Basil Leaf Cafe

This place is under new ownership, and while it looks nicer, the food isn’t as good. This place used to have my 2^nd favorite shwarma wrap in the City (after Ali Baba’s in the Mission), it had plenty of sauce INSIDE the wrap, and it was toasted on the grill.
The wrap I got today was just chicken and green salad (lettuce, tomatoes, etc.) in a lavash, served untoasted. There was some yogurt sauce and hot sauce on the side, but the end product was dry and unimpressive.
The old owners were older Middle Eastern men who really knew their stuff, and served a solid, basic meal at a good price with no frills. The new owners park their Ducati inside the restaurant and have a pretty blonde girl handing out little cucumber samples to dip in their yogurt sauce. ‘Nuff said.

This restaurant is a great stop for lunch in the Financial District. The food is very inexpensive compared to most other options nearby. The service is generally pretty fast. I’ll usually stay to eat at the restaurant– they have more seating available than a lot of Financial District restaurants.
I usually get the falafel wrap or the Mediterranean platter. Both are great, just depends if you want a plate of food or a wrap. I’ve also had the chicken shwarma wrap, which is also great. I’ve eaten Mediterranean food all over Israel, and this place is a great stop to fulfill my falafel fix without the day of travel!
The service here is great. I feel like the staff is always trying to help you– bringing your food and water to your table, even though this is not a sit down, wait staff type of place.

I really stopped by here because I needed a quiet place with a table and a nearby electrical outlet. I felt guilty about sucking up their electricity so I got a falafel wrap and a Coke. The Coke was great, exactly as advertised. I was also able to make some work related phone calls and get a fair amount of work done due to the dearth of customers.
The falafel wrap was okay. The falafels were not freshly made. I wouldn’t recommend this as a place to eat, but there’s plenty of table space and quiet if you need to find an impromptu field office.

Major ewwwwwww. Our office is only one block away and we go there for lunch often. It’s never been an amazing place, but it’s close and quick. However, today I ordered a chicken shwarma sandwich. Once I started eating it back in the office, I realized the chicken was raw. Without getting into too much detail, it made throw away most of the uneaten sandwich. For the love of god, please do not serve food that could potentially poison someone!

Not my favorite place in the FiDi. I tried the chicken shwarma which has all the right fixins but for some reason, it just doesn’t come out as good as it should. For one thing, the meat isn’t shaved fresh off of the meat that is roasting and instead, is taken from a meat filled container that has just been sitting for who knows how long. Secondly, the shwarma gets put on the grill for a bit which warms it up but the wrap itself gets too toasted that it flakes off everywhere and becomes unpleasantly shard-​like when biting the shwarma. Lastly, their hot sauce is not hot at all. The shwarma-​maker man put a decent amount on my shwarma and I hardly got any spiciness. It would probably take half of the squirt bottle to get some real heat.
Service here is okay and sadly, the ambiance of the restaurant itself is lacking. They need to play some music to kill the silence and if there are other customers, to mask hearing each person’s order. Some kind of décor would be nice too because the plain colored walls just don’t do much for the place.

This is the closest thing to NY Halal food carts I have tried in SF. Mediterranean food on the go with great schwerma and falafel wraps. The chicken and schwerma plates are delicious with yogurt and hot sauce with sides of babaganoush and hummus. Comes with a few flat breads to wrap up all the goodness in. Fast service and great food for lunch in FiDi.

Reminds me of eating in Rhodes — simple and flavorful. Got the chicken kabobs and a side of hummus. Excellent flavor. Friend had the chicken caesar and loved it. Great lunch pick for anybody in the FiDi.

The people here are very nice.
The falafel’s here are very middle-​of-​the-​road. It’s never on the spicy side, so save your request. They put red onions and some pickled things in there, which both add a little more to your bite. The actual falafel patties are often dry and bland. Another shortcoming would be that whatever kind of bread they are wrapping this in is very delicate, which leads to an almost-​guaranteed mess.
The veggie plate is a wise option — they give you a lot of everything.
The prices are great, especially for the portions.
And no, it’s not a Thai place. They don’t even have basil in their kitchen. It’s just a very poor choice for a name.

