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  • Anonymous

    Youch that’s expensive.

    • Anonymous

      Agreed- not Petworth pricing but rather downtown. I was hoping for more Bistro la Bonne prices. Should be a good place to drink though. Do they have outdoor space?

    • Anonymous

      Yeah, it looks good, but those are 14th St. prices.

    • Anonymous

      Are you saying that $12 for a bloody mary isn’t a good deal? Nonsense.

    • Anonymous

      It had “Chez” in the name, what did you expect? :P

      • Anonymous

        Chez what?!

        • Anonymous

          Vou Lez Vou Cou Cheezr!!!

    • SF

      Chez Billy = tres expensive

    • Anonymous

      Is it just me or is it not extremely comical that the place just a few doors to the left of this place is a ratty old 24 hour convenience store? WTF DC…

      • anonymous

        So are some of the best places I’ve eaten in NYC, what’s your point? $30+ entrees are expensive, these prices are standard for a good night out on the town. My ladyfriend and I cook most meals for ourselves and are economical, so when we want to go out, we want to go all out.

        • Anonymous

          I agree, but the ingredients here may not justify the price tag. Hanger steak, mackarel, beef checks, etc. are “trendy” but also “budget” proteins.

  • Anonymous

    looks tasty. kinda pushy price point they’re aimin’ for, though . . . :-(

    • Kvatch

      If the food turns out to be good…I can live with the prices, because…let’s face it…I can walk to Chez Billy.

      Looks to me to be just a shade lower than Marvin on 14th.

      • petwurf

        True. But higher than both Bistro d’Oc downtown (vy gd) and Bistro Labonne (pretty gd). I’m just not sure that there’s (yet) the traffic to really support this price level up here.

  • Lisa A

    A friend and I ate at Chez Billy on Opening Night and loved it! I had the Moules Frites and my friend had the Skate Grenobloise. Both were delicious! We finished off dinner with a plate of Profiteroles. Yum! The place was packed! Everyone was in a very festive and happy mood. The atmosphere is GORGEOUS! We ate in a magical little room tucked in next to the bar with brick walls and a tin ceiling, and were served by the head bartender Will. I highly recommend Chez Billy. I’ll definitely be back!

    • dat

      How many people would said “magical little room” hold. Good rehearsal dinner location?

      • Lisa A

        The little room has 4 bar-height tables that hold 4 people each. The staff said it could easily be reconfigured for private parties.

    • Michael

      With the prices they’re charging, every meal ends with a plate of “PROFITeroles” for the owners… Sorry, I couldn’t resist. I’m actually looking forward to checking the place out.

  • Anonymous

    I’m a little disappointed that it isn’t more seafood-oriented. That’s what the original, historic restaurant at this location was known for.

    • Anonymous

      And then it went out of business…

      • Anonymous

        Wrong.

        • anonymous rex

          wrong? So Billy Simpson’s is still an operating business? Pray tell.

  • And the pork-soaked menu means everything but the steak frites is out of the question for my household. Ah well.

    • Lisa A

      The Mackerel, Skate, and Moules are all fish dishes.. and they have cod fritters as an appetizer.

  • And I wouldn’t pay 27 dollars for steak frites.

  • Looks yummy! I’m can’t wait to check it out, maybe even tonight. I’ve been a regular of Marvin, I can easily see this place being my new spot.

  • JM

    It remains to be seen whether charging high-ish prices is a good business decision for the owners. But it certainly doesn’t bother me. Petworth already has several budget dining options (Sala, DC Reynolds, Looking Glass, Top Spanish, Domku). We can afford to have one upscale venue.

    • Well-said.

      +1

    • Hobart

      Domku is a budget dining option? Wow, that makes me feel really poor.

  • I bet they’re delicious, but I just don’t see how they’ll survive in the area with these prices. Just because it’s French food doesn’t mean it has to be super expensive.

  • yz

    is the mackerel king or spanish? i assume king

  • Kvatch

    The Frogette and I have a reservation’s for Wednesday evening. Looking forward to it!

