City: Long Island, NY

Category: Restaurants

Telephone: (516) 676-6252

Description: Open daily for lunch and dinner, this midpriced Italian restaurant may be located in a shopping center, but once you step into the dining room, you’ll discover there’s nothing run-of-the-mill about the dining experience offered. Complete with a wood-burning stove, Basil Leaf Cafe offers a vast menu of classic Italian favorites in a family-friendly setting that’s elegant but not too formal. Executive chef Marco Divina trained in northern Italy, so you can be sure that every meal served will have true authentic flavor. The menu features 8 appetizers, 6 different salads, 3 soups, plus a nice selection of pasta dishes, chicken and steak entrees, and more than 10 different homemade pizzas. The Caprina pizza, for example, features goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, zucchini, and basil, while the Margherita is topped with mozzarella cheese, basil, and tomatoes.