Lily’s Bistro

Great food, cute restaurant, but I don’t dine here often because the vegetarian options are limited and poor. I expect more from a trendy, higher class (for Dayton) establishment.

Not a good choice for gluten free unless you want meat options only. I was hoping for GF fish, seafood or veggie option. I was left with a salad only. The menu states they are friendly to allergies but they would not work with me.

Four of us arrived on a busy Saturday night after a change in previous dinner plans. The staff accommodated our request for a quieter spot than the live and lively main serving area. We had four wonderful meals off the «prix fixe» menu. Everything was well-​prepared and well presented — and a delightful mix of expected and unexpected flavors. Kudos to the chef. Kate and I love the «small plate» options. We look forward to warmer weather when we’ll be able to enjoy the cuisine and the delightful patio in the back.

We went for restaurant and every bite was too die for. I would be so fat if I went here all the time; the food was simply amazing. Our server was attentive without being annoying.
Highly recommend. Of the three places we went for restaurant week, Lily’s smoked them hands down.

Visited Lily’s Bistro for the first time this past weekend; it was pretty crowded and quite lively. Nothing on the menu really caught my attention but I ended up ordering the Meatloaf with creamy mashed potatoes and roasted Brussels sprouts; it was very satisfying… good «comfort food». Also tried the Gingerbread Dark and Stormy (kracken dark spiced rum, fresh lime juice, fever tree ginger beer and fall spiced simple syrup garnished with a lime wedge)… so good! Not too sweet and definitely refreshing!

Farm to table is definitely important in a restaurant but it shouldn’t trump good tasting interesting menu choices. I had a chicken salad croissant for brunch and the chicken salad was almost 50% broccoli. It was overwhelming and «green» sure but honestly not edible. The other menu choices seemed just not that interesting so I’d picker something tried and true but I didn’t like how they tried to do it.

It’s hard to say what’s best about this place! Delicious seasonal menus, Sunday family style chicken dinners, sweet and savory brunches, hm… maybe it’s their cocktails though. Knowledgeable and friendly bartenders mix up inventive and classic cocktails using a wonderfully curated bar. My favorite so far is the «Apparition» — their take on a Boulivardier (Negroni — gin + rye). A fun thing to do is pick an appetizer to pair with drinks and a good friend.

Just ate here this evening and it was wonderful. All four of us had fried chicken (what was on the menu for the night) and some sides to share. It was amazing! I’m not a huge fan of meat dishes, but I can’t wait to heat up my fried chicken leftovers.
As for sides, the cornbread and honey butter was delicious. It was tough not to fill up on it. We also got Mac and cheese which had a strong bacon flavor. Lastly, the loaded mashed potatoes were better than expected. Overall I’d be excited to eat here again on any day!

Great atmosphere! Mediocre food. Came for brunch and the Bloody Mary was very bland and watered down (if you want a good Bloody Mary go to Butters). I had the crab omelet and there was hardly any crab meat in there. It was not that great. The home fries were pretty good though.

I’ve been here twice so far and can’t wait to get back. A reasonable $ 10 lunch price got me enough for two meals. Menu is changing with the seasons and fresh ingredients, and that always yields positive results. Creative menu dishes and the drinks are phenom. I was introduced to sweet New Orleans-​style beignets here and they were amazing and warm. I believe there are daily pasta and soup options. This whole neighborhood is chockful of great restaurants and bars.

Sunday brunch…
Special omelet, turkey, cheese, tomato, spinach … You could taste the farm fresh ingredients. The tomato was very flavorful. DE LISH US
Home fries are baked, and a bit too crisp for my tastes.
Had a garden salad side and the dressing was lite but full of a lite sweet/​savory flavor. Very very good
Sister had kale salad and the dressing on that was even better. Exactly the right amount/​ratio of dressing to greens so you had a wonderful mélange of tastes with every bite. Very good
Beignets delicious (duh), served with a raspberry jam. Only 4 to an order, so order wisely. You want to avoid fights
Also tried the homemade English muffin and while it was good, it wasn’t significantly improved over a good English muffin from the store.
Service was stellar, from the very professional and calm hostess to the lovely waitress who was knowledgeable about the menu items and very pleasant.
A tad longer to wait for food to come out, but not excessively so and well worth the wait. Very cute place, definitely something to try, and then come again and again.

Lily’s has a unique set up and has a fun yet elegant feeling. They pride themselves on utilizing local vendors for all of their ingredients and creating great flavor combinations.
They do have a limited menu, but it changes frequently based on the fresh ingredients they are able to get.
This is a place for someone who is looking to try something new and different. I suggest going in with an open mind and an empty stomach.
If you have the funds the specialty drinks and deserts are definitely worth it!

