Chili Basil Thai

I love this place. I go every time I am visiting my parents in MA (I moved out of state years ago but still come back 3 or so times a year for a visit). I absolutely love Thai food, and I prefer it really spicy. My aunt, however, does not like it too spicy. The staff at Chili Basil are always willing to accommodate whatever level of spice you like, which is great. A lot of places when I ask «make it really spicy» they look at me like I can’t handle it. Chili Basil knows I have a strong stomach and taste buds :)
One thing I love about this place — it’s never crowded. Which might be off-​putting except that I realized a few years ago they do A LOT of takeout business. So the lack of patrons is not a reflection of the food; just of the fact that Americans like convenience! So, if you go for dinner, you’ll rarely have a wait.
Other pros: the prices are great — I live in CA so a typical Thai dinner costs at least $ 16. Here you can get it in the 11 – 14 dollar range. Not a huge difference, but one that I appreciate. And the portion sizes are big so you can easily have a doggie bag for next days’ lunch.
The wine list is short but quality wines. The appetizers are decent. We’ve gotten the fresh rolls (not deep fried, the ones in rice paper). They don’t have much shrimp in them, but the rolls are stuffed with lettuce and the dipping sauce is yummy. The edamame is good, as are the chicken skewers.
I usually get a shrimp curry, or the tofu basil which is very spicy. I love them both. My aunt often gets the seafood madness — amazing quality of seafood and big portion for $ 16. The coconut soup is also good. The paid Thai is my mom’s favorite — it’s not my favorite dish, but as pad thai goes, it’s pretty legit.
I’ll keep coming back as long as they stay open! Nom noms :)

I order from here quite a bit. Have eaten in too a few times. Always had nice food.
I was horrified when I found an insect in my Pad Thai.
Needless to say, I will be finding a new favorite Thai place

Probably the worst Thai food I’ve had. The scallion pancakes were greasy and tasteless. The Chicken Ka Prow was, essentially, nothing but heated ground chicken with a few peppers stirred in. I don’t think the food qualified as «Thai», even in the most liberal interpretation of the term.

Chili Basil is ok. The portions are on the small side and I always leave hungry, though I find that to be the case at many Thai restaurants. The seafood never tastes extremely fresh, which there’s really no excuse for in the Boston area. Still, it’s really the only decent Thai place in the area.

Outstanding pad thai!

I really love this place. It is not 5 stars because I have had more mind blowing Thai food, but this place is consistently good, and they use good quality fresh veggies and it is affordable. I love to get the rainbow basil or the drunken noodle dishes. Lemongrass is also amazing.

I think the chefs were on vacation as this was very bland. I’m talking Wingate Bland. We ordered pad Thai and a combo platter. No spice what so ever. It came with raw green beans. Not sure why. The crab Rangoon was good though.

Ordere online through EAT24. Ordering was easy and quick.
My food was cooked and delivered within 28 minutes. I live just up the road a bit, but was still surprised on how fast.
I ordered the Combo Platter, Veggie fried rice and Scallion pancakes. The Combo was cooked perfectly with clean taste. The fried rice was also done perfectly, but the scallion pancakes were a downer. They were greasy and the dough was mostly raw. Maybe they should have taken more time than rushing my order. However, I am not scared away, yet. Crap happens and today is New Years Eve.
Happy New Year.

Summary: Don’t go here if you know what Thai food should taste like. Food was either very sweet or very spicy, and lukewarm or spots of hot and cold. Service was ok.
This was not an enjoyable experience. I would rather go hungry than eat there again.
To start we ordered Tom Yum and Tom Kha Gai soups. The Tom Yum was tepid and sweet with barely a hint of spiciness. The Tom Kha Gai was so sweet that it was more of a dessert soup than anything.
One person got a Shirley Temple, which they said tasted like Sprite with red color, and had no grenadine flavor.
For mains:
Pad Thai — again with the cloying sweetness, and minimal flavor. It was like rice noodles with sugar sauce and peanuts.
Larb-​Kai salad — this actually had some heat to it! About a ⁴⁄₅ on spiciness, decent flavor. Not sure how well it was cooked, seemed right on the edge of undercooked.
Tofu noodle dish — temperature was hot in some spots and cold in others, like it was microwaved and not stirred.
Cashew nut stir fry — another way too sweet meal.
We didn’t bother with dessert.

