caprice bistro

a real french bistro. this little gem is really an authentic french bistro in cuisine, appearance, and attitude, equal to ones i've eaten at in nyc, and even some, but not all, in paris. it is a small, intimate place, perfect for romantic, special occasions. theserviceis excellent - attentive and knowledgeable.

now for the food: the appetizers are all very good, with the pate, escargot, tomato tarte, and the pommes frites being especially noteworthy - and, yes, the pommes frites are authentic and delicious. the mushroom crepe is special, as is the onion soup. the spinach sald is my favorite in that group.

the duck confit is one of the best i've had, including my own. the steak frites is a perfect version of the bistro classic, and the lamb shank. cassoulet style, is rich and tasty. among their small plates, the veal cheeks and the cheese plate are the ones i like best.

anyone who likes a real bistro should try this place. one of the real keys to an excellent restaurant, regardless of price or cuisine, is the consistent delivery of a fine dining experience. they do that here.

best in wilmington. consistently the best place in town for the last several years, imho. when i make a recommendation for folks, esp when it really matters, i send them to caprice. theserviceis always terrific, and michael now has our orders memorized, even my little idiosyncratic requests. like elaine's spongeworthy test (seinfeld fans?), my version is splurgeworthy and those frites with homemade mayo are worth every little calorie. salads are always fresh and tasty and mousse threesome is my fave dessert. if you're an escargot fan, don't miss theirs. yum!!

i have frequented the caprice bistro in my many years in ilm. i really do enjoy the food, i enjoy the atmosphere, but i've had some negative customerserviceexperiences. however, for me that is forgivable if the food is good, and at caprice bistro the food is good. you can get delicious french cuisine in a beautiful little bistro. you've actually seen the inside of this restaurant while watching some of your favorite tv shows and movies that have filmed in our area. order something you've never tried, or order the night's special. i doubt you will be disappointed.

poor service. avg food. walked in at 9pm on friday night. restaurant was 2/3 empty. manager, waiter, or whoever it was looked us in the eyes and said they didn't have a table available, but as soon as they did they'd come get us from the bar. mind you every table was clean and set, and there were more waiters and staff than customers at this point. basically, a shameless attempt to get us up to the bar to order a drink. after we order a drink, he walks up to tell us our table is ready. doesn't walk us to our table though, we go downstairs and someone points to a table. we sit for another 10 mins before a different waiter comes and pours us water. this waiter is far more interested in the table of 6 women next to us than he is in our party of 2 men. the rest of the meal was non-eventful. he didn't bring our bread basket until we'd asked twice, and our food had arrived, he made a mistake in entering my steak (i wanted the sauce on the side). my soup was barely warm. he was so short with us, i assumed we'd walked in right before closing. but nope, i asked, kitchen didn't close for another 90 minutes.

only dine here if you want to pay for attitude and mediocre food. go elsewhere if you want friendlyserviceand excellent food.

one of wilmington's top 5. this place is great! i've been coming here for years, and we just recently had a special event here for 12+ people and the food aservicewas terrific. i wanted everyone to enjoy our little gem here in downtown wilmington, and they found it to be as delicious and charming as i do. patricia and thierry were so great to work with and made our special night a great memory. the water zooi was the favorite dish of our group as was the short rib special they had for us. we consumed a large amount of the delectable mussels and escargot. we also put a good dent in their wine list. thanks again for all you did.

authentic french cuisine! the food is amazing and theserviceis the best i have ever had! the entire experience was great and i highly recommend it!

it was okay.... don't get me wrong. it was a great experience! just the price for what was given was slightly disappointing. to start i had a delicious glass of wine, and my friend and i split a cheese board. that was so delicious! for dinner i had a steak with a peppercorn cream like sauce over it... and french fries i guess served daintily with it. the steak was not that great. it cost me 30 dollars for a chewy steak when i've had better at a cookout! dessert was delicious too..."cream puffs" filled with coffee ice cream. however it wasn't anything i felt i couldn't do at home. now... last year a friend and i visited wilmington and went to brasserie du soleil. delicious. their cheese board was even better and more impressive. came with olives too and some sort of boiled grape that had consistency of jelly to have with the cheese and items that came with it. the dinners there were impressive and fresh and delicious and well worth the price. the dessert was absolutely nothing i could imitate especially the grapefruit sorbet. so all in all i felt like caprice bistro was just a "fake fancy" restaurant but was really more like a chain. and not a ton of menu options. although it was clean,servicewas wonderful, and the meal was at least decent so it wasn't a horrible experience.