I have been here three times. I usually eat lunch late so there usually is no crowd when I go. I usually order the chicken kabobs and its usually good.
The last time I went I ordered the chicken shawarma. It was okay, except the rice pilaf was really hard. I also went during their lunch peak hours and I now understand why people say they are disorganized when there is a crowd.

I will second everyone else who mentioned that the owner and staff are really nice and friendly here. It’s definitely got a warm, family-​owned business feel.
I had a lamb shawarma wrap which was nice and toasted. However the lamb was too tough for my liking. I think it’s because it was shaved earlier and left sitting out which caused it to dry out. It would have been a most tasty lunch if they managed to keep the shawarma juicy.
I will skip the shawarma next time and go with some falafel and babaganoush, maybe a Greek salad and hopefully that will be better. Overall the food had good flavor though and the Basil Leaf Café is a decent place if all you need is to grab a quick lunch in the area.

«Basil Leaf» is synonymous with Thai food but this is Mediterranean so we’ll work with what we got.
The system is kind of weird because you order behind the counter but you can’t really tell who is in line and who is waiting. Lots of confusion there and even when we were sitting because they came over to confirm our orders again. I understand that there was a lunch rush but it wasn’t busy enough to cause the long wait for our food.
Lamb Shawarma is my favorite but it wasn’t so much here. The meat was really dry and overcooked. They put hummus in the wrap which you think would be a good idea but it kind of makes everything taste like it and it was a bit too grainy to be present.
The competition for food is too steep in the city. Hope this one can hang on.

I’ve walked by this place a thousand times and never stopped in ’cause I am true blue to Hadi’s Café on Battery. Today I didn’t feel like walking down to Hadi’s, so came in here for a med fix.
Place is very casual and small — nice brick walls, high ceilings. I ordered a kefta wrap to go from the nice men behind the counter. And I waited and waited for about 15 minutes until it was finally ready. In all fairness, it looks like I arrived just after a couple of four-​tops got there, and since everything is prepared fresh on the spot, it takes a little time.
Just as I had paid and was ready to leave, I noticed the owner removing and eating a piece of chicken from a plate he was just about to serve to a customer. That really grossed me out, and I did not enjoy my kefta wrap AT ALL. The kefta had a weird taste, was a combo of undercooked AND burnt. Oh, and the wrap had a pickle in it. WTH is that all about?
Hadi’s, I’ll see you tomorrow.

Mom and I shared a wonderful shawarma here-​we both agree it was deeelicous! Nice and spicy too!
I was a bit confused when ordering, I thought I was ordering a combo plate with a shawarma and two sides (I chose dolma and baba ghanouj) but realized it was rice with meat on top-​not the shawarma I was expecting.
No biggie!
The owner was very generous and told me the shawarma was coming right up! The blond lady working next to him made sure I was convinced it wasn’t a big deal as I waited for my food. They were really nice and the food was really good.
It’s a way better deal than most spots in this neighborhood! Totally recommend for anyone who works in this area and is sick of Sai’s.

I’d have to grade the shawarma wrap here just below those at Oasis Grill on Drumm St; but light-​years better then the crap served up at Ali Baba’s Cave…
The owner is an absolute gentleman…

A clean simple lunch spot that serves a variety of wraps. I had the Basil Delight which had turkey, avocado, lettuce and other veggies. The turkey, while as turkey is, was dry as expected but with fresh taste. The wrap was simple but good. Also had a carrot juice which was pretty good!
Like the decoration, high ceiling with exposed brick walls as the sun shines in on a lazy Friday.

