bistro bobette

best in richmond. terrific modern bistro cuisine, not too french, but enough, not too nouveau american, but enough. on a friday night, the place was filled but not jammed or loud, and the service was on it start to finish. knowledgeable, helpful, not too intrusive. excellent wine list, a bit tilted toward the high end, but for under $50 plenty of selections. menus is seasonal, local when possible, organic. we'd definitely return. have been visiting richmond for decades, and it's never been that interesting restaurant-wise. looks like things have changed, at least downtown in the old tobacco warehouse district.

great experience. ate at the bar. it was full but olivier took care of all of us. great atmosphere and friendly diners and servers. good wine selection. had rack of veal...a new experience. it was delicious.

best french food downtown, probably in all of richmond, very chef driven and every dish is full of flavor. the staff is very friendly and knowledgable about all the wine, and their food, which seems hard because they on average have about 20 specials and a menu that changes every few months which is spectacular to see. if in rva this is definitely worth the visit.

ate at the bar and thoroughly enjoyed myself. i was in town for a conference last week and walked down to bistro bobette for dinner. i ate at the bar and it was a wonderful experience. i really enjoyed chatting with the bartender, olivier. he was colorful and interesting but yet he never neglected any of his numerous customers. the food was good, though i only had the soup special and the mixed charcuterie and cheese plate. the food service was a little slow but on this night i didn't really mind, and olivier was good about following up on what i ordered. i would definitely like to return next time i visit richmond.


-----21 mar, 2015-----

mixed charcuterie and cheese plate. a combination of the charcuterie and cheese plates on the appetizer menu

perfect !. famous paté and daube provençale and french baguette.
very smouth and tasty dessert.

lovely ambiance.

highly recommend. one of our favorite restaurants. food always excellent and good service. one of the best in richmond.

bad food and service with no apologies. today myself and 4 co-workers arrived at bistro bobbette and noon for lunch. we have been to bistro b. 2-3 times in the past for lunch and always received great food and good service. upon arrival we were seated promptly. there was one other large table in the back and a two top table behind us. our order was taken within 10 minutes of our arrival. more patrons began arriving. we sat there waiting for our food for 30 minutes before the waitress came out and said that one meal ordered by a co-worker was no longer available. she took her new order and went back to the kitchen. two appetizers we had ordered then arrived. (35 min mark) the winter vegetable soup was terrible. we watched as all the tables around us were being served. that's right the ones that came in well after our arrival. the waitress could offer us no explanation.

finally, 1 hr and 15 mins after our arrival our food arrived. 1 dish was cold, three beef dishes were all over done. only the lamb shank special met the standards of prior visits.

the whole expierence was dreadful. not once did a manager come out to apologize and neither did our waitress.

very dissapointing.

worst dining experience in richmond. i rarely am afforded the opportunity to have lunch with my wife since we work about 45 minutes away from one another. i am sorry i wasted my lunch with her going to this restaurant. we were seated right away and our waitress was very nice which are the only positive aspects of our dining experience. our food took approximately 40 minutes to arrive with no apology or explanation, so i am assuming this is a normal wait, but in my opinion far too long for a weekday lunch from work, especially when there are only four tables occupied in the restaurant.

i ordered the beef tenderloin on baguette, my wife had the buckwheat crepe. i asked for my tenderloins medium rare, one was rare, the other was raw and inedible. i complained to the waitress, but stated that i did not want more food- just for the manager to be made aware of the issue. because of the long wait for the food, i just didn't have time to wait for another order, even if it was cooked properly and arrived quickly. our waitress apologized and returned after about 10 minutes (apparently conferring with someone in the kitchen) and offered to have my food re-cooked. i assumed (or hoped) she meant cook something new, but explained that i didn't have the time. she apologized again and brought the check, no one else came to offer an apology. when i looked at the check i saw that my meal had not been taken off the bill, so apparently at bistro bobette they believe in charging customers for food that is inedible. i suppose my $16 lunch entree was more important than my continued business.

had to pay for raw meat. my husband and i went here for lunch on a thursday during work. it took 45 minutes for the food to come, when there were only 5 tables. my crepe was good, but my husband's beef tenderloin was completely raw. i he ate one of the steak medallions, which was cooked fine, but cut into the second (there were two on the plate) and had to stop eating because it was raw. he informed the waitress and after what i assume was 10 minutes of deliberation in the back, she offered to further cook the steak. we had been there over an hour and needed to get back to work, so we declined. they then had the audacity to charge us for the full meal. my husband and i were both floored. just absolutely terrible costumer service. we will not go back and we will be sure to spread the word about poor experience.

great meal. my husband and i have been here several times and have always been very pleased with our meal. the wine selection is very good and the atmosphere is charming. the hostess is very friendly and engaging. the food is cooked to order so expect quality not speed.

mr. jarvis. fantastic!

perfect for any occasion. my wife and i have been twice, and are never disappointed. i even got parking right in front the first night, but now park above 9th street and walk to avoid frustration.

the food is incredible, truffle mac-n-cheese is a must as is the escargot. make sure to save a little bread to soak up the leftover garlic & oil in the escargot. i'm not a big wine drinker, and tend to be overwhelmed when looking at lists, but the wait staff has yet to steer me wrong with their pairing choices while still being price-conscious (without me saying anything).

we love that coming in there each time is an experience, made all the more special when the owner or chef comes to greet us and inquire about our meal. it's the perfect place for that special dinner, yet still casual enough for happy hour. we certainly plan to add it into to our mix a little more often.

atmosphere is nice and food is good. service is not very good. server was doing you a favor to bring you a drink.

overall i was unimpressed. i was one of two patrons in the restaurant, sat at the bar, and still waited over 45 minutes for my entree (bistro steak). the spices pecans were unimpressive (not much spice and all at the bottom of the bowl such that most pecans were actually not spiced.)

the explanation i was offered was that the soux chef forgot to turn on the grill, thus it wasnt hot enough. they offered to buy me a drink d/t the wait.

the steak itself was cooked medium but ordered medium rare. it was, however, quite tasty. a bit overpowered by the sauce. the real highlight was the french beans, smoky and absolutely delicious.

the place has a nice atmosphere, quiet and romantic. they did apologize for the delay but, at nearly an hour, probably should have discounted the tab.

hope my experience was a fluke.

food was fantastic, owner and bar tender were fun. english waiter was very pompous. we would go back again, but request a different waiter.