Disaster dinner @ Lily’s. Took several friends and were thoroughly disappointed. First three things we ordered (which were on the menu) were out. Server had to correct the soup twice. The Rib Eye steak was thinner than carne asada.
Minimal menu items and poor service.

We were married at Lily’s Bistro last night and it is the single best experience that I’ve ever had. The staff was amazing and the manager (Emily) was fantastic. The food was delicious and the setting for the wedding was beautiful.
The only reason I’m giving them 5 stars is because I can’t give them 20.
Everyone should check Lily’s Bistro out!

I love this place! I travel a lot so I rarely visit the same restaurant twice, I’m always exploring. I couldn’t forget Lilly’s, however, so I made sure to stop by again! Mmm, deviled eggs with beets and goat cheese, great craft beer, seared salmon done right (medium rare), amazing desserts, and a place that truly loves the art of food.
Also, I haven’t found a place with a more relaxing patio in quite a while.

I tried Lily’s Bistro for brunch mostly because they are one of the few downtown restaurants open on Sunday (Why? I’ve never seen restaurants closed on Sundays in other cities).
I arrived without reservation, and their main dining room had lost its AC, so they sat me at the bar. It can be hard to gauge a restaurant’s service this way because a bartender can become horribly busy making drinks for the servers. This one was a little distracted at times, but did a reasonably good job.
The brunch menu is interesting. I think they could get more out of it with minor adjustments (how about just saying Eggs Florentine instead of Sausage Benedict with vegetarian option available listed?).
So as you can tell I got the Sausage Benedict vegetarian option to eat. It actually came with a slice of tomato as well. That was unfortunate because the ice cold tomato pulled the temperature of the whole main dish down, which wasn’t that hot to begin with. The eggs were poached perfectly. The hollandaise sauce was not true hollandaise but a variant. It was good, but I think that should be mentioned in the menu. The potatoes were super yummy.
Coffee was from a thermal pot and a bit old and lukewarm. The bartender was good about getting a replacement pot, but he poured the new in with my half cup of what was by then ice cold, old coffee.
I don’t think they have dedicated parking, but there is a lot behind the buildings further down the street. Keep an eye on signs though. Some areas of the lot are restricted to certain businesses. There is limited street parking out front.
All in all, it is a nice location. Everyone was friendly and tried hard to work through problems. The food is interesting and I think has the potential to be very good. Definitely worth another shot.

The bestie and I came here for brunch. The staff was all very friendly. And we were the only ones eating inside. It’s a small restaurant, with really cute mason jar decorations. Some plants are hanging around too.
Both ordered Bloody Mary’s, and they were really good. Pretty spicy too!
She ordered some sort of crab cake meal, and she loved it. I ordered the sausage Benedict. I don’t normally eat sausage but this was pretty good. Everything had amazing flavor! I would have liked my eggs a little more cooked, but I still ate it. And the home fries have seasoning so no need for ketchup. I definitely didn’t finish the meal, it was a pretty decent amount of food.
We both decided that we are going to go back ASAP to try their dinner menu! I would definitely recommend giving this place a try, at least for brunch.

This was our first time visiting, and it was absolutely fantastic! Adorable interior with local art, and very charming table setting. I love that they bring you water with a large bottle (empty wine bottle, maybe?) to refill yourself. Also love that they don’t put ice in the water — I might be the only one, but I prefer the ice not sticking to my teeth while I’m drinking. We got the omelet of the day which was with chorizo (they allowed me to substitute their maple sausage), guacamole, and cream cheese. Such a strange, unique combination but it was incredible. Our server Kierstin was wonderful. We will definitely be visiting again!

I’ll start by saying our server was really nice, low key, and unintrusive. We had the calamari (unremarkable) and the kimchi poppers (pretty good). We then had the meatloaf and the duck. The duck was tasty, but the portion size was a bit smaller than was expected. The broccoli side that came with the duck was delicious; I don’t know what seasoning/​flavoring they used while preparing it, but it worked out well — it was kind of sweet and tart, I don’t know. The meatloaf was decent and I enjoyed the mashed potatoes.
We also tried a house gin & tonic which had fresh squeezed grapefruit juice among other ingredients — this was also good.
I’d like to try more menu items.

YUM YUM YUM.
Winner winner Sunday chicken dinner! Sunday nights are family style fries chicken dinner. We thought the chicken was seasoned perfectly & were so glad to have leftovers to take home! :)
For sides we had fried pickles, truffle Mac & cheese, broccoli cheese hand pie; everything was GREAT!
Great date night place.