Lilly's French Cafe & Bar

I will nto be returning to this place. I spoke to the owner before leaving to let him know what a bad experience I had. Truly not worth driving too or wasting an evening at. Wine list- no good, food was salty and or too cold. Wait staff...what wait staff? Pros: Trendy locale in Abbott Kinney Cons: poor value for your money more

Wonderful, authentic french bistro -- unfortunately this includes the standard-issue french attitude. Go for the fillet -- it is outstanding. Nice wine list. If possible, try to sit outside on the back patio. Pros: food, wine, bar more

I had to write after I saw something about poor service. Something about coming here always makes the night a little special. The menu is a mix of french brasserie and restaurant classics like juicy steak with french fries with some traditionals such as ceasar salad, and franco-cal dishes like goat cheese puffs that are pretty sublime. I don't generally go here to be surprised by unique dishes but to eat great food. Ie it's not innovative like Rockenwagner. The fish is also excellent. It's no inexpensive but seems well priced. \r The service: yes occasionally it seems slow, but it's part of the charm that they don't try to get you in and out in 1 hour. It's a different pace, and while I get antsy I usually find myself enjoying the extra time. The waitstaff are very professional and it's refreshing to have service that is not intrusive -- not ""Hi, I'm so and so and I'll be your server tonight..."" Very much like the excellent service at La Cachette, although obviously slightly more casual. They do what needs to be done and don't bother you all the time. What a nice change. Oh, and they know about wine, so if you are like me and not an expert on french wine, they can suggest wine for specific dishes. \r As the place gets fuller it becomes noisy, but not too loud. You can tell everyone is having a great conversation; in other words, not a place where people are worried about making connections in the biz, checking each other out; but intent on full enjoyment of a meal with their friends/lovers/family. \r PS I'm pretty allergic to cig. smoke. If you are or if you find it unpleasant then you should ask about it when you book; once they put me on the patio and I had to move. I think people smoke when they are outside. If you want to self-park there are many residential streets behind the restaurant that are fine for parking. more

I went to Lilly's with a friend. We were trying to find a place to have dinner. I never tried Lilly's and thought we should give it a try. The food was grea and so was the service. We had to wait a while to be seated, so we just relaxed at the bar and have a glass of wine. Dessert was also great. It was worth the wait. more

For a romantic outdoor dining experience, Lilly's is the place. The back patio is magical - (cue images of Midsummer Night's Dream); beautifully decorated with perfectly pruned trees, twinkle lights and intimate tables with crisp, white linen napkins and tablecloths. I ordered the Canard a la lavande, a roasted duck breast specialty, which was delicious. The one drawback: during our experience, service seemed to be an afterthought - sometimes the simplest, low-maintenance requests (like ""more water, please?"") took forever. By the end, we weren't sure who we should tip. Three people seemed to be on rotation, taking our order, delivering our food and refilling our glasses. What's more, we arrived after making online reservations, yet still had to wait 15 minutes to be seated. Pros: Outdoor patio, Wine list Cons: Service more

The patio in the back is a charming place to have lunch or brunch. White table cloths and fresh baguette on the table perfect the French touch. The frisee salad with lardons and a poached egg is the best I've had outside of France, but some of the other salad dishes are simply average. The orange sorbet is delicious but the lemon tart is big enough and heavy enough for two to split. The service is friendly and prompt and the prices are very reasonable for such a charming setting. more

The desserts--chocolate souffle with pistachio ice cream, blood orange sorbet, and grape ice cream with blueberry filo (looked like a blueberry crepe)--were delicious. However, my friends and I were disappointed with our Sunday brunch entrees: the chicken salad and the onglet a l'echalotte had somewhat dry meat. The grilled salmon was good, but it was a very small dish. Lilly's ran out of chicken/mushroom crepes, so we ordered an omelet instead. Still, I would go again, to try the moules frites, which a neighboring table had ordered and which looked delicious. Pros: desserts more

One might expect the French fries at a French restaurant to be superb but not so here. I had a beef entree that was just okay. The salads (I believe they grow their own vegetables) and dessert are WONDERFUL and the service is up to par. They also have a great outdoor patio. Pros: patio, salads Cons: food more

Well, the staff must have read some of the scathing reviews posted here. My visit for lunch last week was out of this world. The service couldn't have been better. My date and I were greeted at the door, and the waitress went out of her way to please us. The food was really, really good: warm chicken sandwich on fabulous french bread, fresh spring salad, and split pea soup (so good I ordered a second bowl). And the prices have not gone up since I've been coming here the past 5 years. Still only $10 for lunch. Do yourself a favor and eat at Lilly's, and splurge! Pros: Perfect French Fare, Lovely Patio, Friendly Service Cons: Some Smokers, Unresistable Deserts more

