Chez Billy

Finally came here for the first time last week, and we have reservations again for tomorrow night! Can’t wait to go back!

What an amazing place. The food and service is ALWAYS on point. I try something new every time I go here and they never fail to take my mouth to tasty town.
I suggest the following meals if you’re unsure what to order:
— Duck Confit
— Beef Bourgignon
— Onion Soup (best in town. Yes, better than Le Diplomate)
— Hamburger
— Steak Frites
Only ONE slight complaint and suggestion for ownership. The restaurant is a little too dark. Lighten it up a little.

Excellent food and drinks, attentive and fast service, expensive! Standout dishes were the hanger steak and duck. The bread wasn’t as impressive as everyone made it out to be.

Very cool ambiance – dim, reclaimed décor which I love. Small, quiet crowd on a chilly Thursday evening. Mia was a great server, personable and attentive.
Table bread and butter-​best when hot. We started off with country style pork paté and I had the steak frites cooked med while the birthday guy had the mussels with grilled bread. I do wish the menu had listed the sides so we could have known the options for a la carte veggies or fries. For dessert I had the paris-​brest, a French hazelnut mousse pastry, which was just rich enough to be shared lol
We’ll definitely return and we’ll be asking for Mia :-)

Wow.
I am already planning when I am going to come here again. I have NOTHING absolutely NOTHING to complain about. The food was out of this world, especially the duck.
The place does not look like much from the outside, but do not be fooled. Inside the décor contributes to a rather homey and low key atmosphere. Try to grab a seat upstairs in the bar area, if not, the main dining room is nothing to sniff at either. The night I visited I decided to be adventurous and try escargots for the first time. My companion ordered a duck and I also got myself a trout. The food came out surprisingly fast and everything looked like it belonged on the cover of Bön Apetit. I am not trying to ignore the escargots and the trout as both were really really good, but let’s be honest, the duck is the real reason why I am going back.
OMG this DUCK. It was just SO GOOD.

I’m revising my review for the better, service is very good and Billy’s has turned into a great neighborhood place.

First thing, don’t come here expecting super formal service. Chez anything seems to suggest fancy, and while the food is gorgeously plated and refined, the service is casual. Casual doesn’t mean bad, though. Our server and his assistant server were attentive, courteous, and observant. They timed everything well so we weren’t getting 10 different plates all at once. And they were there when needed them, but not overly eager («How is everything?» for the nth time…).
And the food. The food is awesome. Like Kimberly S. said, their complimentary bread is pretty freaking amazing. It’s everything I think bread should be – crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Did wish for a little more salt in their whipped butter. That’s okay, though. You can always sprinkle in a little salt. Maybe it was unsalted butter… Ordered their creamy pumpkin soup, and that was hearty and satisfying. The surprise item was their deviled eggs, which come with anchovies and capers on top. The bit of herb gave the eggs a really refreshing flavor and combined with the briny toppings cut through the richness of the yolks and balanced these bites perfectly. Escargots were buttery and delicious, traditional preparation.
Our companions’ trout looked juicy and perfectly cooked. They confirmed that it was as delicious as it looked. Sampled hubby’s mussels, which come in a merguez (sausage) sauce. The mussels were tender and well-​seasoned by the meaty broth. Greedy me wanted frites to go along with the mussels, but more of their great bread for sopping up the juices wasn’t a bad thing.
Completed our decadent meal with their delightful apple gâteau, which had a hint of alcohol in its mix. We really didn’t have room, but just had to try dessert, and we’re so glad we did. Also highly recommend the Paris Brest, which is a pastry filled with hazelnut cream, yum!
Chez Billy is a stylish, cozy place for really well-​prepared and luxurious French or French-​inspired dishes. I appreciate the care taken in the preparation and the lack of pretension.

Chez Billy is the restaurant that I would definitely return to if I was in the area, or someone wanted to go back to… but wouldn’t make a special trip. I have no complaints, this is a very good restaurant. The service was professional, but a little stand-offish…like they weren’t having fun, but really believed in their product, if that makes sense.
5 stars for the bread, cocktails and the bar area
3 – 4 stars for the cooking overall and service
We started with the Rillettes, a very good, savory and flavorful bluefish spread. We had to ask for more bread, but they gladly brought it out. We had the Gnocchi and the trout. We both liked the Gnocchi better, with such a great mix of flavors (pumpkin, mushroom and hazel nut). The trout was overall good, but nothing compared to the one at Le Diplomate. I know they aren’t exactly the same in preparation, but you get the idea.
My favorite part of the evening – the cocktails! The Exile on Georgia Avenue:(Four roses bourbon, white crème de cacao, cinnamon vanilla rouge, OJ, lemon juice), is quite frankly one of the best bourbon cocktails I have ever had!