  • 9th Street Mark

    How can you possibly consider price without actually tasting the food? It’s about value people. They have provided a beautiful space and the meal I had on Sunday night was an incredible value for what I paid. I had the $27 Steak Frites – it was cooked perfectly, was delicious and came with outstanding frites and fresh vegetables. I couldn’t have been more satisfied. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. If you want to have a bland meal in a sterile space, go to Sala Thai and consider the value after you have had your dining experience.

    • It’s not about value. Well, it’s not *only* about value – it is about price. I only have so many dollars each month to spend on dining at restaurants. Billy’s may be a great meal but if it uses up all my dining-out dollars for the month, well I might just decide to go out twice for a *good* meal instead.

    • Gallery of Peanuts

      I think that people are a little surprised (though they shouldn’t be, given Marvin, Blackbyrd, etc.) because they were expecting a neighborhood restaurant. The food may be good, but people have a point that these are the same prices as those charged by upscale, downtown establishments. I kind of see their point – kind of hard to become a regular at a place, even when it’s close, when it’s this expensive to go there.

  • Went last night. The food was awesome! Was with a party of 4 – I had the Skate and tasted the Steak, Duck Confit, and Moules. It was all great. Duck Confit was the same superb quality of Three little pigs, steak cooked exactly as ordered, and skate was delicious (I never had stake before). Really enjoyed the Vichyoisse soup too. The service and atmosphere were all top notch. We were seated as soon as we walked in for our 7:30 reservation (opentable). The place was entirely on the ball and made sure that all our needs were met and and got attention and thanks from the staff and managers. I was shocked at how well executed everything was on the first night. As far as a fine dining type establishment goes, its got to be one of the city’s best north of U Street.

    As far as prices, I was disappointed. This is definitely a special occasion type place and certainly can’t afford to frequent regularly (then again, who goes to a French restaurant regularly). It was packed last night, and I’m very curious to see its sustainability after the initial hype dies down. A great addition to the neighborhood – and I’m sure I’ll be back for dinner within the next year – but, this place will need to draw people from outside of Petworth. I’d be surprised if the crowds remain, drawing people only from the neighborhood, when dinner with drinks can easily exceed $50/person.

  • I live across the street from Chez Billy – so yeah, I can’t wait to try it out. I passed by yesterday evening and the place looked packed.

    • Aisle4

      You live at Safeway? ;)

      • You’ve found me out :P

        • InTheGaP

          Was wondering what the smell was.

  • ErinC

    Went last night, it was terrific. Yes, the prices are high, but I am willing to pay that for having such a great looking place with welcoming staff and delicious food. Glad the proprietors invested in Petworth and I’m hoping they inspire more entrepreneurs to open great places in Petworth soon!

  • SF

    It’s like they cloned Boundary Road and raised all the prices by $2-$5.

  • ap

    I went last night as well – the food was good – in fact quite well done. However, the prices were just too damn high. I needed a little more something to really make it worth it, the value wasn’t quite there. I will be back for appetizers and drinks and occasionally dinner when convenience demands. I imagine there will always be a few tables open – which works for me.

  • Anonymous

    The menu is littered with incorrectly spelled French words and words missing their accents. If you’re going to go to all the effort, wouldn’t it be worth finding a French person or someone proficient in French to proofread the menu?

    • Anonymous

      What is the official French translation for lolz?

      • I believe it’s MDR — “mort de rire” (essentially, “dying of laughter”).

        • Anonymous

          Sweet thanks for the tip!

  • anonymous x2

    Each one of those nouveau riche $12 cocktails sounds disgusting. When did Sazeracs become the gentry drink of choice?

    Drink list looks like a Dean & Deluca socialite grocery list and I still can’t get a good martini in this town.

    • saf

      The Passenger.

      Room 11.

      Several other places – what sort of martini do you want? Classic gin? What sort of vermouth, in proportions, etc.?

      • Anon by the Gin

        Hear hear. Since Town and Country closed, a good martini is impossible to find. Did someone really say the Passenger?

  • Anonymous

    I hear y’all on the prices.

    As a resident it seems to me that the businesses on this stretch are enjoying, or attempting to enjoy, a bit of monopoly pricing. They want, and some very intelligent people would say deserve, an extra buck or two per item for being the first people to take a chance and set up shop in our hood.

    I personally don’t feel like paying this premium. Case in point Blue Banana. I really have never been there if it isn’t 1/2 off beer Thursday. Also I once paid like $7 for a beer at Looking Glass and haven’t been back there either.

