Cool Basil in Altoona

I love coming here. They treat us like family and are so very friendly. The food is always great and most of the staff is very knowledgeable about the menu.

You can't go wrong with any food here. Sushi? Tasty. Pad Thai? Brilliant. Water? Some of the best in Des Moines. I highly recommend.

Cool Basil has an incredibly diverse menu, and every dish I've tried has been very good. The servers are always great about explaining dishes and spice/flavor options. I normally wouldn't have said I liked Thai or curry dishes, but Cool Basil has changed my opinion of that!

Taste awful.

It was ok. Not great, not bad, just ok. If you don’t want to leave Altoona it’s pretty ok for Asian food.

mr nice guy is the best roll ever!!! But all there sushi is really good!

Good basil f/r.

Such friendly staff and delicious food! Standard Thai menu in the suburbs, prepared fresh and delicious!

Has the best ever Almond Chicken!

Really, really good!! Fresh ingredients even down to fresh sliced ginger and real orange slices in the orange chicken!If this food ever received a bad review, it was most likely because someone is used to heavily processed and fake ingredients, or they are just a person(s) who like to create drama!

Everything was Amazing!! I don’t know why these reviews say it’s not. Nice staff, GREAT!! food!! I highly recommend!

Great spring rolls. Place was packed but waitress was going quickly from table to table. Very nice and helpful.

Great food! Get a great family run vibe!

Another place that is a must visit when I'm in town exclamation point my husband's family lives in Altoona and we visit every time we come. I have several friends that will come visit me from Ames just for this food. I think I am just a bonus. The curries are so delicious and they can make it the exact level of spiciness you're looking for. The portions are huge. They have raised the price is a little bit recently but I think that the portions got a little bigger also. I always plan to make it two meals. They are typically a little bit short-staffed but still managed to get things out relatively quickly and always warm and delicious. We have seen many people get very upset for waiting a little bit because I think you expect an Asian restaurant to come out quicker but everyone I have been with has said it is worth the little wait.

Food was delicious. I will go back.

The food came in a timely manner - the cook cane out and was friendly with us. Really enjoyed my Pad tai - lunch special was an easy menu to choose your favorites from with a good price. Had good ambiance, quiet and enjoyed the background music!

Great Thai restaurant that also serves great Chinese & Japanese dishes. Every dish served to my party of five was freshly prepared and very tasty. The servers were all friendly and helpful.

Wow! The best lo mein I've ever had! The Thai food was all fantastic! Just great!!

Waste of money they charge you 14.95 for a spoonful of duck and 15 peices of broccoli you can get off any buffet line the sushi is comical one of my peices had nothing in it and all of it looked like it was assembled by a 5 year old on there first attempt cooking anything, no problems with them asking If I needed refills just good luck getting your glass back first time they took it for a refill didnt ft it back till after my food came out and 2nd time was a good five mins. The over priced pile of duck fat was way way over sauced and over seasoned with burnt teriyaki which is not a good taste at all, I refuse to waste food but even after I ate what was there I still had enough sauce to make 2 more plates of food I'd haft to say one of the biggest waste of money I have ever spent, I understand it's a strip mall resturant but how about a little pride in your work?

Best food ever. I could eat cool basil for breakfast lunch and dinner!

Pineapple chicken stir fry and crab rangoon was delicious!!

I loved it. They were really nice, they refilled your water without you even asking, and the food was also great to enjoy.

Best Pad Thai I have had anywhere in Iowa. I have only lived here two years, this is the closest thing to authentic as can be for this area. Fresh vegetables, plenty of chili, and very great service every time.

We always order to go and they never mess up our order. Very kind employees!

Food is fresh and delicious. Staff is excellent. Love this restaurant.

They are closed and they are advertised to be open

Great food, solid customer service, clean sight (including restrooms), an atmosphere that is fantastic and a location is accessible. I highly recommend. Could be Altoona's best kept secret.

Spicy tuna and salmon sushi rolls poorly constructed with plain steamed white rice left me disappointed at $7 a piece. Our larger roll was better tasting but still a steep price to pay at $15. Pad Thai okay but protein horribly over cooked. Waiter and waitress seemed really young (teens) and struggled with the order from beginning to end. 😕

The food was amazing!!!! Everything tasted great!

Delicious shrimp wonton soup. Best I’ve ever had! Captain Crunch roll was mouth watering. Prompt courteous service.

Bought banana milk and was charged a 1.75 convenience charge on a $1.25 drink but other than that the food was great the service is great

The food is great! Spices are perfect and the price is on spot for a good asian cuisine. The only reason for 4 stars is the lack of servers. Be sure to have plenty of time to get your food (never cold) and pay your bill.

Thai, Chinese, sushi and Japanese options. Made quick and delicious. Great service. Not many customers for a dinner shift. Might speak for something, not sure what.

I love Thai and I love this place. Great food that is cooked to order, friendly service...it's just good!

Hidden in a strip mall. Unbelievable great food. You have got to try everything. Great selection of appetizers that are different and all good.

Large variety of food and drink selections at a reasonable price. The staff are courteous, friendly, professional, and helpful - enjoyed our time at the restaurant. It is clean, well maintained, and bright. There is plenty of parking but the restaurant is hard to see from a main road - if you did not know where it was you would not be able to see or find it.

My favorite Asian restaurant!!! I don’t eat Asian anywhere else! Also has a nice lunch special as well! I love this place!

Pretty darn good. The one thing I did notice is that they try to cook a little more healthy. Good atmosphere, clean (except the bathroom, EW!) the service is fast and the servers are very friendly.

VERY Good Red Curry Chicken...3.5 stars apicy for just the right amount of heat spice 👍 .AND a nice Brown Rice option too. Any place that makes Thai Food THIS good with good Brown Rice gets 5 stars in my book 👍.

Overall a good place. The atmosphere isn’t great, but the food is consistently good.

Extremely fast and efficient service, clean comfortable dining area, good selection of Asian foods, flavorful dishes with pleasing presentation. Group and intimate seating.

Walked in tonight and was overwhelmed by the sewer gas smell. It didn’t get any better at our booth so we opted to leave. Kind of hard to maintain our appetite or enjoy a meal with that strong smell. Will call before we return to make sure this problem has been corrected.

Good atmosphere, attentive staff, and prompt delivery of meals. The red curry was fantastic!

It's pretty good. I ordered pad thai. Not the best but not bad. I usually get the green curry. Which is good.

Wouldn't recommend. Altoona location. We get there only 3 customers. Fans going no air. This should have made us turnaround but we wanted to try something new. Two out of the three of us got sick! Staff was obviously bored they grabbed our dirty plates before we could place at end of the table ( yes, they reached over me to get my granddaughter's plate). The food was nothing to write home about and for the price, much better food and better dining experience you are better off going to Panda Express. Save your money and tummy and go elsewhere!

Ordered take out( Pad Thai w/ shrimp) and it was ok, not worth $15!!!! And where was my cilantro (sad face) So yea, I won't be back.

one of my favorite restaurants

Great food, never disappointed. Curry is great, sushi is awesome and the regular Chinese and thai dishes are good as well.

Once again we are disappointed. We have wanted to love this place like we did our first few trips but just another disappointment today. Ordered sesame chicken get home no sauce so a pile of fried chicken so I made quesadillas which is why it wasn’t a one star review. They also didn’t have crab Rangoon or soy paper for sushi AGAIN.