Basil Tree Ristorante

The veal special was excellent and the wine was perfect. Excellent service. A hidden gem in Dixon.

My first time at this restaurant and it was delicious. It has a quaint and humble atmosphere. I love the fire pit that is going outside as you are walking in the door. The staff is very friendly, and the service was excellent! My Chicken Marsala was fantastic, and they are definitely not skimpy on the portions that are served. Wine list and wine was very good. I would go back again on my way to Galena.

This little gem is such an adorable place! The room is fairly small and tight spaced, but it makes for a warm environment. The interior design has a unique, classy Italian touch to it with an assortment of wines lined along certain parts of the room.
The waiter, Nick, was professional and extremely helpful. He is a great waiter and we were very glad to have him enjoy our dinner with great recommendations, specials, and personal favorite dishes on the «secret» menu (previous hit dishes).
For appetizers, we had the Sicilian Calamari and the Shrimp Romano, both had great flavor and unique in its own way. My boyfriend and I both had the Prime Rib Steak Special and, oh my gosh, the meat was one of the best we’ve had in a long time. My boyfriend likes to think of himself as a steak expert, and he gave two thumbs way up (his mouth was full most of the meal). For dessert, I had the Tiramisu and he had the Crème Brulee, which were splendid. the Tiramisu wells soft and perfect to its taste. The Crème Brulee was also amazing, super creamy and as my boyfriend described it. «orgasmic».
I would definitely come back a second time to try out other dishes they offer!

My husband and I discovered this small town, fine ding restaurant to be a true gem! Excellently prepared Italian cuisine and superb service by our server (Nick?). Loved the Diablo pasta sauce over scallops. The wine flight was great & the minestroni w/​warm bread was a great start. Will return! Try this place – very unassuming building, but a very nice interior w/​lovely background music & excellent food.

For a small town, I was totally impressed. Everything was well prepared and the service was excellent. By the glass wines were so-​so but that’s my only complaint. It’s not 5 stars because I reserve that rating for places that really blow me away.

Let me state first that i always give a place more than one shot. I realize everyone has off days. However, his is the third time i have been to Basil Tree and my experience each time has been roughly the same.
My husband and i dined on a Saturday evening. We were ushered in by a pleasant hostess and showed to our table. The décor was pleasant and it was dimly lit to facilitate a date night. The music was nice, jazzy 40’s-era. Shortly we were attended by a waiter. I asked if it was possible to sub something on the menu. He said, «First, before i answer your question, let me introduce myself and explain the specials». This was said in a very condescending and snotty tone, with a smug smile. I asked if the minestrone was any good. He replied,” I don’t know. I don’t eat vegetables,” and smirked.
He brought our first course pretty quickly– we had both ordered the pasta fagioli. The noodles and beans were overcooked but the taste was ok. He also brought bread to the table that i expected to be homemade. If it was, it was day-​old or more. Not impressed. The olive oil for dipping had good flavor. Our main course– again, we ordered the same thing, the Chicken ala Basil Tree– followed in good time. However, the chicken was rubbery, the «lemon butter sauce» had an off-​putting flavor reminiscent of bottled, low-​quality Italian salad dressing and the artichokes were canned. The spinach tasted fresh. My husband had a side of penne pasta and the sauce was like it came from a jar of Prego. I had a side of Vesuvio-​style potatoes which were cold and bland. They seemed as if they had been sauteed and then stingily sprinkled with dried parsley and set in a warmer hours previously. We did not order dessert.
So to recap:
Hostess nice
Server snobby
Food bland, overcooked, overpriced (for the quality)
Décor and music pleasing

Our experience was not good. The mozzarella sticks were low quality and the marinara sauce was like Prego
Weren’t impressed with the chicken Marsala
Staff was friendly

One of the best Italian restaurants I’ve been too! Great atmosphere & the tiramisu is DELICIOUS!!!

Food was very good as usual. Excellent selection of pasta and sauces. The Tuxedo cake for dessert is recommended. Also recommend a reservation on weekends. Weekdays are not so difficult to find a table. As seems my luck with restaurants in this area, I always wait what seems to be a long time for the check at the end of the meal. Just my wife and I. If we were a larger group and were visiting well past the meal I would understand.

I grew up in Rock Falls and my wife is from Dixon. We live in Indianapolis, but visit Dixon often. We dined at Basil Tree for my wife’s Birthday on October 27, 2014. This restaurant is one of the gems in the Rock River Valley. I lived in Chicago for 20 plus years and have dined at many quality Italian restaurants. This restaurant ranks with the best, food wise. OK, the food… We ordered calamari as an appetizer. Outstanding. We ordered two fettuccine alfredo dishes, one with chicken, the other shrimp. In addition, we ordered penne pasta in a vodka sauce with vegetables and spaghetti/​meatballs with meatsauce. All were excellent. Also their dinner salad is excellent. Their italian dressing is a must. Add gorgonzola… killer. We topped off the night with tiramasu with raspberry sauce. Very good. I’m giving them 4 stars only for one reason. When we arrived they asked if we were celebrating anything. We were. My wife’s birthday. I assumed when they asked they would do something to recognize it. Nothing. To get a 5 star it must be an ultimate client experience. It fell a little short. One note… they allow you to bring wine in at $ 15 per bottle. Very fair for this restaurant. So if you bring in a $ 40 retail bottle, it costs you $ 55 total. To buy that in a restaurant, it would be $ 100 – 130. You can save big $$$‘s by doing this. I brought an Orin Swift Papillon. Great compliment to our meal.