Bacony delicious!
Where, what, who?! I am talking about the lone focus of this review, the soups at Basil Leaf. Three cheers for Basil Leaf’s restaurant reincarnation as a bacon infused soup paradise. Let me adorn myself with fig leaf and dance in your Eden.
$ 4 gets you a pint or so of soup. Usually they have a white bean soup, but today it was lentil. I’ve seen chicken-​rice and potato-​leek on the menu too, but I went straight for the beans and lentils. Why, because legumes bring the pork. Both soups pack a smoky bacon note that would convert disciples of Kosher & Vegetarian food-​dogmas into piousless pork procurers.
Seriously, soup that leads to food anarchy has to be worth a 5 star review. Does it not?

I really tried.
I really tried because they’re really trying. Unfortunately, which ultimately led to this poor review, the lunches from here have become too trying.
I’ve given the falafel numerous chances to win me over. It has only succeeded in grabbing my fleeting attention.
I’ve given their hummus numerous chances to join the ranks of other places’ hummus offerings and… quite frankly I love hummus… I eat it almost every other day… this was an easy one… but nope.
The last straw… the schwarma options. I was not only let down… but sorely disappointed.
I haven’t had the kebobs… but why keep putting myself through this… it’s like giving that hot girl chance after chance but she just truly is an idiot and a slob… sure she looked nice… but that doesn’t fill up the heart. This is the case here… crazy beautiful location, mad clean inside, great staff, quick service… but nothing to offer my heart.

Basil Leaf is a clean and friendly spot for Mediterranean food in the FiDi — another good addition to my list of places to hit for good falafel. My friend enjoyed their chicken shwarma, too. I prefer falafel wrapped in lavash rather than in a pita, so Basil Leaf was spot on. Mostly I was impressed that the lavash wrap was fresh and grilled to have just the right level of crispiness, and everything inside was, of course, fresh and good.
Prices were good — I think my sandwich and a snapple came out to about $ 8.00. That’s not cheap, but its not bad for downtown. The staff was friendly and it seems like the owners are probably working there, so at least you know you’re supporting good hard-​working people. It’s only a block from my office, and I’ll definitely be back for the falafel.

This place was resurrected about a month ago. I’m glad they returned after the building was renovated. The new/​old space has a charming blend of bricky Barbary Coast and modern hipness.
Service is very friendly. I had the Basil Leaf wrap, which is basically a pesto salad with slice (s) of peach wrapped in a tortilla. The wrap itself was a bit tough, but I think it was because I came for a super late lunch.
They serve a mainly Mediterranean-​based lunch, and also have some items for breakfast.
Next time I’ll be back to try it out during the main lunch rush. Welcome back Basil Leaf!

One of the best little gems to reappear in the FiDi/​Jackson Square area… after 11 am. They were closed for a few years for renovation, and opened their doors just a month or so ago. Inside, you are greeted by Paul, the little Greek owner, and his wife (Anna?). Both are beyond happy and friendly, ready to chat while their busy hands move over the delicious food in front of you.
First time I went there was for lunch, which I got a Greek salad pita. I (of course) wanted to tweak what was offered, and Paul walked with me in stride, adding humus, extra feta, peppercinis (way to my heart), olive tapenade, romaine, fresh tomatoes, tabuli spread, tahini spread and their version of tzatki. Wow, talk about heaven. Paul made sure to grill the pita bread beforehand, which gave the sandwich this great crunch. All in all, a perfect sandwich.
So why four stars and not five? I went back for breakfast a week or so later, on the prompting of my sweetie. They had a much more basic menu, with bagel as the only starch (what, no english muffin? boo). I had a bagel, egg and cheese sando (read: hangover). The egg was very over cooked and spiced, the cheese was not melted on the eggs over the burner, but just placed on top (big time pet peeve of mine) and the bagel was just too big. I will definitely have to stick to Manhattan Hub for my morning after breakfast sando.
Come here after 11 am, and have one of the best pitas imaginable!