    Anyway, along comes DC Reynolds and it’s basically (it’s a little more complicated but basically) 2 drinks for $6 from 5 to 9PM. That place is slammed all the time now. You’d be silly not to go there. You’d be giving your money away.

    I assume the others will respond by lowering prices and after several years of waiting I will now have three bars to reasonably drink at instead of none.

    And so, when someone else descends from on high to bring us another decent restaurant these prices too will go down. And then I’ll have two restaurants to eat at.

    At least that is my hope.

    :)

    • In response to your comment about DC Reynolds, which we love, I just wanted to mention that Blue Banana also now has $4 beers for happy hour. I’m not sure if this has been going on for awhile but it seems cheaper than previously and we’ve started going back there. They also have a back patio that is dog-friendly. So that’s two good cheap happy hour venues right next door to one another.

  • lex

    I hear y’all on the prices.

    As a resident it seems to me that the businesses on this stretch are enjoying, or attempting to enjoy, a bit of monopoly pricing. They want, and some very intelligent people would say deserve, an extra buck or two per item for being the first people to take a chance and set up shop in our hood.

    I personally don’t feel like paying this premium. Case in point Blue Banana. I really have never been there if it isn’t 1/2 off beer Thursday. Also I once paid like $7 for a beer at Looking Glass and haven’t been back there either.

    Anyway, along comes DC Reynolds and it’s basically (it’s a little more complicated but basically) 2 drinks for $6 from 5 to 9PM. That place is slammed all the time now. You’d be silly not to go there. You’d be giving your money away.

    I assume the others will respond by lowering prices and after several years of waiting I will now have three bars to reasonably drink at instead of none.

    And so, when someone else descends from on high to bring us another decent restaurant these prices too will go down. And then I’ll have two restaurants to eat at.

    At least that is my hope.

    :)

    • lex

      sorry bought that. anyone else still having trouble with the “you’ve already said that” thing?

    • I used to think this – that more options in a neighborhood in D.C. would lower prices among all the places in that neighborhood — but it just hasn’t ever panned out that way in D.C. It seems as long as people are willing to pay these absurd prices (which a lot of people here are) bars and restaurants will continue to charge those prices.

      • Neighbor (and economist)

        Because you are forgetting that more bars/restaurants draw more patrons. The market is not even close to saturated in this area. Hence the market can bear those prices even with additional competition.

        • Anonymous

          You really think the equilibrium price point of a decent beer is $7 in DC? I ask this with no snark.

          • Anonymous

            All the red tape also increases entry costs, thereby decreasing competition. At this point, yes $7 dollars appears to be the equilibrium point.

  • I don’t care how good the food is. The speed at which affordable food options are disappearing in this city is truly sad.

    • NoLongerNew2ch

      What, exactly, are the affordable food options that are disappearing? DC, a decade ago, had essentially two types of food options: REALLY high end, and large mediocre traditional steak/seafood/etc. fare, and terrible carry out / fast food options, with very, very little in the middle. I agree that there are still fewer decent middle ground options than are desirable, but the only one I can even think of it that used to exist, and no longer does, is AV Pizzeria downtown. The problem is that, in cities like DC, good AND affordable fare tends to be ethnic food, and DC had and has a paucity of ethnic food enclaves, hence, no good, affordable Chinese, Italian, etc. (Ethiopian being an exception).

      I will say, however, that Columbia Heights, more than any other place in the city, has a sizeable, and growing, group of affordable, good food options: Pho 14, Paila Chilean, TDF, Redrocks, coming soon El Chucho’s, Cava, and Kangaroo Boxing Club, and on the higher end of affordable but still reasonable, Room 11 and Maple. The ability to get really, really good food in DC has improved by leaps and bounds, for certain, and while it is still hard to find good food for a reasonable cost, DC is still well ahead of where it used to be in this department (I’d add, outside of CH, Bar Pilar and The Passenger as other examples of places that meet that elusive criteria).

      As for Georgia Ave., this place is certainly pricey, but it’s cool to have ONE high end place in the area, really, the only place at that price point for several square miles. Hopefully, a few more affordable places will fill in as the numerous vacant commercial spaces in the area become more and more desirably for entrepreneurs.

