Il Basilico in Bedford

Amazing food, place and team. Special thank you to Niko our waiter, you were outstanding

We was on our first date , just wanted to say how lovely the staff were , and the food was absolutely delicious

Food was not very nice, My pizza was sent back as it smelt very funny and had peppers put on last minute so they were raw. Restaurant was beautiful very lovely setting. Very romantic. I hope this was an off day.

What a gem! Wonderful food and atmosphere to celebrate a birthday, lovely menu choices and very accommodating for a gluten free and cheese free customer. Can't wait to return (waitress I think her name was lilly was brilliant!!)

Lovely food, really nice atmosphere and friendly staff. We will definitely be coming back. So much flavour in all dishes

Food is below mediocre, defined not authentic Italian. *updated with pictures as the owner can’t take an authentic feedback as he is remembering all his customers by their google account.

It was our first time dining here and it definitely won’t be our last! We got starters, mains and desserts. The food was absolutely delicious and the portion sizes are really generous. Every one of us were continuously commenting throughout the meal how tasty the food was, we couldn’t help ourselves. The service was also excellent, everything arrived timely and the staff are so friendly. Couldn’t recommend this place enough!

We ate here for the first time at the weekend and I wouldn’t say it was the best pizza in Bedford, I’d say it was the best pizza I’ve ever eaten! Honestly it was perfection. The setting is lovely as well, softly lit, comfy seating, nice music. We will definitely be returning, just gutted I’ve not been here before now.

Lovely ambience and meal. Nick was a great waiter. We will be back.

Lovely restuarant, small but friendly. Lovely atmosphere and really nice staff. Very attentive. Food was a little disappointing.

Fantastic meal - food was really flavoursome, great portion sizes and they didn’t scrimp on the seafood/chicken in our pastas. The bruschetta was amazing and garlicky! Lovely atmosphere and service. Also had some great cocktails.

Such a lovely restaurant! Food was incredible and very generous portions. We shared a variety of starters including mussels, prawns and calamari, all were lovely. Great service and atmosphere too.

This was our first experience at this restaurant and it was fabulous. The food was lovely, staff were polite and helpful. I would highly recommend that you go to this place and eat their delicious food. I'm looking at my diary and planning another visit soon.

Truly amazing food and very friendly staff, highly reccomended!

Wonderful food and service at a very reasonable price ..highly eeconnend

Went there to celebrate of knowing each other 18yrs...nct group meeting, loved the place, atmosphere was great, ambiance was sweet, waiter, waitress was accommodating, patiently waited as we were last to leave. Food was fantastic ❤️ we will be back. Thank you.

Fantastic food, great service. Highly recommended

Absolutely bloody fantastic place, food was 10 out 10 atmosphere was awesome and staff were fantastic, really lovely place to come out and eat in a very nice calm and relaxing place. Will definitely 💯 be back Thank you to all

A special place with a warm atmosphere and delicious Italian food, with great service.

Really lovely meal on Mother's Day. Very accommodating of our 3yo (including the largest and tastiest children's pizza I've ever ordered!) Yours truly got very lucky that the special opening on Sunday lunchtime was slightly under-advertised so we could get in!

very tasty food, very kind waiters, we are very satisfied

Lovely little Italian restaurant. Looked this up on trip advisor, we weren't disappointed. Service was good, not pushy, not rushed. Foof freshly cooked. Will be returning next time we are up in Bedford.

Grwat meal and really friendly, knowledgeable staff. Super helpful when it came to my coeliac disease and gluten free options - they were cautions which I appreciated. A lovely meal and atmosphere.

Amazing evening with my sisters and nephews. Everyone cleared their plates. Staff amazing, food fresh. Best pizza and pasta I've had in a long time. Will be returning soon.

Food was really good, the place and staff were nice and was pleasantly surprised by the bill, very good value, will be back.

Seriously impressed! The staff were attentive and polite, I love the decor and the food was perfectly seasoned. We will definitely make this one of our regular restaurants to visit.

Food was really delicious and very good portions. The staff make this hidden gem even more special. They were really welcome and accommodating to us all for our birthday visit. Will hopefully get a chance to visit again some day but will always recommend to anyone looking for Italian food done right.

Lovely meal, staff were very attentive.

11 of us went for dinner, the food was all really lovely, piping hot and served promptly. We were really pleased. I had a mushroom and spinach pizza with tomato salad and it was perfect. Thank you for having us.

My favourite Italian restaurant in town! The best pizza and pasta in Bedford.