Excellent food and service. Most selections are gluten free or can be adjusted to gluten free which is why we love this restaurant.

My colleague and I were in town on business and came to this place based on the Unilocal 4.5 star rating and lots of good reviews. Let me just say… The food was amazing and the portion was very generous. for the price you pay you couldn’t get this high quality food anywhere else. Definitely recommended if you in the area.

Service and food outstanding. The best spinach lasagne I ever had. Good wine selection and great presentation.
A nice evening out but a bit pricey.

Quite possibly my favorite restaurant in Dixon! Relaxing atmosphere and friendly service — The vodka and paesano sauces are both excellent choices for a main dish or as an add on for the side pastas. If the tomato basil soup is available, go that route and you won’t be disappointed.
In addition to the usual, the owner is always welcoming and friendly. I moved here somewhat recently and am out of town for work the majority of the time. It’s nice to have a night out where you remember what a small town is like. He’s taken the time to recognize us and make us feel like part of the community inside of just the occasional visitor that I tend to be everywhere else in the vicinity.

Your meals come in courses! First an appetizer (which is quite large!), the soup, and then your entrees. All of which come with freshly sliced bread. It was amazing. The vodka sauce was amazing with my gnocchi pasta. The jumbo shrimps on the side were great.
I enjoyed the decorations. We sat our own private table in the empty restaurant (it was a very early evening on a Tuesday). Lovely floating candle in water and we sat next to the wine storage.
The manager/​owner came over a couple times to ask how our meal was. When I complimented the cuisine, he invited us for a tour of the downstairs reception area.
My partner and I were very impressed. It was fancy dining, and probably a formal dress code but we wore blue jeans and it didn’t seem to matter to the other guests and hostesses. Our first time rocked!

Well, I am back again with an updated review.
Tonight I tried the feature appetizer, Bruchetta. Frickin awesome! Soup of the day was minestrone, again, homemade and delicious.
Entrée was gnocchi basilica. Spot on perfection.
5 stars. Best restaurant in Dixon.

We came to Sterling from Chicago to visit my friend. She has been raving about this Italian place in Dixon so of course this is where we came for dinner. I have to say she was right, the food was delicious!
For appetizers we got the calamari and the bruschetta, the calamari was good but the bruschetta was great. Then we had the minestrone soup with their fresh, warm rosemary bread — excellent! For entrees my husband got the cheese ravioli with cream/​marinara sauce (yes, you can create your own pasta with their many sauces which is so cool) and I got the baked mozzarella topped prosciutto wrapped chicken breast, both were great but that ravioli was the best — and I’m not even that big a fan of ravioli.
What really made Basil Tree stand out was how gracious everyone was, from the waitstaff to the host (who was the owner himself!). My friends go to the restaurant often and they were talking to the host about different wines on the list (which is pretty extensive) and happened to mention a Cabernet that they really liked in napa that wasn’t on the menu. The owner took down the name of the wine and told them he’ll try to track it down and give them a call when they get it, amazing! Now that’s five star treatment.
Coming from Chicago where the options for great restaurants are endless I have to say Dixon has a true gem.

Not fabulous, but definitely very good.
The options in Dixon are pretty limited, so it’s nice that even though there’s really nowhere else to go, it’s thoroughly enjoyable.
The service was good and the kitchen was prompt. Very fresh veggies in my pasta, but I have to say my husband’s steak was pretty average. I will definitely try them again, but I will probably stick to the pasta as it was the best of the dishes we tried.

Dixon is full of surprises. You can’t find a single decent cup of coffee anywhere in this town, and as far as I know, there doesn’t seem to be a movie theater or a place to go shopping other than Walmart.
And yet, here is this cute little restaurant that has great Italian food. Old school Italian American restaurants usually overdo it with the sweetness in sauces, but the sauces here hit just the right note — fragrant, with deep flavors, and you taste herbs more than you taste anything else. The chicken has this interesting smokiness and depth.
The gnocchi is dense — I prefer the light pillowy kind, but it’s my understanding that dense gnocchi, more like dumplings, are a legitimate gnocchi style, and I did like them.
The bar has a coppery tin sheath on top, which excited me. As a Chicagoan strolling west, I was on the prowl for things that would be too expensive for me in Chicago. I had already picked out a chair in St. Charles. I had hoped that maybe they sold that material in Dixon — the waitress didn’t know, but they were so awesome that they brought out someone who did know and told me about the building of the piece, which was very nice of them.

I have been a fan of this place for quite a while. It is difficult to pass up the lunch buffet’s variety but the individual entrees are so wonderful it is nearly impossible for me to make up my mind.
Service is as delicious as the food. I generally prefer to dine with my Kindle. Unlike some dining establishments, they offer the same great service (without over doing it) as they do couples or larger groups.
It has become a tradition when I am in Dixon for a visit to KSB to stop in for lunch. Takes the sting out of the doctor visit.