  • bfinpetworth

    Had a light dinner there last night. The energy was great, the food outstanding, and in my opinion, the prices were reasonable for an upscale restaurant. Petworth has been in need of this type of establishment and we now have it. No, it is not a place to stop in to 3 nights a week for a full meal. But it certainly is a place that you can enjoy an occasional great meal, and otherwise stop in for some beers and an appetizer. If you want pub food, you can cross the street to Looking Glass or DC reynolds? But many of us have been craving a comfortable upscale restaurant that we can walk home from after a few drinks. Up until now, our favorite go-to place has been Cashions in Adams Morgan or Bistro La Bonne on U. We now have a comparable (in the case of Bistro la Bonne, better) alternatively in the neighborhood. Rejoice!

    Quit complaining and just enjoy it for what it is!

  • Dave

    Pricey? Definitely. I’d support this place to help set a market. If a place can stay open with this price rate, then it encourages more mid-range priced places to open up in the neighborhood, too. Remember that every neighborhood should have a range of restaurant prices. I doubt the neighborhood could support more than one or two of these kind of places right now, but it bodes well for future development.

    • Foghorn Leghorn

      Son, that made no sense to me at all.

  • Anonymous

    Wow… there’s no break anywhere… top dollar for things you can get almost anywhere now… Why is beer so much in DC? and $27 for Hanger?

    • SF

      It seems that most people, or at least enough people, are willing to shell out $7 a beer these days. A few years ago $5 was standard for a good beer, then $6 started around 3 years ago, and now more and more are going for $7. As long as we keep paying it, they’ll keep raising it, looking for the ceiling.

  • Anonymous

    As a homeowner I’m excited for the theoretical benefit this offers the neighborhood.

    As a homeowner I can’t afford to eat here.

  • This is absolutely fantastic! If we want the neighborhood to improve, we must welcome more places like this. The neighborhood will not develop if instead we cater to patrons looking for a 40 or that need a laundromat. I’d rather spend all my money here instead of going to 14th or downtown. I no longer go to Home Depot and pay extra to help Annie’s, I use Petworth cleaners too. Let’s help our neighborhood get better and better.

    • Anonymous

      I agree and think it will be a success on bar sales alone, but there is a scale between 40oz shops and conceivably $160 for dinner and drinks for two. Some of us are surprised that this place offers so little to the mid market.

      • Anon

        Exaggerating…. We paid $110 (after tax) for two people and we splurged – 1 appetizer, 2 drinks, 2 entrees (including the steak) and 2 desserts. If you limit yourself to dinner and drinks for two you can definitely come in under $100, not $160.

        • Anonymous

          Or do what my girlfriend and I do at restaruants and split an entree, no drinks or appetizers. It’s a good way to prevent overeating as well.

          • H Street Landlord

            Wait staff must love ya’ll.

        • Anonymous

          well… lets see…. add the numbers, two cocktails, two of each of the most expensive appetizers and mains and two deserts + 15% tip brings you to $154 without tax…. so is it an exaggeration?

          • Who actually does that? I don’t think my wife and I have ever contemplated getting two appetizers, two entrees, two desserts, and two drinks. We do out quite often, and enjoy good food, but that is just way too much food, and a waste of money too!

        • I would gladly pay $160. I will be there tomorrow instead of going to Beck. I’m also bringing business clients next week to show them the “new” DC, their pockets are bigger than mine and I hope they will spend plenty. Keep supporting Petworth!

      • But aren’t there already options in that in-between range? Sala Thai, DC Reynolds, Moroni Bros., El Torogoz, …. All of these are moderately priced dining options. Now we have another higher end option (I’m also including Domku and Fusion in the higher end category).

        My partner and I enjoyed 2 appetizers each (we weren’t super hungry) and a drink each for $57 before tip. That really isn’t so high-priced.

  • Brian

    I was hoping for a gourmet burger like they have at Marvin.

  • Got my rez for Sunday after next.
    Hey Chez Billy what’s on the kid’s menu? I kid you not.