Lilly's has wonderful food...the seared ahi tuna salad melts in your mouth, the fish is always good, even if there is not a lot of selection. I'm a big fan of French onion soup, but it was only mediocre here...a bit too sweet. The garden patio is lovely and romantic. I would like to change some attitude around that place, though...the host seated us promptly, but was very brisk, unsmiling, and not very accomodating when we wanted to move the table around a bit. And I really don't like chefs who refuse to cook meat (the Hanging Steak in my case) the way the customer wants. I understand the reasoning, but the waitress shouldn't say, ""the chef absolutely WILL NOT do it."" So rude. I don't eat beef often, but on principle, I will probably not frequent Lilly's. Pros: Great food, Beautiful Patio Cons: Unfriendly host, Unaccomodating more

The service was awful. The food tasted like it had been cooked in a microwave, and the wine selection stunk. Not worth even investigatin'. more

We ate here the other night and had a great experience. The service was quick and friendly. We were seated immediately, which was nice because all the other places on the street were crowded with long waits. Sit out on the back patio if you can. The dishes we ordered were good--I thought the salmon was the best. Pros: no wait, friendly service more

My husband and I went last weekend with another couple and we tried Lilly's. Actually it was the only restaurant able to seat us right away without reservations compared to the other restaurants on the same street that had a wait of 40 minutes. The French bistro menu was limited but the food was ok and the service was slow and mediocre. The experience is nothing to write home about. It was an ok experience but we probably wont visit again since there are so many other better restaurants out there. Pros: Nice outdoor seating more

I live in Venice and this is one of my favorite restaurants. The service is always amazing and the price is right. even the chicken (which is usually a boring dish) is great. On a hot day sit outside and have a nice bottle of Rose... more

my bf & i actually were driving to Venice to try out Primitivo, which is right next door to Lilly's, but we passed by Lilly's first, and we just decided to pop in and try Lilly's instead. to our surprise, we read the menu at the door, and found the prices pretty reasonable for french food. when we sat down at our table in the back patio area, we were both very pleased w/ the environment, especially w/ the nice garden right next door. both the food & the staff are authentic & great. i would definitely bring some other friends along next time so i can try out other dishes. Pros: food, setting, staff more

The last time I went to Lilly's, the service was so rude and horrible that for the first time in my life I left a restaurant without any tip. And I'm usually a very generous tipper, leaving anywhere from 15%-30%. After my friend and I were sat by the hostess, it took forever for the waitress to come to our table, and when we asked for the menus, she snapped, saying ""well, you were sat last, so that's why I come to your table last."" We should have left right then and there, but we stayed and ordered, and of course she never came back to our table except to collect our bill. Upon complaining to the manager/owner, his attitude was much the same, which explained more why he allowed such rude, stuck-up attitude upon his staff. Never going back there again. Pros: Outdoor dining more

The food is decent, not great, but passable. The service, however, is consistently slow and rude. I go out to lunch every day, and always tip between 15 and 20 percent. The server was so incredibly snotty, however, that I actually couldn't in good conscience leave a tip. He then proceeded to follow me out to my car and yell at me. Wow. Not a very classy place. Go next door to Joe's -- nice place, same price range, better food, and much better service. Pros: prix fixe lunch, street parking avail. Cons: , slow more

since that's the only thing i have had there, so far. the service was great, the food was great, and going there for lunch is a bargain! i would highly recommend lilly's. the patio is very sweet. the desserts are awesome. more

waitstaff is awesome, the quiche is great, i really like this place. the outdoor patio has a great romantic ambiance that adds to the accents of the waitstaff, and the cuisine which is just totally from the french pallate. I have to say though, this place is a bit pricey considering. more

Lilly's has everything going for it: great location, delicious food, pleasant waitstaff and wonderful ambiance. I've never been disappointed with a meal or with the service here. The food is very French. I highly recommend the mussel dish. The wine list is quite extensive as well. Waiters will are happy to impart their knowledge and steer you in the direction of a good wine suitable to your tastes. The decor is festive minimalist inside and very simple yet elegant on the back patio. Lilly's is also very good when it comes to handling special occassions and large groups. This is a must eat. Pros: great food, good service, nice setting more