Little Italian restaurant in Bedford. The service is quite good with pleasant and helpful waiters. Food portion is also really great with decent pricing although food taste left something to be desired.

This was our first visit and it won't be the last. Ambience and staff first class, and so was the food. Piping hot, tasty and generous portions.

First time dining at this Italian restaurant and it was amazing. The place , modern nice touches and really gives a welcoming vibe. Food 10/10 - a menu with a number of choices from starters, mains , pizza, pasta and desserts. We ordered pizza, pasta and desserts of which were amazing! All freshly cooked and came out perfecto. Best pizza in Bedford for sure. Staff were very polite and attentive. We look forward to joining them soon again!

This was our second visit to Il Basilico and again it did not disappoint. The food was amazing, starters, mains and desserts all absolutely delicious, beautifully presented and generous portions. The service is excellent and the place has a lovely ambience. Thoroughly enjoy our night, thank you!

Fantastic food and a great atmosphere. Friendly staff and great quality fresh food.

Great food and amazing tiramissu

First time at Il Basilico but we will be back. Lovely ambience, perfect food and great service.

Food was delicious, great cocktails. Brilliant service

Amazing food big portions atmosphere lovely

Nice atmosphere. The people who work there were very polite, friendly and helpful. And the food was delicious. Definitely recommend if you are up for an Italian cuisine.

Amazing Food and Great Service!

We love eating at il Basilico as the food is guaranteed to be delicious! The garlic bread is soft, hot and mouth watering. I always have their salmon for my mains which is perfectly cooked and the classic tiramisu is ammmazzing!! They have a great collection of wine too. Lastly the service is friendly, professionally and efficient. NT: its so popular to eat here now, you need to book.

Great food and even better service.

Really nice venue, great service and the food was fantastic at a reasonable price.

Great food, service and atmosphere. Lovely place, best Italian I've ever been to.

Absolutely amazing food and service

We ordered 2 pizzas and a few drinks and the were in the table in 15 minutes. They tasted just so good. Neapolitan style. Super fast and good service 10/10 Good quality pizzas 9/10 We’ll definitely be back to try some of the desserts as the looked delicious!

Twice we have been here. Haven't booked but they always managed to get us a table. Really like the decor, the lighting, the music. Staff are super helpful and friendly. We have had mussels, spag bol, carbonara..... not sure why I didn't finish this original review. My fiance and I was in here again tonight. Once again, the staff, service and food was amazing 👏 The white wine, cream, onion ,garlic, chilli sauce on the mussels was so good I asked for a glass to drink it. Gutted I didn't get photos. I thought I'd already reviewed this restaurant as it is our favourite Italian. We will definitely be returning and I will post lots of photos of the amazing food. !!!

Fantastic service and food. Couldn’t recommend more x

Our favourite Italian restaurant in Bedford, food and service are both amazing

Great experience, a great birthday!

Good food and large portions. Great value.

It was our last day in Bedfordshire and we wanted to try an Italian restaurant. We've got two dogs so we thought that we'd get a takeaway pizza. I called just as a terrific thunderstorm started. We got there driving through torrential rain but despite the restaurant having a problem because of the weather we were treated very well. The pizzas we're outstanding. I had a calzoni, which doesn't feature on many menus where we live. It was superb, lovely fluffy dough and big flavours with roasted vegetables and olives. Thanks so much for rounding off yet another excellent trip to your county.

OK ... Bit expensive but tasty ... Starters were huge ... Wife was a bit disappointed with her chicken tagliatelle but everyone else was happy

We love this restaurant - ideal for a celebration or just a casual date night. Food is very good and great cocktail selection.

A MUST-GO!!!!! What an incredible restaurant...the food was truly delicious, all fresh ingredients and typically Italian-tasting. The staff were charming and very hospitable and the setting of the restaurant was beautiful too. Highly recommend if you are in the area of passing by as the food is worth it. Great value for money too.

This restaurant does not disappoint in any shape or form. The food was unbelievable! Delicious, hot and quickly serviced. It was my mothers birthday and nothing was even mentioned about this when booking and they came out with a candle in a brownie with “happy birthday” written in sauce. Absolutely a lovely touch! Will 100% be returning and highly recommend! Thank you!

A superb atmospheric Restaurant- very nice food, waiting staff are super

Great place for a nice evening.

Food was excellent the staff were lovely and efficient would definitely return

Best restaurant that I have been to in Bedford for a long time. Thanks to them for sending my glasses on when I left them behind too.

