Mostly Vegetarian Restaurant
Menu
   Art Exhibit    View the Dining Room   Reviews  Recipes   How to Get There
Wait Staff Photo Gallery    About the Basil Pot   Brunch   Dinner Before the Performance

928 Main Street, Columbia, South Carolina 20201
Located Immediately South of the Capitol Building
Across the Street from the Nickelodeon Theatre
Call 803-799-0928 for take-out orders.

Dedicated Basil Pot Parking Spaces in Lot Next Door

Three Meals A Day Six Days a Week
Two Meals on Sunday
Open Monday-Friday 8-11 AM for Breakfast,
11-2:30 for Lunch and  6 to 9 PM for Dinner

Open Saturday 9-2:30 for Brunch
11-2:30 for Lunch and 6 to 9 PM for Dinner

Open Sunday 9-2:30 for Brunch,
11-2:30 for Lunch, Closed Sunday evening.
Available for Special Events (e.g., Wedding Parties) on Sunday Evenings

Closed Christmas & New Year's Day

                             ...
And with melodious chuckle in the strings
      Of her lorn voice, she oftentimes would cry
After the Pilgrim in his wanderings,
 To ask him where her Basil was; and why
'Twas hid from her: "For cruel 'tis," said she,
 "To steal my Basil-pot away from me."

From Isabella and the Pot of Basil  by John Keats 1884

Monthly Specials & Regular Menu

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Menu Cover Page  Appetizers & Salads
Entrees, Sandwiches & Pizzas   Breakfast & Beverages

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About the Basil Pot

    The Basil Pot, one of the oldest continuously operating vegetarian restaurants in Columbia,  is a comfortable, relaxed, quiet place where you can dine alone or bring your friends, business associates, and family to talk, listen to classical background music, be surrounded by the featured work of interesting artists, and enjoy delicious and nutritious meals.  

    Byrd Burgess is the executive chef, preparing the wonderful biscuits, breads, cakes available daily.

    Our wait staff members are among the friendliest and most attentive you'll find anywhere.  We want to be your favorite restaurant in Columbia. 

    If you're on a special diet, you'll find the Basil Pot vegetable plate and soup selections, which change every day, satisfy the low-fat requirements of most diets, such as the Ornish diet.  You won't have to bring your own food when you have a meal with your friends here.

    Members of the seniors programs at Providence Hospital (Senior Friends), Lexington Medical Center, Palmetto Richland Memorial Hospital, and Palmetto Baptist Medical Center are welcome here. 

     We're barrier-free and wheelchair accessible.

    Our breads, cakes, cookies and other bakery goods are freshly baked in our ovens.

    The menu is reasonably priced (most meals under $10),  mostly vegetarian, but with some non-vegetarian dishes.  Fish dishes are a specialty. The pizza is always a treat.  The desserts, made with various natural sweeteners, are wonderful.  This is a smoke-free restaurant.  Cash or checks only.  No credit cards. Full meals available for take-out.

    All our meals are especially prepared just for you.   So, they take a few minutes for preparation and cooking.  One of the most quickly prepared dishes on our menu is the veggie plate. We're not a fast-food restaurant.   But the veggie plate can be prepared and served quicker than many other items.   That's our "fast-food" selection if you're really in a hurry.  Ask your wait person how long it will take to prepare a dish.

    The Basil Pot is located within a block of the University of South Carolina and just across the street from the State of South Carolina government complex (see map).

    The Basil Pot is locally owned and managed by Richard Schwartz and, as you will discover, is one-of-a-kind. 

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Newspaper Review

    The State newspaper's mystery restaurant critic, Eaton Wright,  gave a very nice review of the Basil Pot, saying "Dining at the Basil Pot, a mainstay vegetarian restaurant on Main Street in Columbia, offers an unexpected pleasure...".  Well, for people who haven't eaten at a good vegetarian restaurant in a very long time or who have not eaten vegetarian food at all, it is likely that when the come to the Basil Pot they will find the carefully prepared vegetarian foods here more pleasurable than they thought they could be.  We're always glad to have people visit us even if they aren't vegetarian and if they haven't eaten here before. Given all the hum-drum unhealthy food out there, it is a pleasure to find a place that serves exceptionally good and healthy food. 

    If Eaton was a first time guest at the Basil Pot, he/she could have asked for our regular 10 percent discount for first-timers.   If you've never eaten at the Basil Pot, come on in and you'll get a 10 percent discount.  Just tell your wait person that you're a first-timer.  You'll learn why discerning diners, vegetarian or not,  come to the Basil Pot again and again for a pleasurable meal.