One of my friends celebrated her birthday here by having brunch and unlimited mimosas. The restaurant is easily accessible by metro which is awesome. Makes me a huge fan already. My best friend also stated good things about this place so I was super stoked. We had our own private room towards the back. It’s still an open room, so it wasn’t too private. Our bartender/​server was awesome. Punctual — just how I like servers to be. I didn’t find anything on the menu to be appetizing so I just ended up getting the parfait which was absolutely delicious. My friends’ plates had great serving sizes (a bit too much for me) but everyone seemed to have enjoyed it.
Our group was a bit rowdy but there were no complaints about our volume. The restrooms were large enough (only two) and I believe they’re unisex (huge fan of those.)
I definitely want to come back and try dinner or lunch… and possibly bring my wife.

Amazing and I’m surprised how well everything went for me, no complaints just awesome

I have never had a bad experience at Chez Billy. The food is phenomenal, the drinks are fantastic, and the staff is always super friendly. Mia is my personal favorite! :) — definitely try the escargot and the Caesar salad. They’re both delicious. The beer/​cocktail selection is great. I usually stick to my go to Kroninberg on draft.
Make sure to check out this local Petworth gem if you haven’t already!

2.5 stars. The ambiance of the place is great. Loved the lighting fixtures, really sets up well for that place. Service was TERRIBLE. We ordered 2 apps, a chicken liver and the bluefish. The person that brought them out didn’t know what she brought out! Had to find the waiter so he could explain. Both apps came with its own unique bread, but not enough of it! Had to finish with eating out of said jar with a spoon!
Entrees:
GF got the duck, i got the trout. Both were good but not memorable beyond that evening.
Happy we tried it but unlikely we will come back.

The ambience was great. No TVs to distract you. The bar really is really nice with good lighting and it is spread out nicely. Started off with a happy hour glass of wine. Bartender was friendly and prompt.
Sat down for dinner in the adjacent room. Little bit darker than the bar area but was still nice. The food was really good. Had some apps, an entrée and dessert. Wine selection isn’t huge but is of quality. Not much of a beer list but it is a french restaurant. Server was great with really good recommendations.

Noticed Chez Billy a few times because it is across the street from my neighborhood Starbucks.
(Starbucks is located inside of Safeway and stays open to 9pm everyday by the way!)
Refocusing on Chez Billy. It was my first time there. My girlfriend walked over to the bar and ordered our drinks as we took sits near the wall.
My friend ordered steak frites at the bar at 6:52pm. The food did not arrive until 7:57pm.
How do I know the specific time? When my girlfriend was ordering food; I was texting a friend that lives across the street in the apartments over top of Safeway to join us. So this was a bit of a time stamp.
Did anyone come say anything to us or apologize at 7:15pm, 7:30pm, 7:45pm? Nope!
We were engrossed in a long work day conversation; and really didn’t realize it until we synonymously said, «damn where’s the food I’m hungry?!»
The manager Matthew did not come to us we had to walk over to the host station and ask to see the manager. And he first apologized only with «complimentary» bread after we had already sat there for nearly an hour.
After telling Matthew how disappointed we were and that we were prepared to leave he reluctantly comped the hour-​wait meal and our drinks.
Was the restaurant/​bar crowded on a Thursday? Absolutely not.
It was human error in not putting the food ticket in properly. It happens. Just apologize and keep the customer abreast of what is going on. Chez Billy and their staff failed miserable at these customer service politics.
Was the food and «I’m sorry» bread delicious… absolutely.

For someone who always wanted to go to Chez Billy, I was excited going there on an appetizer/​drink tasting hop with my love on her birthday. Our drinks were good however when we ordered the Maison Pāté, it came with pistachios which my love is allergic to. The failed to mention it in the menu knowing very well that most Americans or our society in general had nuts/​peanuts allergy. Upon mentioning it to the bartender (Mia) she was condescending and started giving us a lecture on how we should have mentioned the allergy. She neither apologized or was patient enough for us to order something else or at least suggest other things on the menu. Disappointing!
Oh well, I won’t be returning there.
Tip: Chez Billy management, you need to take the time to list out what you use for your meals especially if it entails saving yourselves from a potential lawsuit due to food allergies.

I can’t believe I waited so long to eat here. A friend and I went on a Friday night and from the moment I walked in, I knew it would go into regular rotation. From the dim lighting to the chill, eclectic vibe, I almost felt like I was at a neighborhood restaurant somewhere in Paris. We sat at the bar and I ordered a champagne cocktail from their list of speciality drinks. I can’t remember the name of it but it was so nice, I ordered it twice! I also got the steak frites, medium rare, and it was cooked perfectly. The steak was flavorful and the fries were delicious and worth the extra calories. My friend ordered the beef bolognese. She let me taste her meal and it was unbelievably flavorful. It is a heavy meal though so make sure to bring your appetite.
Overall, I really enjoyed my meal here. My only regret is that I didn’t go sooner.