Visited yesterday evening and couldn't find fault if I tried ,great staff and amazing pizza

Really well run family owned Italian restaurant. Easy booking process, friendly staff, great service and unbelievable food. Highly recommend the mushroom bruschetta and pizzas! Really bubbly atmosphere inside and I overheard the table next to me say “we didn’t try that last time” which tells you this is one of those great places you will end up going back to! Shoutout to Nico too for helping to solve a little issue we had with our food with minimal fuss!

Elegant atmosphere with beautiful music and incredibly kind staff. One of the waiters, Nico, helped me decide on a main course - spinach and mushrooms risotto - which was nothing short of exquisite. The dessert, a pistachio cake which was light, fluffy and not overly sweet, followed by a glass of limoncello, were the perfect ending to the meal. One of the most pleasant restaurant experiences I’ve had, definitely recommend :)

Cozy place for a date, good food and cocktails! Would recommend!

Great food, great service and experience. Will be visiting again. Mussels were tasty, meats / cheese sharer was generous and great value.

We had a really lovely meal here. Everything was spot on from the call taking the booking to the food and drinks. Friendly and engaging servers and well presented tasty food. Cocktails were very good (and reasonably priced too)

Wish I could give more than 5 stars , we were visiting Bedford from Bahrain - stumbled across this lovely restaurant which looked inviting . It’s a family run restaurant and they have such a passion for their food and recommended to us the best combinations and portions for the dishes . They were extremely warm and hospitable . The hostess was sweet and knowledgeable. The bartender made the best cosmopolitan that I have ever had . We will definitely be visiting again next time we are in Bedford .

Delicious food. Lovely surroundings, very good staff. X

Very enjoyable. Interior conversion from previous pub premises very nice. Pleasant atmosphere. We were early diners but the restaurant became pleasantly bustly and busy. Restaurant area spotlessly clean. Waiting team were very nice. Food very enjoyable and so good value. Convenient parking in Lurke Street multi storey - which was free ( we arrived at around 6.20 and left at 7.45). One constructively meant criticism - the decoration finish of the toilets was a bit poor as was their general cleanliness - I think this should be addressed.

Me and partner booked il basilico for a date night, we had a fantastic evening the staff couldn’t be any more welcoming and friendly, nothing was to much trouble, The food itself was amazing, highly recommended will definitely be returning

Great authentic Italian food in a lovely quiet setting. Perfect for a first date or chilled meal

RACIST STAFF!!! RUDE AND UNWELCOMING!!! AVOIDD!! I would of given it 0 but that option is not possible …. Walked in with my family of 3 for an Italian dinner the staff said they were fully booked. Looked around the place was almost empty with so many available seats, staff said we don’t have any spaces for 3! Fine understandable so we booked online straight away so many seats available so we booked a table right away walked back in. The Man was very angry that we were back as we showed our table booking complaining there is no seats for us! As he was so frustrated we just said forget the table we don’t feel welcome here and he rolled his eyes with anger. For the first time visiting here the worst service I’ve ever experienced I don’t ever right reviews but nobody should feel this uncomfortable!

Gorgeous! Starters, Main and Desserts were Delicious! I couldn’t recommend more! Excellent portion sizes! Kind Staff! And Beautiful setting. We will be back!

Great food, friendly service! Great to see an independent restaurant nice and busy!

We visited Il Basilico for the first time a few weeks ago and so glad we did ! Food is amazing, service excellent and always with a smile.....am sure this will become a regular for us.

Very enjoyable evening meal. Great food.

Booked a table of 18 for my daughter's birthday. Had a lovely evening. Staff were very attentive allowing me to decorate the restaurant and get everything set up. Food was delicious as were the drinks especially the cocktails. Staff were friendly and welcoming and everyone had a great evening. Communication throughout was excellent. Thankyou so much for a great night.

Enjoyed another exquisite meal here with my husband and children. The food is incredible, and the service is always friendly. As always, thank you for a wonderful meal!

Lovely atmosphere and good food, tucked away on the high street.

Went tonight and is most likely the best Italian in Bedford, one of the best meals we have ever had too. The 2 waitress both received a £20 tip for their amazing service, so attentive, friendly and fantastic conversation, the vibe was perfect busy but not loud, from the absolute out of this world French martini, tasteful calamari and a carbonara which beats everything else! The food also comes out piping hot which we loved. We will definitely be back to try one of the delicious looking pizzas, thank you for a fantastic night all, an absolute gem in Bedford.

