Billys By the Bay

Staying at the marina adjacent for the weekend, we wandered over in search of a Bloody Mary and a snack– not only was Billy’s Bloody delicious and lethal, our bartenders Travis and Jennifer were awesome! Thanks for making us city folk feel welcome and relaxed, a great summer afternoon hangout!!!

Yes the reviews are correct. Just 3 stars. I have had worse but I more often, have had far better! Prices are reasonable. Skip the clams casino.

Horrible restaurant run by a bunch of kids. Tiny clams, tiny lobsters and sandy salad. Everything served on cheap styrofoam. No taste and no pride. If I didn’t walk into the kitchen myself we would never have gotten our food.

Stopped here for drinks at Happy Hour and also ordered a hot appetizer. This place is very cute — decorated like a Jimmy Buffet hangout — makes you feel like you’re in a bar in the Florida Keys when you’re only sitting in the parking lot of boatyard! The drinks were really good and the food was surprisingly delicious… we should have stayed for dinner.

Wow, these reviews are pretty harsh. To be honest, I had a nice experience at Billy’s by the Bay. If you have a boat in the marina (like my uncle does) this is such a perfect spot to grab a beer right after a long day of boating. You can definitely tell all the locals go here and even early on a weekend, this place is hoppin’. It’s lively and music keeps the people coming.
When we arrived — there was this GREAT band playing. People were dancing, drinking and having a blast. We didn’t have to wait too long until we got a seat. The view is nice and I liked eating outdoors. As for my meal, I had their Corn Chowder and their Lobster Roll. The roll was nicely toasted and topped with a hearty portion of lobster and paired with fries. No complaints there — they serve up some pretty great seafood.

Beware… for the most part all that you will find is crap quality food. But nothing with the word «crabby» in it. Flounder was overcooked and the fries very greasy.
Steak? Don’t even think about it. Tough and full of grissle. Overall food rating… poor quality.

This place isn’t really so much by the bay. It’s in the middle of a gravel parking lot a fair distance from the water.
Clams were served in a plastic bowl with the same ice cubes used for drinks. Cocktail sauce was served in small plastic container and gelatinized which was icky. Clams were filled with broken shell bits from shucking.
Compare to Alure in Southold which is really by a bay and clams are served the right way.

Had the Billy’s bucket with a few beers and it was delicious. Prices were better than other places near by. The staff was very friendly and attentive. Would have given a 5 except the bathrooms were not the cleanest. Will be back to give it another shot for the last star soon!

Seems nice… it’s off the beat and path near a marina. They had live music which is nice and it was not that crowded. The service was not that great. Waited a long time for our drinks and appetizer. I think the waiter forgot to put our dinner order in because I saw him getting yelled at and the entrées came in while after the appetizers.
My wife had a lobster roll which she said was pretty good. I had a sword fish sandwich which was nothing spectacular. Very little flavor and kind of bland.
Two beers, one appetizer, two entrées and the damage was $ 65 including the tip. I’d rather go to Bahama Breeze or Bonefish grill…