Super cute vibe and so warm and cozy with the real wood fireplaces! The steak frites was perfect — fries were salty and the bernaise sauce was finger lickable.
The trout suffered from too many capers but once you scraped some of them off it was moist and delicious — could have been better with a crispy skin.
I’d come back. Especially on a cold winter night… even if that cold winter night is in March:)

This is a nice, quaint little place in Georgia-​Petworth area. I loved the décor, and there is ample street parking. The service was pretty quick.
Cons:
— Why is a small French press $ 5? I have to press it myself.
— A lot of cheese in the omelette, just a lot.
Pros:
— their side salad is pretty good. It looked very plain, but I loved that they were whole leaves, and they were flavored/​seasoned very nicely and not overdressed.
— The omelette was well cooked and tasted super fresh. I loveeddd the mushrooms in it. I could eat a box of them.
I just don’t think there was anything really special about the place in terms of the menu, and the food wasn’t extra spectacular. I would come back again to give it another chance at some point, though.

I recently moved to Petworth and am trying to find all the local hot spots of the area. Chez Billy is a little too pricey for it to be my go-​to, but it is definitely toward the top of the list. The restaurant isn’t flashy or showy from the front, so it’s easy to miss. The inside is intimate, quaint, yet dark (so dark, none of my pictures looked good!). Overall, it had a cool vibe.
We didn’t make a reservation since it was a Wednesday night. But of course, no tables were available and the two of us sat at the bar. No complaints though, because I got to watch the bartender give so much attention and precision in making her drinks.
For an appetizer, we ordered oysters (which were $ 1.50 that day), which were fresh and flavorful. We also got the duck confit and beef entrees. I thought the beef was well cooked, but what made the dish was the sauce. It was stew-​like and very rich. The duck had a perfect balance of crispiness and tenderness. It was paired well with tasty spinach and potatoes. The duck was my favorite dish and my recommendation for any visit here.

Five stars for the bread alone.
The boy and I have a saying, if you’re going to indulge make sure it’s worth it. Let me tell you, the twenty six loaves of french bread (we had a table of sixteen!) that were brought out to our table were SO. WORTH. IT. Freshly baked and warm out of the oven, with a crusty exterior and warm fluffy interior, it would have made the perfect sleeping bag for a tiny squirrel. These baguettes were even better than the table bread I had in France. Heck yes Amurrica!
I had heard through the grapevine that this was a great restaurant to accommodate large groups and for once, this game of telephone was right! We got a private little corner which was just perfect for my large but intimate group of my closest friends. Even when we had two last minute stragglers come in, they were able to flawlessly seat them without making it even seem that I forgot to include them in my original reservation (oops!).
While service was not exactly the friendliest (but not unfriendly either), I will give them five stars for efficiency. Drink orders were taken, food was brought out promptly, drinks were refilled, crumbs were cleared, and more and more warm bread kept popping up on our table. As a former server, I was very impressed!
The menu is small, but I think pretty much everyone at our table was able to find something that they enjoyed. In fact, I heard lips smacking all over the place! This was a wonderful, simple, bistro style dinner. My sister, who just came back from a brief working stint in Paris was floating on cloud nine with all of the memories of wonderful dinners once past coming back to her.
Since I hail from a family of sharers, I got to try a little bit of all the dishes I wanted to try:
+ Bone Marrow Appetizer — Served on a sizzling hot plate with a bit of fig jam and capers on top and toasted brioche points this was a real crowd pleaser. I literally scraped everything down to the bone. So hot, want to touch they hiney!
+ Steak Frites — Everytime I get bistro food, I always order the steak frites. I’m always satisfied but I usually find the cut of the steak to be very tough. Not in this case! This was pretty much the best steak frites I’ve had in my life. Even without the bearnaise sauce it was still so tender and flavorful and the fries were cooked to a perfect crisp.
+ Beef Bourgignon — Fall apart tender and richly flavored.
+ Poulet Roti — Out of all of the dishes this was just okay, but it wasn’t bad either. I pretty much whored this out in exchange for hefty bites of everybody else’s food. If I wasn’t so full I would have probably enjoyed it more. But let’s face it red meat kills white meat every single damn time.
+ Duck Confit — Perfectly crisp skin. Actually just perfect all around. I’ve had really disappointing duck confit and really good duck confit. This falls high on the quack meter.
I loved the house cocktail which was made with gin, champagne, mint, and grapefruit bitters. It was pretty much all of my favorite ingredients mixed together in a cup.
A great neighborhood restaurant, cheers to the Hilton brothers once again!