Trattoria dal Billy

Terrasse perchée avec vue sur la crique, excellents poissons locaux. Tout est frais et bon. Réservation recommandée. Prix raisonnables.

The cuttlefish ink seafood spaghetti was utterly sublime. Generous helpings of delicious, fresh seafood tossed in perfect pasta. The best Italian dish both my partner and I have ever eaten. We loved it so much that we returned a second time in our short stay in Manarola.
Excellent service and hospitality topped off the experience.

The food here is really good, but what puts it into the 5 star category is 1) the service and 2) the other diners that you’ll meet. Oh… you say, «no, I never talk to people at the other tables when I’m out to eat»
Well, you will. Especially after a couple bottles of wine and a few glasses of either homemade limoncello or any of the other 3 or 4 after-​dinner offerings that will be put on the table. In fact, there was one of those «oh, I don’t talk to other people» couples next to us. You know what happened? They stayed, they drank, they talked, they missed the last bus out of Manarola down to Riomaggiore. They drank some more, then took a cab.
It’s always a good story when it starts with «We decided to stay for a few more drinks and missed our ride to Riomaggiore»
You’ll love the food, the view, the staff, and the other diners.

Not in the center of the town but worth the find. Amazing food and service. The 12 dishes of different starters are interesting and give you a sample of the local and Italian food. I would recommend that along with the seafood spaghetti. The seafood is very fresh. At the end of the dinner, they will give you free shots that’s supposed to help you digest better.

Our favorite restaurant we visited in Cinque Terre, as well as Lake Como which we visited on the same trip.
The atmosphere and food were both exceptional. There are multiple levels and both indoor and outdoor seating areas. We visited in mid October, once for lunch and once for dinner, both times without reservations and had no problem getting a table where we wanted — on the outdoor patio downstairs.
For lunch we had the octopus appetizer which was amazing. We got the cuttlefish ink pasta with seafood for 2 as our entrée and also really enjoyed it — be aware it has somewhat of a curry flavor if you don’t like curry. The only negative thing we have to say about the restaurant occurred at lunch. There are 3 or 4 tables on the patio at which both chairs have the great view of the sea. At the other tables, one chair faces the view and the other a wall. Since there was nobody at the table next to us, my wife moved her chair to the side of our table so that she could see the view. This blocked off one of the empty tables, but of course she would have moved if another party came to sit there. However, our waiter wouldn’t allow her to have her chair there and made her move. Not a big deal but bit of a bummer.
Dinner was a different experience with entertaining service. We had the lemon marinated anchovies for an appetizer which were great. For my entrée I had the fresh fish — the waiter brought out the whole fish for me to select, carrying it by the gills. My wife had pasta with dried and salted roe. Both dishes were very good, and actually were good together (we shared) because the pasta was salty and flavorful from the roe and the fish was prepared simply. A highlight was that following dinner at each table, the waiter brought out huge bottles of grappa, limoncino, and a berry liquor for everyone to have on the house. Very nice touch and a good capstone to a great meal.

What a great place. The owner sat us for lunch and immediately started to fall all over himself to please us. We ate on the terrace with a stunning view. Had the twelve-​course seafood sampler antipasto and it was wonderful. Then shared a pasta with a whole dungeness crab. It was also good except for the pasta not being hot enough and crab missing a claw and half of the body meat. A little perturbed about that. Two nice glasses of local vino Bianca to was the whole thing down.

Absolutely amazing dinner :) it was an unordinary experience @ Billy restaurant. We found some local to get here. awesome price for three people. seems like they didn’t have any cocktail. They were so nice. we walk in and they gave us a table right away that we have around less than two hour to dine, which is fine. we ordered seafood de mara, and famous Manarola lobster seafood. the amazing view with sunset was very satisfying.
Yes a very busy place.

The seafood dishes were all very fresh and tasty. We tried this restaurant per the recommendation of our b&b host. We had the seafood appetizer sampler and lobster pasta. Be sure to make a reservation in advance if you want to take in the magnificent views from the terrace.

So sad about this. I was so excited to eat here after all the great reviews. My husband and I had the antipasti for two, seafood pasta, and pesto pasta. It was all pretty good, however something made me violently ill (and it wasn’t wine lol) :(.

We made reservations here for our first night in Manarola. We sat on the terrace for dinner which was way hot until the sun had set. We ordered the 12 seafood course and the pasta with lobster. I recommend the 12 seafood course but the lobster with pasta was nothing special.
The bill was a little pricey but I guess you’re paying for the view!

Decent. Friendly service but the food was definitely just average, at best. The hosts were a little cold when We arrived.

Lovely little restaurant tucked into the hillside and overlooking the town and the Mediterranean! You absolutely must have the fresh bufalo mozzarella and fresh tomato salad and the fresh caught whole fish! Everything is fresh fresh fresh. Avoid the handmade pesto pasta — it was kind of healthy tasting and bland, but there was so much of it I had to take leftovers with me. I couldn’t leave behind such fresh pasta! It was such a nice treat after a long, hot hike from Riomaggiore. I had two fantas and felt immediately relaxed in this beautiful little patio. They also offer indoor seating, but on a warm summer day you just have to be outside. I did notice fans inside, however if the patio is full up. I imagine it is also a nice respite in winter.

This place is good but not THAT good. In all honesty the food is way overpriced for the run of the mill taste you can get at any other Italian restaurant. We payed € 88 for an appetizer, a shared entrée, and a bottle of their house wine.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
They have lots of dishes that you can only get for 2. On the menu though those dishes are priced on a per person basis, so whatever price you see on the menu expect to be charged double. Also you will be charged a coperto which is a € 2.50 per person cover charge.