I’m loving this Thai restaurant! They need a spice leveling system for their pad thai, however, they are so accommodating. Their pineapple fried rice and noodle dishes are super yummy! The staff are always friendly and they make dining in with a toddler easy. :) They also deliver! It is one of our favorite go to places.

It was an off non busy hour when I went so service was nice and fast. I gotten thai iced tea for a drink, and probably the best one I’ve had recently. For the meal I ordered Tom Yum noodles with seafood. The amount of seafood was plenty (shrimps, scallops and calamari) but I wish there were a bit more noodles. The Tom yum soup was superb. It was just the right mix of spicy and sour. I usually like it spicier but this was ok.
Good place and would like to try other items on the menu next time I’m in the area.

Yummy! Delicious! Tasteful!
I ordered the chicken pad Thai, drunken noodles and basil fried rice. Everything was delicious. The drunken noodles’ hint of spice was just right. The pad Thai was awesome, not too sour or too sweet.
The restaurant itself was a bit tiny but I went on a weekday so it was quiet. I think this place receives more take outs than dining in.
I will definitely be returning.

Great food. It wasn’t greasy. We arrived at an odd hour and the family was in the dining area finishing their expenses so that was weird. Typical for New York food, which isn’t great

After being a loyal customer to this restaurant they have now lost me as a customer. Nickel and diming loyal customers especially after complaining about a very oily take out order is not the way to build customer loyalty.

Small, dark «hole in the wall» with great Thai dishes.
Would highly recommend drunken noodles and Thai chili duck.

I was absolutely horrified to find a huge cockroach in my pad Thai. So incredibly gross I will never eat here again.

I recently moved to the area and so far Chili Basil Thai is my go to for Thai Food. They are quick and everything is really delicious. I am a huge fan of their coconut soup and all of their noodle dishes. Pricing is also exceptionally reasonable. Thanks for doing such a great job Chili Basil Thai!

We just happened to stop at this restaurant late one night when driving home from a day out. We are very glad we did :) The food here is SO, SO delicious and flavorful. I find myself craving the coconut soup. Their curry is the best I’ve ever had. Also, the pad thai is excellent and has quite a unique flavor that I really enjoy. The staff is friendly and accommodating. Also, the food takes no time at all to come out! The restaurant is very clean and well-​decorated inside. I always bring visitors here and they love it as well. I definitely recommend this place!

I considered whether to give my review one star or two based to my experience. It doesn’t matter how good the food is when something like this happens.
I had lunch at Chili Basil today. I’ve never dined here before and I wanted to try their Pad Thai as it’s received four and five star reviews by other Unilocalers. I will agree that it was very good. The sauce was flavorful and the amount of chicken and shrimp that accompanied the dish was decent. The waitress was attentive and didn’t hover. If I based my review on just these aspects, I would give them four stars. Unfortunately,
this is where the positive part of my review ends.
Prior to leaving the restaurant, I used the ladies room. There was a dead adult cockroach on the floor. I’ve managed a restaurant in the past and I know what a cockroach looks like. I picked it up with a tissue and brought it to the attention of the cook, who was a young Thai woman. I told her that I wasn’t looking for a free meal and that I’ll never go back there again. She just looked at me and nodded and I then left the restaurant. It’s a shame that this occurred because I would have liked to have tried other menu items but I won’t return to a restaurant that has a pest issue this is out in the open like this.

This place has the best pad thai I’ve had in the Boston area. Their orders are always prepared promptly and their service is consistent and great.
Their restaurant is beautifully designed as well and in a nice quiet area. I would definitely recommend it for takeout or dining in.