Basil is really easy to grow, and grows pretty aggressively. We have a handful of new plants (~3 months old, planted from seedlings) in the back yard, and I use a couple dozen leaves every couple of days. They continue to get bigger and definitely aren't stripped bare. My roommate just chopped the top third off of all of the plants in order to make starters for more plants. A week later, I can't tell they've been chopped off...they regrew a bunch of new leaves. Theoretically, they can be trained to be bushy and short (which produces "sweeter" leaves), but so far ours are re-growing tall. Nonetheless, I have a lot of fresh basil and it's all delicious (big leaves are chewier and have a more licorice flavor, little leaves are milder and sweeter, etc.).

I don't know what we'll do with the starters for more plants, as I think we probably have enough basil. But, "too much basil" might be a nice problem to have.