    Thanks, Eaton, for coming by and for your kind words.   Hope to see you again.

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Wait Staff Photo Gallery

The best feature, other than the good food, at the Basil Pot is the wait staff.   Any staff member may wait on any table.   And they help each other.  The food at the Basil Pot is cooked to order.  This isn't a fast food restaurant.  So, don't blame your wait person if it takes more time than you think it should to prepare your order.   Your wait person can tell you about how long it will take for your order.  So, if you're in a hurry to get to a movie or whatever, tell your wait person and they'll help you order an item that can be prepared and served in time for you to get where you're going.   Tips are split among all staff.

Below, from left to right are Kira, Wes and Buzzy.  More to come! Click on photo to see larger image.

Dinner Specials

    Mexican Pie, Broccoli Lasagna, Transylvanian Feast, Mediterranean Fish Dish, Spanikopita Moussaka, Herb Polenta Gratin, Smokey Mountain Tempeh, Tofu Cutlet, Teriyaki Mahi, Portobello Florentine, Spinach Lasagna, Red Lentil Loaf, Hot Scallops St. Elmo, Seitan Pepper Steak, Tempeh Burger Steak

Featured Dishes

    Mexican Pie (usually available every other Monday) is a luxurious layered pie of refried beans, cheeses, crumbled cornbread and lots more stuff, served with Spanish rice and a garden salad.  

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Brunch

    Join us for Sunday (or Saturday) Brunch beginning at 9 AM until 2:30 PM.  You'll love the home made Southern biscuits, hearty pancakes, French toast, special egg omelets, or scrambled tofu with tempeh.  Bring your favorite newspaper with you and have a leisurely morning at the Basil Pot.  Coffee and a variety of herbal teas are available.

Each dish is individually prepared for you, with a selection of macrobiotic dishes.

Home of the Amusing Discounts

    Come in and see if you qualify for an amusing discount.  Ask about the table tennis tournament.  Tell us what is special about our parking lot.  Give us your suggestions on how we can make your dining experience even more pleasurable.  Mention that you saw the Basil Pot web page.  Identify the author of the Quote of the Month.  Name three kinds of basil.

Dinner Before the Performance

    Join us for dinner and then enjoy a movie at the Nickelodeon (foreign and classic films usually starting at 7 and 9 PM,  254-3433) across the street.  Or, go hear the best in classical orchestral music at a performance of the South Carolina Philharmonic (254-7445), see a play at the historic, traditional Town Theatre (799-2510) around the corner or at the adventuresome Workshop Theatre (799-6551) nearby, see a production at the University of South Carolina's Drayton Hall or Longstreet Theatre (777-6353), see a performance at the Koger Center for the Performing Arts (777-7500), or attend an event at the USC Coliseum (251-2222).

    For an interactive map of how to find us, click here.     Use your "back" button to come back to this page after you've looked at the map.

    Learn about the care and growing of basil.   

    For further information, comments or suggestions, email us or call 799-0928.

    We're pleased to be listed on in the South Carolina Business Directory.

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Basil Pot Art Exhibition

The Basil Pot  has a new exhibition in place.  Come and enjoy the art and the food.

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The Basil Pot
Mostly Vegetarian Restaurant
Monthly Specials & Regular Menu
How to Get There
Art Exhibit
View the Dining Room
928 Main Street, Columbia, South Carolina 20201
803-799-0928
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 We offer a wide selection of vegetarian food choices including vegan, non-dairy, and macrobiotic, as well as lacto-ovo-vegetarian, which means there's egg and cheese in some dishes.  We also have some great fish and chicken items. 

We make practically everything here: baking bread, fermenting yogurt, simmering spaghetti sauce; it's all from scratch with the best ingredients we can find.   In addition to what you see on the menu, you'll find daily specials listed on the easel board and the table care or you can ask your server for details. 

There are monthly Dinner Special Calendars with the Amusing Discounts on the back at the counter.  Check one out -- you could easily qualify for a discount and there's also the chance you will be amused.  It's a real pleasure for us to serve you real good food and drink, and we sincerely appreciate your coming in to eat.  Please enjoy your meal and don't forget to leave a big tip, too ...

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Recipes

    At you request, we're releasing previously secret recipes from the kitchen at the Basil Pot. Just click on recipes.

 How to Get to the Basil Pot 

Click on the Button Below

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