Red Basil Thai Kitchen

I have been to this place for the first time and their service is great. The food is awesome. I’m willing to go back there since the customer service is fantastic and the food just so satisfying

The food is very good but what I like best about this place is the staff. They’re opened minded and progressive. They allowed me to use my own container and when I told them that I didn’t want any napkins, utensils, sauces, or bags they commended me saying they wish others would be more eco-​conscious. Obviously restaurant owners would prefer their customers to bring their own containers, utensils etc. because it would save them money but I could tell that their appreciation was genuine on more than a financial level.

I love Thai food and have visited numerous Thai restaurants in the area. This is the best casual Thai place. The curry noodle soup is amazing, the pad thai is delicious, and the papaya salad a treat. Check this place out for a fun, good meal. Excellent service as well!!! Highly highly recommended.

Fast friendly service, delicious food. I love their drunken noodles, which comes with spring rolls or soup if you order their great lunch special. Their curry is really spicy as well, which is a good thing in my book.

I recently ordered the pad thai and the pineapple fried rice dishes. They were delicious! and they threw in free fried bananas– totally hit the spot! Will be ordering from here again. You guys rock!!!

Loved this place! Yummy food and everyone was very friendly!
Red Curry was amazing!!!

The flavor of the food is great! I personally recommend the beef basil fried rice however be aware of the very small portions (but to be fair I have only eaten there during lunch). Service is very fast and everybody is always very nice! Worth stopping by if you are on Steinway street and looking for a quick meal.

Wasn’t blown away with the food; but then again wasn’t disappointed. Had ordered the lunch special drunken noodles with crispy duck; the drunken noodles itself would have been really good by itself or maybe with another meat but the crispy duck for 3 additional dollars was a complete waste. The duck was fried crispy alright; to the point where it had no duck taste and just adds an unpleasant crunch to the meal. There are far better Thai selections in Astoria

Can you imagine Thai food that tastes like Chinese takeout? No? Well, that’s because you haven’t been to Red Basil Thai Kitchen and you’re probably better off not going there. Greasy, salty, made with cheap ingredients.
Astoria doesn’t have good Chinese or Vietnamese food, however, it has an abundance of Thai restaurants. Red Basil would be at the low tier of Astoria Thai restaurants.
Let’s start with those sad summer rolls. The shrimps inside were tiny and the skin is so thin and dry that the roll falls apart when you take a bite. The taste is as bland as the lifeless white paint on the wall.
The pad thai was most disappointing. They use a type of Chinese noodle instead of the real pad thai noodle. It had too much oil and saltiness. The tofu is an inexpensive, fried tofu in cubes that were frozen and can be stored in freezer for months without going bad.
How about that thai iced tea? Apparently, it tasted diluted even before its excessive amount of ice cubes melted. If you order for it delivered, it comes in a cheap plastic cup that tears and leaks if you hold it too tight or press too hard on the lid. My thai iced tea spilled all over.
Do yourself a favor. Pass.
Edit: I find the business owner’s response to my review to be distasteful and disrespectful. He discredited my review on a public forum because it is not entirely in favor of his business. That is poor business ethic. Owner Santiago A. didn’t resolve my concerns and he had only irritated his customer more. That is poor management skills.
I maintain my integrity and honesty to the Unilocal community. I stand by my review.

I tend to get lunch here. Totally worth it. Everything is so delicious and savory. You can’t beat the price. Usually empty. Mostly take out orders. But if you have 30 – 45 minutes to spare. A dine-​in is a must.

Updating my review! The management response I got back was very professional and reassured me that I will be coming back. The staff was beyond accommodating with how they handled the situation. This was my first time eating in; I live on the block and usually order in. Thanks guys! You rock!
I love the pad Thai here (see my enticing photo below) but a few bites in, I noticed a hair! It looked small so I was going to just yank it out but as I pulled on it, it was longer than I thought. I flag the waitress who apologized and insisted on bringing a new plate. Really nice of her. I also got the tom yum soup and a free Thai iced tea. Of course, I am very sensitive to sauces and preservatives so immediately after eating, I noticed my allergies. I hope they don’t use msg but who knows what’s in those sauces. Anyway, for a lazy, rainy night, this is still my go-​to. Maybe next time I stick to something blander — or worse, cook at home!

This restaurant has delicious food and is much better than some of the fancier places I have been to. This restaurant however is more like a takeout place with a seating area. It is not a restaurant you’d come to on a date but more of a place you’d have a quick lunch if you’re in the area. It has a very odd décor and an area to order that looks exactly like a take out restaurant. I came here for the lunch special which was 1 app and 1 entrée for $ 7.95 and I throughly enjoyed my Spicy Noodle and Pad Se Ew. The service was fast and I was in and out. I will definitely come back here again.