  • victoria

    Hoping for success, but this is a very tough niche market. Potential customers who can pay 27 for a hanger steak are probably also those who know how simple it is to buy & cook it yourself at home. But marrow bones & duck confit are a different story. If the more “difficult” food is indeed extraordinary, and people come (quickly) to know this – it could be a great success.

    Atmosphere & service will be crucial. Two people – 2 swanky cocktails each = $48.00 + $5.00 tax & $10.00 tip = $63.00. You can buy a couple of bottles of good liquor, wash the Guatemalan blanket, fluff up the futon and get some pretty good nooky for that price!

    • caballero

      How much is the nookie? After you factor in the booze and the futon-fluffing, the nookie comes out to be about zero. Ahhhh, now I get it.

  • so16

    Checked it out on Sunday. Great food – but a bit pricey.. Awesome ambiance — and it looks like they have 2 outside decks.

  • I was in there last night–two martinis for $24. I actually told the manager that his prices were way too high for this neighborhood, and that I could get a fantastic hangar steak at Bistro La Bonne for about $10 less (or better yet, grill my own for $12). The appetizer prices were a bit more realistic and have more unusual items like the bone marrow dish and rabbit liver pate. I also talked with other customers who were leaving when i did who felt the same. The manager told me my points were well taken, and I hope he acts on them–I want the place to succeed, but people in that area are not going to keep splurging there.

  • Clark

    you can a 16 0z NY steak at fusion for $22.00 great place too.

    • Anonymous

      That’s a much more expensive cut of meat too.

  • Anonymous

    When will they add a dj to the mix?

  • saf

    So how noisy is it?

  • foodfan

    I can’t believe how many commenters are hung up on the price relative to the neighborhood of Chez Billy. Since when does a restaurant’s location dictate how much they can/should charge for their food? Ingredients aren’t cheaper when they are delivered to Petworth instead of Dupont. One might argue that the rent is cheaper but you might check out the space that the owners have created – a certain asset to our neighborhood that did not come cheaply. Appreciate it for what it is — or not — but how does discouraging new and interesting establishments from setting up shop in Petworth help the area or residents?

    • thank you. $2 more for a beer than looking glass, but the beer selection is different than anywhere else in the neighborhood and the atmosphere is incredible. its not too useful to compare chez billy to looking glass or anywhere else in the immediate area. and if the food’s on point, people will travel there to eat from farther than a six block radius. sorry they dont have an $8 chicken sandwich we can all afford to eat three nights a week after work. just roll through wendy’s on your way there. it is right across the street.

    • Anonymous

      location has long dictated how much a restaurant can charge. Why do you think hot dogs cost 5 bucks at a ballpark?

  • Cletus

    I’ve been looking forward to this place for a long time. I live nearby and was hoping to have a place that I could visit regularly for some decent food and a good beer…then I saw the menu and prices. Give me a break. And the folks that say they’re so excited about this place and say they’ll be visiting it regularly are full of it. The folks with money to burn that appreciate a menu like that are going elsewhere to enjoy other fancy pants menus. Fancy pants.

  • Craig

    I don’t see any way to e-mail this list to the owners, but maybe they’ll catch a glimpse of it here.

    Here are all the errors that I found in the menu. While the French do not consistently accent fully capitalized words, the Académie prefers that they would. (Moreover, the menu includes “CRÈME DE CASSIS” written with an accented majuscule.)

    “EAU-DE-VIE” not “EAU-DI-VIE”

    “pâté maison” not “pate maison”
    “tête de porc” not “tete de porc”
    (extra hyphen after “FOIE DE LAPIN”)
    “SALADE JARDINIÈRE” not just “JARDINIERE”
    “SALADE LYONNAISE” not “SALAD LYONNAISE”
    “frisée” not “frisee”
    “crème fraîche” not “crème fraiche”
    “SOUPE À L’OIGNON GRATINÉE LYONNAISE” not “SOUP A L’OGNION GRATINEE LYONNAISE”

    “sauce béarnaise” not “sauce bearnaise”
    “gnocchi Parisienne” not “Parisienne gnocchi”
    “arugula” not “arugala”
    “DAUBE DE BŒUF” not “DAUBE DE BOEUF”
    “braised” not “Brasied”
    (extra space before “pommes anna”)
    “pommes Anna” not “pommes anna”
    “MOULES-FRITES” not “MOULES FRITES”
    (superfluous quotation marks around “GRENOBLOISE”)
    “pommes sardelaise” or “pommes sardelaises” not “pommes sarladaise”

