Basta Pizzeria Ristorante

“Basta is my favorite restaurant in Iowa City. They have a great atmosphere, excellent and consistent food and drinks, and consistently great service. They have a wonderful patio for the summer.”

“The atmosphere @ Basta is very elegant as well as very posh! Their beef and pork Bolognese is made with homemade spaghetti sauce as well as homemade spaghetti noodles you can also get very very delicious homemade meatballs and the "DESERT" is just WOW!!! Made from scratch carrot cake with a cinnamon and bourbon gelato was absolutely decided!!! I would Very Highly Recommend Basta, on Iowa Ave in downtown Iowa City!!!”

“We visited on a Saturday night in March around 7pm. There was no wait for our party of 3 and we were seated near the bar so we could see the two TVs they have. The atmosphere was pleasant and had an Italian feel to it. We started with meatballs as an appetizer. There were four of them and they were small. The sauce was very tasty and the meatballs were a tad spicy. Probably would not order them again. Our son ordered the chicken Alfredo and rated it 3.5 out of 5 stars. It was a large portion and he ate almost all of it. My wife had the Four Cheese Penne. She rated it 4 out of 5 stars the portion was very large an she only at 1/4 of it. Definitely plan on sharing with someone or taking leftovers with you. I had the Butternut Squash Ravioli. It was a 5 out 5 stars. Amazing. Would definitely order it again. Tiramisu for dessert. Large portion enough to share between the 3 of us. It was good but not the best we’ve ever had. 4 out of 5 stars. Worth a visit if you like Italian food”

“I was there during off hours. The food was fabulous. Fresh and homemade. The antique tile floor is nice, as are the authentic wood appointments. The server was very attentive but for me, a little too attentive.”

“Today we had a weird experience. Usually we get good service at this restaurant, but today our waiter named Austin was strangely rude to us. It started off with him saying here's your water, and he right away asks if were ready to order food even though we had just sat down and barely looked at the menu. Then my fiance asks if she can get a straw, and instead of saying they didnt have any he brings one for stirring coffee. After this I tell him we need a minute before ordering, and he walks away without response. Then after a long time of waiting and my fiance literally waving at him he finally comes over after another waitress seems to tell him to. We finally order and we even have to wait for our wine for a good 5-10 minutes. I don't know if its because I said we needed a minute, or that my fiance simply asked nicely for a straw, but something seemed to make him not want to serve us. The person who ended up bringing our food was much nicer, and the food was excellent. However, Austin never came by to ask how our food was and instead waited until we were done eating it and asking if we're ready for the check or if we want dessert but we're ready to leave at this point. Overall the food was good as usual, but we did not feel welcome and what was supposed to be a nice date with my fiancé turned awkward for no reason. We'll be back but it might be a while.”