Fresh Basil

I don’t think the food is THAT bad. It’ll do if you’re in a pinch for some pasta or a salad.
I will however not be going back based on what I saw the other day: an employee was dumping a smaller trash bin’s contents into a larger trash bin… right by the food. Horrified, I could see little flecks of trash float out and around the open, hot food… Yummy.

Went back to Fresh Basil for my third go at the baked ziti this month. It’s the only item I have tried because I found a winner. For $ 7 you walk out with a solid pound of cheesy pasta covered in a savory meat sauce. Pasta was slightly over cooked once but I will overlook that texture flaw. Careful now, portion size will push you back a belt notch.

Looking for an overdressed salad with flavorless chicken and (honestly!) STALE tortilla chips? This is your spot. Oh yeah, and paying almost 8 bucks for it really makes it special. This is my first ever negative review, but if I can save one person from ruining their lunch here, it will be worth the effort. Maybe other items are not as bad as the «southwest chicken salad,» but I am still kicking myself for just not going to the place on the other side of the elevator, 50 feet to the south, where they do know how to make a salad.

Wow I definitely did not think this place is as bad as people make it out to be! My friends and co-​workers said it was good but Unilocal reviews were horrible, so I had held out from trying this place for a long time. It is the only fast food pasta place near work though so my love for pasta eventually led me here.
I ordered the vegetarian lasagna and prepared for the worst. Ok yeah this food was sitting around in a heated pan all afternoon. It was also probably purchased at Restaurant Depot, but really, its pretty much fast food. What do you expect? The garlic bread was ok but certainly not great. Not sure why this is supposedly world famous. I don’t know how but this square of lasagna was also so filling that it lasted me 2 lunches. I have a strangely small stomach though so take that as a grain of salt…
The prices were high for what it was, but I find that pasta fast food usually is. They were comparable to Sbarro. I will never understand why pasta fast food is so overpriced since its cheap and easy to make. For that reason, I usually avoid them. However, I am a pasta fiend. I’m sure the craving will come again and I’ll head over to this ok spot.

I asked if the baked ziti was vegetarian, not if he poured vegetable soup all over it. Both answers could be yes though.
I think the secret to Fresh Basil’s marinara sauce is vegetable soup + oil.
Also, the food sits out all day and to reheat it, they just add another layer of hot tomato sou-​ace. You can tell how long your food as been sitting out by the inches of sauce you have on it. My food is about 2 inches deep.
Edible and quick, but I just feel a bit bloated and sad now.
PS: this is the saddest, soggiest, most burnt garlic bread I’ve ever had. The menu says it’s famous, so it must be famous for how terribly bad it is.

The *only* good thing on this menu is the Chicken Calabria. It’s actually pretty good, and I wind up eating my work lunch from here regularly. Also, the garlic bread is tasty.
However.
Everything else is terrible. The salads are overdressed, or weird proportions of non-​greens. The garlic fettuccine has nauseating beans and weirdly thick sauce. The paninis come out of a plastic bag and are wilty and bland. And the cashier always makes me feel bad for not tipping.

Looking for a terrible place to eat? Go to Fresh basil.
By far one of the worst place I’ve eaten in the last year! (yes, you read this right, the last 12 months!!! worst place ever!)
If I could give it a 0 star, I would. Actually scratch that, I’d give it a ½ star for the chop chop salad.
So I ordered the ½ salad ½ panini. My coworker ordered the chop chop and I thought it looked good so I got that and the chicken pesto. The chop chop was actually decent and probably gets a 3 star by itself.
On the other hand, the chicken pesto panini was … UGH… that gets a –2.5 star. It was tasteless and bland… I mean ever heard of a bland pesto??? I knew I should have walked away when they grabbed the panini from the fridge (pre-​made) put it in the microwave, then onto the panini press… where are we, burger king circa 1999 using microwave??? Really??? on top of it, it was a whopping $ 8.xx after tax. I could have gotten a tasty pizza at MOD pizza next door, or a 1lb worth of salad bar at organic.
Steer away from this place… it’s just terrible.

Lots of different options here, but this is strictly a lunch place. Quite a few «chopped» salads; think really small pieces of lettuce with crunchies like celery, onions, and peppers along with cheese, meat, and maybe some olives. These come with garlic bread which is honestly, not very good.
They’ve got some pretty decent looking (and smelling) pasta if you’re into that sort of thing for lunch – I haven’t tried them because I’ll get the sleepies.
If you work in the area, I’d give it a try, but don’t go out of your way.

Not offensive but fairly flavorless. I guess this place gets me with the convenience factor, since I can get there without having to go outside. Yes, it’s in a weird spot, kinda under the escalators to One Union Square; the seating is literally under the escalators. I’ve had the penne pasta a few times. I can make better at home, but I would never bother to make pasta and bring it to work, so be it. On my last visit they added chicken without making a fuss, so that was nice. The portions are huge, so you can easily get two bland meals for the price of one (about $ 8). I had a panini once. It was pre-​made and wrapped in plastic, I don’t know how much that qualifies as «fresh». And I know «basil» is in the name but there is so much frickin basil, like 2 inches thick, I actually had to remove about half of it. I love me some basil but it was ri-​di-​cu-​lous. I think a friend tried the panini last fall and made the same comment. I asked them to remove the cheese, which at first they said they couldn’t do, and then they did it cause it wasn’t melted or anything. Otherwise, service is always courteous and efficient. Never tried the salads.
Fresh Basil is directly across from Chez Dave and Blue Water Taco Grill, down the hall from O To Go and Starbucks, if you need options.

I found this place by way of the secret tunnel of food venues that goes underground from Rainer Square to Union Square, under the 5^th Avenue Theater. A couple other buildings along the way have secret entrances to this tunnel, like the Skinner Building. Fresh Basil is actually out of the tunnel in Union Square, I think one set of escalators below ground level hiding behind the escalator. It’s pretty hard to find unless you happen upon it, kind of like Pike Place Market.
The lines are pretty confusing. There are signs for three lines, one for paying, one for paninis + pasta, and the third for «chops» which I think is a fancy salad name. People tended to ignore the line signs too, making it worse, kind of creating a crowd a long the bar crossing every line. I just stood there and made eye contact until someone took my order.
The vegetable panini (vegetarian) was great. I’m sure you could get a good vegan salad out of the ordeal that comes with more than greens. I think they’re made each day rather than by order, which surprised me as to how good it is. They took it out of the cooler, pulled some plastic wrap off and grilled it. I didn’t get to eat it while it was still hot but it was really wonderful.
I liked it better than Specialty’s so give it a try if you can find it. There’s a number of other places nearby like Blue Water Taco Grill if you’re not sure and want to peruse some menus.