    “LES DESSERTS” not “LES DESERTS”
    “PINEAPPLE TARTE TATIN” not “PINEAPPLE TART TATIN” (arguably “TATIN D’ANANAS” would be better)
    (comma missing between “crème fraiche” and “ice cream”)
    “crème fraîche” not “crème fraiche”

    “Hofbräu Hefe Weizen” not “Hofbrau Hefeweiss”
    “Gaffel Kölsch” not “Gaffel Kolsch”
    “König Pilsener” not “Konig Pilsener”
    “Hofbräu Maibock” not “Hofbrau Maibock”
    “Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier” not “Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbeir”

    • Awesome. Nothing worse than ignorance mixed with pretension. If you’re going to flaunt the French, get it right.

      • Of course, the German isn’t exactly a shining example, either.

    • Another one: It should be “VICHYSSOISE,” not “VICHYSOISSE.”

      And shouldn’t it be “herbes de Provence,” not “herbs de provence”?

      Given that the French don’t always use accent marks over capital letters, I’m not too stressed or surprised about the absence of such marks in the menu for a French restaurant in the U.S.

      • Craig

        Absolutely correct on “vichyssoise” and “herbes de Provence”. That’s what I get for reviewing it so late.

        I wouldn’t have bothered to put accents on the capital letters had they not used a capital “È” in “CRÈME DE CASSIS” and the capital “Œ” in “HORS D’ŒUVRES”

        Of course, I also missed that “HORS D’ŒUVRES” should be “HORS-D’ŒUVRE”.

  • classic_six

    I’m disappointed to see this place as expensive and here’s why: I thought this was going to be a neighborhood place, where locals would go (and become regulars) and it would also appeal to people from other parts of the city, of course, but mostly a place with neighborhood appeal. I believe this is from the Hilton Brothers, so it’s not like a small, new place or mom-and-pop place where the cost of doing business might need some cushion. These are pros and have a number of successful places in DC, so they should have clout and be able to bring a great place with better prices, in my opinion. The Hilton Bros. have opened places that I like and are better priced. I think that there is a lot of laid-back, cool swank to their interiors and perhaps that is some of what the prices here reflect. In line with downtown or 14th Street prices? I don’t know, maybe close – but looking at the dessert prices, I think 10 bucks a pop is steep. For rice pudding? If there were some great intricate skilled involved in the dessert-making, I might be more agreeable but those prices are making me cantankerous. Heh. I don’t recall many (can’t come up with one now) other restaurants charging this for desserts. The price points for the food (appetizers and entrees) while tend to be more in line for downtown or 14th street, they are still a bit all over the place. Twenty-seven dollars for hangar steak? That’s not even the top cut of beef. The problem is that the prices tend to be a couple to a few dollars over even what downtown or 14th street restaurants charge and I am left wondering why? The Hilton Bros. should have pull, enough pull to bring prices down. (Case in point would be Black Restaurant Group). I’m not saying those places are cheap, but if you look at Pearl Dive Oyster Palace (they can bring quality seafood at better prices). I thought something similar could be done here.

    • Anonymous

      Top cuts of beef exceed $30. More so at a restaurant that has dishes that require more effort than creamed spinach. It is “hanger” steak. Planes live in hangars.

      • classic_six

        To Anonymous,

        Thanks for pointing out my typo (hanger not hangar). You are correct. Perhaps you should follow all of my posts and catch all of my errors; you’ll see that I have a few more out there, of which many I already know. Sometimes I am quick enough to catch the error but not quick enough to stop a post from posting because when I try and think I do, I see that the original comment shows up. The beauty of technology.

        As for the point that top cuts of beef exceed $30.00 – this is true. For a hangar (heh, hanger) steak to be almost $30.00 still seems priced more than it should be, even knowing that top cuts of beef exceed $30.00, so your point is well made. Grilling steaks is one of the easiest things to make; the only thing you have to worry about is over-cooking them.

  • Hilltop

    Houses in Petworth will run you 400K easily. and higher. A bit shocked at all the commentary on high price points. Its high quality food in a gorgeous environment. take your biz to DC Reynolds if you want cheap finishings and cheap beer.

