ordered wall ornaments, which the owners apparently seized upon when building the square box restaurant. The bad: the food, of course, even the pasta, all of which dishes seem curiously devoid of basil, unless the dried flake version by the drum is your herb of choice. Quality Italian food starts with grandma’s recipes, house-made pasta, an investment in fresh and quality ingredients, and ends with a dish infused with the love of cooking. None of that exists at Red, White and Basil, where cafeteria-style pasta and fish dishes await your limited dinner investment, causing you to wonder why so many tourists are willing to sacrifice quality for cost while on vacation. If you over-spent on lodging and activities and have to save on dinners, Red, White and Basil may appear to be an attractive option, that is, until you take your first bite.