FOOD: 2 – 3 STARS
Great value; Some items overcooked, others fab
SERVICE: 2 STARS
2 sides were forgotten; Received wrong cocktail; Kitchen ran out of strawberries for strawberry shortcake; Pleasant + well-​intentioned + reasonably attentive but VERY forgetful waitress
ETHICS: Ø STARS
Refused to accept «NO EXPIRATION DATE»
gift certificates without explanation. We bought $ 60 worth in December to use during the summer. They were printed from restaurant.com’s website the day before, remained accessible on our app, + fine print indicated Billy’s = 100% responsible. Someone owes us $ 60 BUCKS!!!
VIBE: 3 STARS
Live tunes by «Who Are Those Guys» was great. Atmo would have been better had the three TVs (w’ WWF + boxing) in our vicinity been turned off completely out of respect for the musicians. Nice to be waterside away from touristy pit stops. Not so nice to hear someone, tacitly the owner or manager, yelling @#*&!s
WHAT WE ORDERED:
* BLOODY MARY — BF: «It was good.»
* FROZEN MANGO MARGARITA — Received a regular margarita instead. Didn’t ask the waitress to replace, since didn’t want to be a pest. Tasty, but more like an ice-​shaved sno-​cone with a dash of alcohol.
* SALAD — Waitress indicated side salads weren’t offered, so we ordered a large salad to share. Never arrived despite repeat reminders, over the course of 1.5 hrs, until AFTER we’d requested our check. Asked waitress to be sure to omit from our bill. Couple of minutes after doing so, a grumpy runner shows up with a salad. ME: «Uh…we’ve already completed our meal.» /​HER: «Don’t you want this?» /​ME” «No.» /​HER: [Rolls eyes in annoyance & stomps away]
* FRIES — Arrived an hour into our meal after repeat reminders. Crispy, hot, not greasy. Thumbs up.
* MAKO BITES (appetizer special) — Not overly breaded, crispy, hot, moist. Served with a horseradish dipping sauce. Told caught locally. Delicious though diminutively portioned. ($ 12)
* BILLY’S BUCKET — Included 2 corn cobs, peel-n’-eat shrimp, mussels + 2 types of clams served w’ lemon butter. Shrimp were overcooked, mussels were tiny & some of the larger clams contained bites of sand. (BF even spit out a white rock the size of a baby molar.) But we enjoyed all the same. Bucket is HUGE. Better suited to a group of 3 if not 4 diners. Couldn’t finish. Left over a dozen clams. (No bread provided, for sopping, nor moist wipes for sticky hands.) Superb value. You will leave feeling stuffed. ($ 25)
MESSAGE FOR MANAGEMENT…
So my boyfriend & I drive to Greenport a few times each summer (a 2-​hour trip). Though we spend frugally at home, while on vacation, as we were for the 4^th of July holiday, we like to indulge. In anticipation of the former we’d purchased $ 60 worth of Billy’s By the Bay gift certificates from
. Each cost $ 15 & should have enabled us to receive $ 15 off for every $ 30 spent, per single monthly visit. I’d printed our discounts out the day before from my
profile, & they were also visibly valid on restaurant.com’s app. Therefore we were shocked when our waitress announced after submitting our bill, «Sorry. We don’t accept these anymore.» When we asked «Why?» she mumbled something about BBTB’s son’s-vs-father’s authority & pointed to a non-​visible sign on some distant interior wall well out of eyeshot towards the kitchen & uttered, «See. That sign says we no longer accept these.» When I said, A) «Uh…no, we do not see the sign.» & that… B) «The very visible print on the certificates clearly indicates –Does not expire– & that «The restaurant is responsible for the final disbursement of this discount,» she then blustered, «Well, they’re not on the website anymore.» I then reiterated that BBTB was indeed still present on the purchase website + app & that I’d printed them out less than 24 hours ago. Didn’t matter. Our discount was still refused.
Just before departing, we saw our waitress chatting up an authoritative looking bartender (the tall blonde others have referred to) to no avail. That said, we weren’t going to be complete pr*cks, by causing a scene. Especially on a holiday when we were lucky enough to be enjoying our holiday versus working, like BBTB’s staff. (Our apologetic waitress wasn’t to blame.) But management should reconsider its unethical policies, which are akin to robbery (!!!), & dwell on what it’s lost in return. Think about it, Billy Jr. & Sr. By robbing us of $ 60, you’ve lost out on hundreds of additional dollars — if not 4-​figures — for summers to come. Had you honored our purchases we’d have returned at LEAST 3 more times this summer, & would have spent at least $ 75, if not double that amount, each time. Your food was also good enough to have warranted recommends to hungry friends & family members, who visit nearly every weekend & who often bring guests of their own. But we’ll be reluctant to return or recommend Billy’s unless our certificates are honored. Way to blunder first impressions! Grrr…

Service was terrible.
We were sat pretty quickly. However not given any menus and no drink order taken. We sat like this for about 15min with several servers passing us during this time. It wasn’t until my husband went inside and asked for menus that they were brought out to us. At that point it was another 5min before someone took our drink orders.
I ordered the shrimp BLT and my husband the fish tacos. When our food came out she forgot 1 of each of our sides so we reminded her of that. My shrimp was formed into some sort of patty that made me concerned it was fish rather than shrimp. As I pulled it apart to decipher I noticed several shrimp shells throughout the patty. Well… at least I know it was shrimp. Our server returned still without our sides and I explained I would not be eating the meal and asked her to take it off our bill. She did not apologize for anything just took the food and stated «what else do you want», to which i replied nothing. She disappeared again. Several more minutes later and my husband had to stop her to once again ask for his side dish. She never once asked how things were, never got a manager for us, and again never apologized for my meal, and never thanked us for coming.
Only reason I am even giving 2 stars is my husband enjoyed his fish tacos. Though he did not enjoy that the fact that they were deconstructed upon arrival.
I would not recommend Billys to anyone. Ever.