    • DC Reynolds has a terrific beer menu…

  • ms

    Le Lavandou is what a French Bistro should be ( more/less), however this menu is equivalent to what use to be called “Chinese -American” for example a brandade is not fried.

  • Anonymous

    Here’s the real problem: If I want to spend that much I WANT to be going downtown to do it. That’s why it’s called “downtown.”

    You can eat at proof on New Year’s Eve for that much. And let me tell you that is worth the money.

    • Anonymous

      @craig- you have too much time to kill. geesh

  • Anonymous

    I agree with Craig’s corrections, actually, and I’m not sure why providing them should lead to elegant comments about his appendage size. All of you wanting a fancy restaurant in the neighborhood to “improve” it (um, for whom??) should agree that a proof-read menu is consistent with the quality entrepreneurial experience you laud this place as offering. What I don’t understand is the equation of overpriced restaurant = better Petworth. Other than the flawed logic, must every part of DC become a homogenized strip of yuppieness?

  • Anonymous

    You clowns have no idea what food actually costs. Sadly, most of you are resigned to eating industrial factory items whereas quality food stuffs cost money. Maintaining the 30% food cost standard, the hanger steak plate costs about $9 to make, and, like any other business, the restaurant needs to cover its costs (rent, labor, food, etc…) in order to be there, and likely will not turn a profit for a few years.
    Beef cheeks are not as cheap as they used to be and hanger steak has risen in popularity, and with only 1 hanger steak per animal (2 portions per piece) they come at a premium. Rising fuel costs have inflated food prices.
    The cheap food you crave can be had at any one of the many small plates venues.

    The ignorance and disconnect between food origins and how it gets to the plate is alarming, but in this myopic commenter community rather expected. The prices at Chez Billy are well within the spectrum of affordable given the product and preparation.

    • 1300 BLK

      I get what you’re saying, but I went last night and the prices are not in line. For example, they are not getting more like 4 portions per hanger because the $27 dollar hanger steak is not a hanger steak, but about 5 oz of medallions cut from a hanger steak with a small side of fries and some watercress. The steak down at Marvin is $27 and it’s a steak. The hanger steak that they sometime have at Marvin is also in the $20s and it’s a gigantic hanger steak. I mean come on! The steaks at Bisto du Coin are $18/23 with better sauce and more fries.

      The duck confit at Chez is one piece served with basically nothing else – a few new potatoes and an ounce of sautéed greens. That’s $17 at Bistro du Coin, for $21 (what they charge at Chez) its served with good cassoulet. For $26, I can go down to West End Bistro and have mind-blowing good confit with cassoulet.

      The mussels are pretty basic for $18. The basic mussels at Marvin are $17. You can get a bigger pot of better mussels right across the park at St. Arnolds (or pretty much anywhere else) for $18.

      Honestly I just don’t get what they are thinking with the prices and the plates. I don’t mind the price points at all, but I won’t be back until I hear they’ve filled out the plates, and executed them better. I can eat at Palena Café for less than Chez Billy and get Waaayyyy better food!

      • Anonymous

        Bistrot du Coin is so much better on all fronts.

  • Bob Barker

    What does a smart phone and its service cost these days? I reckon you can get 20 steak frites for the price of an Ipad (that will be outdated in a few months). If you choose luxuries over food, that is your problem, not the restaurants. Or don’t go there and leave room for those of us that have different priorities and tastes.

    • vanya

      Good point about priorities. It is sad to see so many ignorant opinions about doing business in this country. Business is brutal and time will tell if this place stays open. But it is not difficult to tell that the majority of people on this blog do not work in the private sector.

  • Just got back from Chez Billy. Jillian, our server, was fantastic! The space is magnificent. The food from their organic locally sourced menu was both high in quality and taste. The steak frite was worth every penny and amongst the best we’ve had. The wine list is a great deal. We are very happy that a restaurant like this one has opened in the neighborhood. We can’t wait for more.

  • Anonymous

    Food was ok. Service was alright, not sure I agree with the too expensive comments.

  • Anonymous

    Our experience was fantastic. We were also served by Jillian. The prices have come down significantly.

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