Basil goes on after baking
Full Release Video Tested: the tutorial explicitly says basil is a garnish, not a topping. The player is instructed to bake and slice the pizza first, then place basil on the finished pizza.
This is easy to miss if you learned the game from demo footage, because the full-release serving sequence includes additional steps.
Correct order
Assemble → bake → slice → basil garnish (when requested) → serving tray → customer.
Do not add basil automatically to every pizza unless the current order calls for it. The tested footage does not prove that optional basil always increases rating, so this guide does not present that player speculation as fact.
Q&A
Do I put basil on before the oven?
No. The full-release tutorial says basil is a garnish and goes on after baking.
Does basil always improve pizza rating?
That was discussed as player speculation in footage, but it is not verified here as a guaranteed rating bonus.