I don’t write review very often, but this time I have to do this because of the very bad service of this restaurant. They sat us down and left us Alone by half hour. And when we asked again, they said we can go if you want. What a nice service!

Probably more of a 3.5 star, but I keep coming back, so something makes this place appealing. I love the casual setting in the marina. Perfect for when you’re off the boat or beach and want a cold beverage and seafood. My kids enjoy it and they can go look at the boats while waiting for the food. Service is slow. Lobster bisque hardly had any lobster in it, but my old standby– stuffed shrimp never disappoints. And order the Cole slaw. Best ever!

must be for locals, low quality meals, poor service, not worth the money
tons of other great places, PASS on this one please.

6 of us had 3 seafood buckets with lobsters. Everything was over cooked. I love shell fish and seafood but I dont think I will go back there any more.
And, the only bathroom they have really nasty garbage can.

The food is fantastic, but the service is slow. We waited several minutes before being greeted & waited again after being seated just to get menus. We ordered our drinks & appetizer & waited again to get the drinks. My hot oyster & clam sampler was very good. The margarita one of the best I’ve had, but the next (made by someone else) was disappointing (It sat down n the edge of the bar for a while so I went & got them myself) & when I asked for it to be remade it came back the same. Finally our food was delivered by the runner & we enjoyed it. The tater tots tasted like aged oil, but the rest of the meal was very tasty.
Our server had tables in two parts of the restaurant, so I’m not blaming her. I think with some adjustments & teamwork the place could be 5 star. We will be back. Especially for those local Seps asparagus & delicious margarita.

Billy’s is a great local low key hang out. Tiki bar. Paper plates. Real good sea food. ½ shell, lobster roll, ½ price drinks at happy hour. Lots of fun.

I recently took the Jitney over to Greenport this weekend and had «brunch» at Billy’s. The restaurant is very chill in vibe — folks were wearing shorts and tees (I saw some ladies donning their summer dresses). I also saw a few people in swim wear attire — there is a pool club literally right next to the restaurant.
But enough about that — my boyfriend and I loved their food. We decided to start by getting a couple of their frozen drinks: strawberry daiquiri and piña colada. I didn’t like the daiquiri that much but the colada was delicious!
For appetizers, we decided to split their ‘Billy’s Bucket for Two’ which included plenty of mussels, clams and shrimps. It was delicious and I think it was worth the $ 25. I got the lobster roll with tater tots for my main entrée — I loved every bite of it! I thought, just by looking at it, that it wouldn’t be filling (the bread was a bit small) but it actually was. I had some of the oyster tacos that my boyfriend (you get 3) got and the oysters were definitely the star of the dish. I feel that without the oysters, it would be just a ‘meh’ plate.
Our waitress Danielle was fabulous and funny too!
I think I wouldn’t mind if I stopped by for more seafood grub.

Located on the «other» side of the Marina in Greenport (if in doubt keep driving), Billy’s is a cute and kitch clam shack. Food is solid and very fresh, atmosphere is very causal (from shorts and flip flops to summer dresses) and the service is friendly.
We ordered the Seafood Broiled Platter which came with a nice portion of bay scallops, shrimp and flounder, along with 2 sides of your choice (veggies, rice, fries, tots, corn etc). My friend had the Seafood linguine which was served with a scampi sauce. Happy hour most nights plus desert. Great place to have lunch after a long bike ride along the North Road.

While I was visiting the Lavender Field By The Bay I saw a small plaque pointing to Billy’s and so on way to Shelter Island, we stopped in for lunch. I love the fact it isn’t on a crowded street, its in the very quiet port area, and while there is great choices on the menu I had to stick with a lobster roll, they serve two kinds, warm and cold, they are both very good and for $ 17 decently priced. I wasn’t too thrilled with their frozen drinks, however. Over all a great little spot on the water that isn’t pretentious and won’t break the bank. I will be back. I really wish I could do 3.5 stars. here. When in the area, I will definitely return, loved the atmosphere.