I get lunch from here a couple of times a month.
The food is consistently good and I love that they let you pick dessert options for the appetizer.
My kids love the red bean ice cream and pad see ew!

Great lunch value with apptz and main entrée for under $ 10

Love their food when I’m lazy, but their delivery people have been consistently rude.

Tasty food, I liked the fact that they didn’t have too much pork on the menu. That means less cross contamination happening. The prices were good, I would go again.

I’ve ordered take out and dined in here. The service is quick and I love how they have thai iced tea and different specials if you order over a certain amount. The thai spring rolls, veggie dumplings and Tom yum soup are my favorite choices. Rice noodles (you have to order it in the soup) spices and herbs in the soup are the perfect for a rainy day lunch or dinner! The dine in area is small also no tv or alcohol so it’s more of a take out place.

Red Basil is a cheap, unassuming and decent option for when you’re in the mood for Thai and too lazy to walk deep into Steinway where better Thai food options await.
I’ve eaten here a few times and it’s always been out of sheer laziness. The food here is pretty yummy but also doesn’t hold a candle to some of my preferred Thai spots in Manhattan — but with $ 7 lunch specials that come with your choice of appetizer (off of their special lunch menu), entrée and beverage, who’s complaining?
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Between my boyfriend and I we’ve tried the following foods here:
+ Chicken Satay: Grilled marinated chicken skewers served with peanut sauce and cucumber salad.
+ Fried calamari served with a sweet chili sauce
+ Scallion Pancake — Thai style and served with a thai chili soy sauce
+ Thai Spring Roll: fried vegetarian rolls served with thai plum sauce
+ Thai Basil Fried Rice: fried jasmine rice with egg, pepper, onion, and basil in spicy soy sauce (I’VE ORDERED THIS TWICE AS AN ENTREE, WITH CHICKEN AND NO PEPPER, NO ONIONS AND NO SPICY SOY SAUCE… Just regular soy sauce, lol).
+ Pad Thai: thai thin rice noodle sauteed with egg, bean curd, peanut, scallion and bean sprout in tamarind sauce (this has been the boy’s entrée).
+ Thai Salad: iceberg lettuce, cucumber, tomato, bean sprout, hard boiled egg and tofu with peanut dressing.
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Beverage wise, we’ve ordered their Thai Iced Tea and their Homemade Limeade.
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Their food isn’t awful. Kudos to them for the large, generous portions and ridiculously reasonable lunch special prices — $ 6.95 gets you an appetizer, impressive entrée portion and a beverage.
I don’t however recommend their Thai Iced Tea or «Homemade Limeade» are both are really, really, u necessarily sugary… not a good pairing with savory Thai food.
The service here is really questionable and inconsistent to the point where it’s really annoying. Last time I ate here I waited throughout my entire meal for someone to come over so I could get my water refilled and ask for soy sauce. I mean, sure I could get up and ask for it up at the front — but that defeats the purpose of going out to a place that has waiter/​ess service.
I wouldn’t go out of my way to come here… but if in the neighborhood and hankering for Thai, I’d be back… which means I’ll most likely be back :).

They have some really great lunch specials here! For essentially $ 7 or so, you can get an appetizer and entrée of a limited list of options (a list which includes many Thai favorites such as spring rolls, chicken satay, pad Thai, curry, etc) and it lasts until 3:30pm.
I’ve ordered from here a couple times and the appetizers I’ve tried are all good (spring rolls, chicken satay and tom yum soup). I usually stick to the pad Thai, and although it’s pretty good, it’s certainly not he best I’ve had. The noodles could be more flavorful (ie more flavorful sauce) and it is way shabby on the crushed peanuts.
They also serve a lemon wedge with this instead of a lime wedge, which is really splitting hairs, but I’m just being honest. Also, I had to ask for chopsticks and I kind of hate doing that. It’s an Asian restaurant. I feel like chopsticks should really be issued to people without me having to get up and go to the register and ask for them.
Okay so that’s that. Truly, I would happily continue to order from here especially for lunch because it is such an awesome deal. Would I pay full price for the pad Thai? Probably not because I’ve had better elsewhere (including my own kitchen), but it’s a great deal for what it is at lunch, and they let you pick whatever protein you want in there for the same price.

This is my default work Thai restaurant.
They serve daily lunch specials for 7 dollars it comes with salad, soup or appetizer.
It’s a decent Americanized Thai food.
The staff are kind and the service is fast. usually you have to ask for Thai fish sauce with chili on the side but since the cashier/​owner know me so well they include it in my order without me having to ask.