won't be back. i went with a group of six. we arrived around 5:00 on a saturday afternoon and we went to the upstairs part of the restaurant(this is important - the upstairs was empty) and immediately the waitress didn't want to seat us because we were a large party. she suggested three of us sit on one couch and the other three sit on a couch in the back (no where near the other couch).
we said we were there for dinner and couldn't we get a table? no. she wasn't going to move any tables. we pleasantly but firmly insisted we would really like to sit together at a table as we were going to eat dinner (who wants to eat dinner on a couch?)
she huffed and puffed and finally moved two tables together. when we sat down she made it very clear that we each had to get an entree in order to sit at the table. it was extremely insulting like she assumed since we were a younger (mid-20s age range) group we must not have money or that we were super cheap. we had already said five times that we were there for dinner, not just drinks or appetizers. and the restaurant was completely empty so it's not like we were taking a table from someone else.
finally, we got to sit and look at menus. uh-oh. i'm a vegetarian. the only meat-free option was the pasta. that's it. so if you're a vegetarian and you don't like pasta, well too bad. and forget it if you're a vegan. when i asked the waitress for help regarding meat-free options she shrugged and said "pasta". she couldn't even be bothered to answer me in a complete sentence.

the menu was extremely limited and theservicewas awful. the waitress never warmed up to us even though we easily ordered over $500 in food and wine. i tipped well out of habit but i will not be going back. the rude wait staff ruined it for me.

perfection. food and atmosphere are elegant and wonderfully delish! will be back after this great dinner out. very goodserviceto top it off, one of a kind bartending staff.

lively local crowd on wednesday after xmas; having no reservations, they found a table for me and friend in short time. menu was good,serviceprofessional and food came quick. price was excellent, no sticker shock here. will definitely go back!

rare jewel. restaurants like the caprice bistro are like a rare jewel where you can dine in peace, savor an well prepared dish and just enjoy your self.

sounds decadent and it is.

first time i went to caprice was several years ago when we had a convention in wilmington and i've made it a point to come back each time i'm in wilmington. call it self indulgence.

the food is excellent. one of the best country french restaurants i have found in north america and quebec has a fair number of them. odd ot find it in coastal nc but i look at it as my fortune.

the lamb and trout dishes are fantastic. you can acutally taste the primary ingredient and not be overpowered by other seasoning.

the atmosphere is relaxed. food is great, wine is excellent,serviceis perfections. what more can you ask.

c'est fantastique!. we just had our mother's 75th birthday celebration here - 30 of us...we wanted to go there because she is belgian and we wanted to have an affair that echoed her heritage. pat and i came up with a unique and elegant menu for the evening. it was perfect. the food was sublime...i'm still getting thank you cards from her friends about the event...and guests saying, "it was the best meal they've had in wilmington". theservicewas amazing - so attentive. the creme brulee is other worldly...thank you pat and thierry for making an evening which will be remembered for a long time to come. i only wish you were back in nyc so i could enjoy more often! merci mille fois!

absolutely superb. we have eaten at caprice bistro 6 times since moving to the general area 1½ years ago (1 35 mile trip from our home). food is wonderful, great wine list, excellentserviceand enticing specials. have had 24 neighbors in to try their appetizers in their lounge upstairs, and everyone, to a person, thorougly enjoyed the fare and plans to return. if you have only one night in wilmington, eat at caprice bistro

loved the food!. on a recent trip to wilmington, i probably had my best meal at caprice bistro. theservicewas just so-so, but the food was to die for! i had a seared fish fillet with lemon, capers and parsley and my husband tried pate for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed it. they have daily specials that includes a prix fixe menu and a large wine selection that can be ordered by the glass or bottle. one thing to remember, this is a french restaurant and a lot of the menu has french wording. the descriptions are in english so you will know what you are ordering. i can't wait to go back!

this place offers an enticing sofa lounge upstairs or formal dining down. food andserviceare both top-notch!!