Basil Leaf Cafe moving to a beloved Lawrence food address

• Brooke Vandever
• When the Basil Leaf Cafe moves next month, you can eat chicken cordon bleu pasta on real plates.

Two years ago, we introduced Pitch readers to the Basil Leaf Cafe, chef Brad Walters’ tiny restaurant tucked into a corner of the Miller Mart, a combination convenience store and Phillips 66 gas station at 3300 West Sixth Street in Lawrence. Because the Basil Leaf could seat, barely, 25 people, most of Walters’ business was carryout. Even the customers who came to eat in the dining room were served in Styrofoam boxes.

Walters will finally move his restaurant out of the gas station and into its own space next month: the former Joe’s Bakery – a once legendary Lawrence venue for its doughnuts – at 616 West Ninth Street. “It’s nestled between the campus and downtown Lawrence,” says Walters, who has been searching for a new location for over two years.