Le Bilboquet — Restaurant in New York

Don't eat at Bilboquet! The management Horribly ruined my wife's birthday after we had a reservation for weeks. They would not seat us as a family on a technicality they claim about attire, yet their website is very ambiguous when it comes to attire as it more focuses on Not to wear beach-wear, of which I was not wearing yet they turned me and my family away who were dressed nicely, cleanly, fashionably enough to be at a prestigious country club. My wife was already at an outside table, hot summer night waiting with my teenage kids and mother-in-law already seated while waiting for me to park my car, yet they could Not find the decency to seat me so it wouldn't ruin the entire family evening. They have hateful managers working here. I asked other patrons if they minded what I was wearing and they all said what I had on was perfectly fine in their opinion. At least one of the staff member came up to me outside later to apologize as we left since he said the managers here are horrible people, said he has seen them let in other people that "they personally know" whom were dressed just like I was. They say they have a strict policy, yet they let Chris Cuomo the news anchor in with a baseball cap and a tee-shirt with a fishing logo. They let another man in with faded jeans and a tee-shirt, and they let a beautiful woman in with her 20-ish yr old son in Shorts but they told me they have a strict attire policy. They basically discriminatorily pick and choose who they let in, even if you have a reservation. BTW, I emailed corporate that evening, the reply says to call their urgent phone line, I did but a nice young lady said she was so sorry but she had no way to help be since she was at a different location. Again, I say Do Not Patronize Le Bilboquet until they realize how harmful and hurtful their managers can be to good people whom were dress nicely enough for any fine dining establishment or exclusive country club in the country. Oh by the way, I had to beg another restaurant down the street to let us in on short notice and when I explained to a manager at a really nice restaurant with white tablecloths he was appalled! He was appalled that the managers at Bilboquet could not find a way to help us! Shame on you BilBoquet,...

I am (was) a regular customer at Le Bilboquet and have frequented the restaurant for both work, since my office is two blocks away at the GM building and with friends, since I live three blocks away. I had a very disappointing experience today with the Maitre d, which compelled me to write this review. I arrived alone at the restaurant and asked for a table outside for a party of two, my friend arrived shortly thereafter. We were greeted nicely by the waiter, placed a drink order, got a couple of beers, then placed our dinner order. While we were enjoying our beers we were abruptly approached by the Maitre d, who proceeded to tell us that we had to leave immediately since I “hadn’t told him my friend was wearing shorts”. He then proceeded to bring the check. Fully understand that the restaurant has a dress code, and while I don’t think my friends shorts were offensive (he was on his way to a tennis class), believe the situation could have been handled more respectfully and tactfully. The Maitre d was condescending and made the situation a lot more awkward for us (and the couple in the table next to us) than what it had to be. Naturally, I objected to paying the check, seeing as he was hushing us out and we had barely taken a sip of our drinks. He was then quick to blame me again for “not telling him my friend had shorts” as if I was supposed to know the dress code of every restaurant in the city, which I found pretentious, especially since we were sitting outside on the street (?). There were several waitresses and bus-boys who served us and could have informed us of the dress code as soon as my friend sat down, so unsure why he had to make such a scene out of this. To sum it up, we felt very unwelcome, will certainly not be returning and will make sure my assistant removes it from our preferred list of restaurants near the office. Pictured are the Belgian beers we were not...

This restaurant has an excellent reputation so it was interesting to see what that was all about. The drink menu wasn't that enticing as far as the ingredients in each drink however the names of the drinks are very cool. Decided to try "The Private Jet Group". It didn't taste that great so I added fresh lemon and lime to it which helped. The menu has many options so it was difficult to decide what to order. I chose the beef wellington 2 ways. It was delicious. We ordered the escargot as an appetizer which was ok... The red sauce was average. I prefer escargot more traditionally prepared in garlic. My companion ordered the Wagyhu beef burger. The burger is prepared and served with liver which wasn't ideal and therefore the burger wasn't the greatest. The people next to us ordered the tuna tartare appetizer which was a very small serving and seemed to have an awkwardly oversized chip on top. Can't say much more since we didn't taste it but the presentation wasn't tempting. The apple dessert was very good but the creme fresh was too sour cream based for my liking. The souffle was very good as well as the mango sorbet. The service was very good. Very attentive and friendly servers. The temperature in the restaurant was way to warm the entire time dining as well. We were also in a nice quiet corner and although there was plenty of room across on the other side of the room they seated a party of 4 right next to us which was less than desirable. The woman closest to me continuously blew her nose throughout the entire meal so that was a downer. They should've most definitely sat them in a better place instead of cramming them next to us. The decor was decent. The wallpaper wasn't very nice and the lighting fixtures design styles weren't cohesive. Probably won't go back but not...