We had the Pasta with Shrimp and Tomato Sauce. It was the best thing I have ever eaten. Trattoria Dal Billy in Manarola village had wonderful views and the tastiest food ever. Eating this meal with a glass of white wine while being in the Cinque Terre was like being in heaven. We were there on April 25^th, 2015. What a gorgeous spot – I will return some day!

We at at dal billy in May 2015. We didn’t have a reservation and had to wait about 10 min. No issue though as the owner gave us a glass of sparking wine as we waited.
Once seated we started with the anchovies in lemon oil. Really good starter.
We then followed with pesto pasta and the grilled prawns. But the owner said the prawns were frozen due to no fresh ones available, as such we changed to a fresh fish. With the fish you pick your fish and the size as you pay by weight.
With the above food plus the a bottle of house wine our total bill was € 61.00
Both meals were very good and again at the end of the meal we were given some lemonchello and desert wines (free of charge)
They were super busy so you can understand the staff being in the ‘get things done mood’ so the actual service was great but we could see some people taking offence to being asked to wait etc
Highly recommend if you want great food.

The flavor in this place is wonderful! We ordered the seafood sample platter and there were 12 samples of seafood dishes and by far my favorite was the baby squid sample. We also ordered fresh made pasta wuth crab. We could taste the crab inside the pasta and it smells like WOW!
The service was great, friendly people. This is a must stop place if you are in Manarola

Trattoria la Billy was a bit off the beaten path, not that you can get very far off the beaten path in a town the size of Manarola. Nevertheless, many tourists made their way over and even made reservations in advance.
The view of the vineyards from the patio was lovely, though we were visited by a few large insects during the meal. The server was a bit gruff at times but had a sense of humor.
Large portions. We shared an appetizer and two pastas, but given the amount of food we left unfinished, we should have just shared an appetizer and a pasta.
* Octopus salad with potatoes — 12EUR
Tossed with herbs and olive oil. Soft and not too fishy.
* Taglierini alla scarpara — 8EUR
The pasta was a bit soft compared to pasta we’ve had elsewhere on the trip. The sauce was very tomatoey. I found it a little bit boring.
* Tagliatelle with mushrooms + swordfish — 13EUR
A special that wasn’t listed on the menu. The mushrooms and swordfish were both coarsely diced. I didn’t think the ingredients went very well together.
I noticed that the pasta had a very handmade texture and clung well to my fork as I twirled, enabling me to make perfect pasta nests.
2.5EUR per person cover charge.

4 levels to choose from, every variety of fish, pasta, wine, sashimi — is this heaven touching earth?
You picked the right place to eat my friends. This may be the first restaurant you go to that they’ll introduce you to your fish before they heat it up. Whether cooked or raw, the menu is page upon page of options to satisfy your seafood cravings.
Upon completing dinner, don’t be alarmed when they drop off a few bottles of limoncello, grappa, and sambucca. Why you may ask? We asked the same thing. It’s because they can.
Now that’s what I’m talkin about. Hello BILLY! You’re a man I’d like to meet.

The views are great but most important the food is great. It was worth the hike up the hill.
We tried the seafood sampler which provided 12 different samples to try. Each was delicious.
The fish is fresh and the pasta is homemade so you can’t go wrong.

What a disappointing meal in a supposedly highly rated seafood restaurant on the peak of Manarola in the Cinque Terre Liguria region. After checking the sunset time we booked a table on the terrace to watch the sunset whilst having dinner.
For the first course we chose the mixed seafood starter (min. for 2) consisting of 12 small plates to share. Most of the dishes were rather bland and below average especially the egg triangles filled with crabmeat and the razor clams. The cuttlefish salad was 1 of the few passable dishes.
For mains we selected the lobster pasta to share (min. for 2). This turned out to be yet again a bland bowl of pasta with a small lobster hidden beneath. The lobster was overcooked and the lobster meat stuck to the shell. The lobster pasta is one of the daily dishes and not displayed in the menu. Note that some shellfish on the a la carte are frozen as indicated in the menu so perhaps the lobster we ate was also previously frozen.
We did not sample the desserts as our 2 hour time slot on the terrace was coming to an end.
Service was pleasant and efficient. The view from the terrace was not particularly impressive in fact you will get a much better view from the harbour without having to waste a mealtime consuming a mediocre meal.

This was probably my favorite meal during our entire 10 day trip in Italy. Unfortunately we came for dinner and it was already dark out so we couldn’t enjoy the view. We made reservations and our table was waiting for us as soon as we walked in the door. Our server was friendly and very funny. She spoke pretty good English and we enjoyed watching her and the owner bicker back and forth. It was all in a playful way. It seemed like they were related.
For our starters we ordered the marinated anchovies in lemon and olive oil which were really good. The best anchovies I’ve ever had. Very fresh. We also ordered a plate of prosciutto. For our second course we ordered pasta. We tried their house pesto since this region is known for their pesto. It was okay but I’ve never really been a big pesto fan. However the pasta with shrimp and artichokes was very good. We also ordered the lobster pasta which was probably the most delicious thing I had my entire trip. It is a must do! The minimum order is for two.
For our main we ordered the mixed grilled seafood for the four of us (minimum for two). Oh my! It was soooo good! It included huge grilled prawns, a whole grilled fish (they brought it out to us before they cooked it to show how fresh it was), three grilled local lobster tails and the most delicious squid I’ve ever had. We were very full at the end of the meal.
Another highlight is they bring a large array of liquors to your table after your meal. We had limoncello, grappa and a licorice and chile liquor made locally. It was all very good and a great way to end the meal. This place was very memorable. From the casual coastal décor, the fun service and amazing seafood this place is a must when visiting Cinque Terre.