Amazing food, delicious risotto and the service from the Venezuelan girl Jeannette, was outstanding! Totally recommend it

What a lovely dinner. The chef was amazing in creating various vegan dishes for me and my friends. The staff was very attentive and helpful! Definitely recommend it and we will be coming back soon for more 😊

Amazing service and food! They were fully booked but opened a slot for us and also were flexible on changing some ingredients to make our food vegan. Would definitely come again and recommend.

Definitely the best Italian restaurant in Bedford, starting from the food, atmosphere and lovely staff. The price is also great and to be honest should be a lot more as never tasted anything like it! The staff feel like family from the first visit. It’s a 10/10 from me.

Delicious food and wonderful staff! Wish you all the best.

Really lovely tasting and well presented.

We had our dinner today here , and I can say that the food was amazing. Thank you guys , thank you Il basilico team !!!

Dined here for the first time on Saturday, the food was delicious, we had starters, pasta & pizza dishes & desserts. The ambience and service were excellent, Nicolas served us, he was really good, attentive & friendly. We'll definitely be back. We'd advise anyone to dine here.

Good pizzas but smaller than expected portions and dough was a bit undercooked.

I don't normally write reviews, but dietary requirements is not a joke. I become very sickly if i eat onions or mushrooms. I asked if the onions could be removed from the simple Bruschetta starter. The answer was NO. I asked if mushrooms could be removed from a pasta dish and replaced with garden peas. Again, no peas. This was a suprise; being an italian restaurant!! When I was given the dessert menu, the waitress said quite patronisingly, there are no onions or mushrooms in this menu. How rude. It is important to cater for all dietary requirements without being rude. I felt compelled to support local businesses, but in future, I will travel to St. Albans where staff know the values of service and repeat business and are more than happy to cater for the needs of their customers. Food - Average. UPDATe- Managers Response. I was not asked about any dietary requirements when I was sat at my table. We were asked if we wanted drinks. I always mention my issue with onions and mushrooms immediately when I order food. I was told the onions are include and cut up really fine, and could not be picked out, but from a customers point of view its just chopped tomatoes and a few herbs. They could have made one with no onions. It wasn't that busy. I did settle for garlic bread, but thats just it settle. The mains I asked if mushrooms could be replaced with peas or broccoli. You didn't have any, only Asparagus. If you had green beans I would have accepted that. My friend was also very surprised, so I can get him to write a review as well if this helps. There was no laughter from me after the comment. My friend laughed and I responded in an annoyed sarcastic voice. My friend liked his meal and left a tip and I didnt want to make a scene as it was a treat for him. Garlic bread with cheese is easy. I left some of my Cabonara as it was very rich and over powering. Brownie and ice cream was good. My friend believed the panacota to be a little runny. Oh and by the way your waitress was going to charge me only £36 for a £63 meal, which was what I believed it was worth, but noted her mistake and pointed it out as I am very honest person. You need to up your game or you wont survive these difficult times.

Great little Italian in the centre of Bedford. Very welcoming and polite staff. Food is amazing and a lovely atmosphere.

Oh WOW. What an amazing little place I can see why it's 4.9 stars. Mains, sides and dessert all incredible, best risotto I've ever had easily and such a huge range of choices. The service was speedy and extremely reasonably priced, I highly recommend the Lemoncello Tiramasu, yum! But what really makes this place, is the friendly, chatty and attentive staff. They're clearly happy in their work place and checked on us regularly. I just can't fault the place. We will 100% be returning. Great place for a romantic date, the place is so stylish and cosy. Thanks all!

Good value and extensive choice. My dish was delicious (chicken in Il Basilico sauce). Relaxing atmosphere and attentive staff. Would definitely go again.

Delicious meal, nice service. One of those places worth to go again.

Booked here as an early pre-gig dinner. Super restaurant. Lovely staff and delicious food. It was quiet when we arrived at 5.40pm. But soon filled up. Nice relaxed atmosphere. Will definitely visit again if I'm in the area.

Friendly owners. Excellent service and delicious food. Thank you

Excellent service and food, nice atmosphere, obliging staff turned down music as we had my 83 year old father with us. Best lasagne we have ever had. Will return. Thank you.

Welcomed with a smile, great staff, delicious food and fast service. Cocktails were great, the pizza was out of this world and Nico was very friendly. Definitely going back.

Table for 3. Exceptional food and service. We chose pasta dishes, calamari and prawns. The pasta was fresh and the sauce was distinctively home made. Would highly recommend.