The Basil Press restaurant opened in the fall of 1998 in the old Herald Building (c. 1890) that used to house the Athens Observer newspaper. It is located on the corner of Washington and Lumpkin Streets in downtown Athens and is only a few blocks from the Holiday Inn.
This was our first lunch together as a class, and we had reservations for 11:30am. We had to wait a few minutes before the restaurant opened, but that was okay, since we would be ahead of the crowd. We were seated in the front dining room, directly in front of a huge curved window, which allowed the bright Georgia sun to stream in. The table had fresh linen tablecloths/napkins, and I quickly observed that this must be one of Athens more sophisticated, yet casual, restaurants.
The Basil Press’ lunch menu includes soups, salads, appetizers, and lunch entrées. Two people in our group ordered the Sherried French Onion Soup, which was baked with provolone cheese and garlic herb crostini ($4.95). It looked a little messy to eat, but both declared it "wonderfully delicious." With six of us, we had a variety of dishes to discuss when our orders arrived. Two of us chose the Sea Scallops Meuniere($7.95), which was scallops sautéed with mushrooms and garlic in a white wine lemon butter sauce and served over angel hair pasta. This dish contained four extra large sea scallops and was very tasty. Other ordered selections were the Blackened Salmon ($7.95), which was a grilled salmon filet served with mango salsa and citrus glaze and the Manicotti ($6.95), which was spinach-, parmesan-, ricotta-, and mozzarella-filled pasta shells baked with tomato basil sauce, and the Seafood Tortellini($8.95), which was cheese-filled pasta with shrimp, lobster, and scallops in a parmesan herb sauce. The food was excellent and the conversation was free-flowing as the diversified group got acquainted over lunch. As we walked the couple of blocks back to class, we all discussed our lunch experience and agreed that the Basil Press was a great restaurant.
The dinner menu at the Basil Press has several of the lunch menu favorites, with prices doubling. The above entrées at dinner were Sea Scallops Meuniere ($18.95), Blackened Salmon ($18.95), and the Manicotti ($14.95). There are additional entrées at dinner, such as the Filet Mignon, grilled with caramelized pearl onion glaze and garlic rosemary butter ($21.95), a roast half chicken ($17.95), and pan-seared center-cut Pork Chops with Vidalia onion sweet and sour sauce ($17.95). The average prices for most items on the dinner menu are $17.95 and $18.95.
Lunch prices range from $6.95 to $8.95 for the main entrées, soups are around $5, and salads are between $5.25 and $6.95. Desserts range between $4.50 and $5.95.
The Basil Press is open seven days a week, 11:30am to 2pm for lunch and 5:30 to 10pm for dinner. Reservations are taken, and based upon the lunch crowd, it would be highly recommended to have them.