Belle Vie

Closed. It’s a shame I really had hoped to give it a shot, not enough purely French eateries in the world. Rating it one star to try and bump it down the review list. :(
See photo for closure letter.

we love belle vie and all good things end… it saddens us that belle vie is closing down this weekend may 17^th last meal… it is a big loss for bon air and midlo
Thanks for some really good meals.

We were here last night. My steak was cooked perfect and I enjoyed everything else. The main thing this place has going for them is their service. Jarred the bar tender is very attentive and charismatic. One of the better bar keeps I’ve seen in a while.

A little fancy and quite pleasant. This is authentic belgian-​french fare. Expect velvety sauces; most are served on the side so there are no worries if you are unsure if the food might be too rich for your pallet. Everything that we have had has been wonderful, except for one dish. The beef stew was sickeningly over spiced, over reduced, and it was somehow still tough. We didn’t feel like sending it back, so we took it home and the dogs liked it. I recommend reservations. This is a good place for date nights, business events and there is a nice bar, too. If you are new to this cuisine get the mussels and fries. Forget about ketchup-​the house made mayo is great, and is the traditional condiment. The lamb is an equally great place to start. The sides are large enough for two people to share.

What Amazing?! Threw up!
Saw many great reviews and since I was right next door, we went to give it a try.
Happy Hour and bartender were super. The bartender was very friendly and attentive.
But the food really SUCKS. I didn’t like the Pâté at all, and that made my bf throw up few times at home. The ribeye he ordered was very beefy, we had it better in Hondos and even O’Charleys. We both hated the soups. My salad, it was OK.
I was expecting a more «French» style food with small portion. Not chunk of bad food.
*sorry owner, you were so nice that we didn’t want to tell you. But when you open another restaurant soon, please, these are not food we want.

I love this place. The service is ALWAYS awesome. The mussels were perfect (out of a 2 pound pot I had one little dude that wasn’t having it, and was only slightly closed). The martini? Killer! No kids? Not even! The kids got their own menu of GOOD food and gobbled it. right on!

This is perhaps the best restaurant in the central region of Virginia and we have some terrific ones!!! I love this place… I was in NYC on Mon. night and ate at a small French Bistro… it was excellent… however, Belle Vie is off the charts IMO… I can’t give 6 stars but if I could it’s a candidate! It’s easy to find a restaurant you love and order that special dish that made the grade w/​your taste buds… but, at Belle Vie… Don’t do that! I ordered for the first time the Belgium Stew!!! OMG! What a star itself! Lightly sweet… tender w/​an incredibly smooth Belgium beer broth… I’m going to order it again, OK, OK, I know, I know what I just said. it’s that good! .but I’ve been hung on the the Curry Mussels… scallops …etc. and decided I needed to mix it up w/​something different. Oh, I actually ordered a beer w/​my Belgium beer stew… pretty smart, huh? LOL !!! Kathie had a salad and the delish calamari… kind of a Kathie staple! Well, they were rather quite busy. However, I’m always amazed at the «work ethic“and «professionalism» of all the folks at Belle Vie! OMG, I forgot… Kathie saved room and ordered the Chocolate mousse… w/​raspberry sauce. Ooh, la, la!!!

I went to Belle Vie to use a living social deal, but I will definitely be back! I was floored at the food. It was excellent, you can really taste the effort put into the fresh ingredients. I had the rack of lamb and my friend had the ribeye. For sides, we had fried potatoes and green beans. Her mushroom sauce was divine, I used it on my lamb. We finished the meal with the tiramisu, it was hands down the best I’ve ever tasted. I can’t wait to go back and have my husband try it out!

We ate here on Valentines day earlier this year. It was probably one of the best meals, if not the best I have ever had. They did a 5 course meal for V-​day and every course was perfect. You would think 5 courses would fill you up and leave you with the feeling that you ate too much, however it was the perfect amount of food to eat and leave and still be able to go out and enjoy the night! This restaurant is one you have to go to. It is the most authentic food of its kind here in Richmond, we truly were blown away!

I’ve eaten at Belle Vie twice, and each time has been wonderful. The restaurant is nicely decorated and feels like fine dining, even though you’re basically in a strip mall. The food is delicious. I have never been to Belgium, but I have been to Paris and this food is on par with Parisian cuisine. Nothing we have eaten there has been anything less than awesome. Chef Xavier has come out to greet us on both occasions and he is very personable. Desserts are also amazing. My husband loves the beer list. Servers have been friendly and attentive as well. The only negative to this restaurant is that is it pricey, so we can’t eat here as often as we would like to. Hopefully another Living Social deal will come out soon!

My wife and I eat here whenever they offer a Living Social deal. The food is good, but not worth the price.
We had the half order of mussels with the garlic cream sauce to start off. It was fairly good, but the broth was really the strong point. We asked for extra bread to do some more sopping.
My wife had the rack of lamb, which was solid if unspectacular. I had the truffle pasta, which was fine but a little on the rich side.
Beer list is Belgian beer heavy.
This is a solid French/​Belgian restaurant, but slightly overpriced

This was such a great find! I was visiting my friend in Richmond and we found this great spot through Unilocal.The happy hour drink specials can’t be beat! ½ price! The bartender was very knowledgable and customer service oriented. He wanted to ensure we loved our drinks and we did!!!
The food was outstanding. We had the mussels, calamari, and the ribeye special.
This place is very authentic and Richmond is lucky to have it! I will be sure to return on my next trip!

We went for a mother’s day brunch, and since I rounded down last time, I’ll round up this time. The standout dish was a crab quiche — tremendous. The quiche Lorraine, the proscuitto sandwich, and the Belgian waffle were all really good, but that crab quiche was something perfect. Frites came with everything but the waffle.

We tried Belle Vie last night for the first time. We didn’t have reservations and they were booked so we decided to sit at the bar instead. The bartender, Jared, was fantastic. He didn’t hover over us, but always seemed to know when we needed something. Martinis are half-​price until 7:00 on Saturday (bonus!). The bar area wasn’t crazy loud. We were able to carry on a conversation without shouting. They also have a couple booths and side tables in the bar area if that is your preference.
We ordered the half-​pot of mussels in blue cheese sauce. They were fantastic. The blue cheese didn’t overpower the mussels and you get a lot of mussels for an appetizer portion. We also got the cheese croquettes, which were giants balls of fried cheese, with a small salad on the side. They were pretty good, but when I return I’m getting the mussels again.

The place was PACKED, the dining room, the banquet room and the bar. Luckily we got 2 seats at the bar and didn’t wait to be seated in the dining room. Seemed like a few people were redeeming their groupon cert’s (incl us). The 1 bartender was attending to over 20 diners at the bar and fulfilling the servers orders, with occasional help, really well. Needless to say we waited for a few minutes to get drinks and such, but kudos to Jared (I believe). Actually the grumpy gentleman next to me seemed more concerned that we didn’t have drinks than we were.
Their beer list is fantastic, SS great place to get an excellent beer. My first 2 were 2 different Belgium beers that I won’t even attempt to pronounce, my last was a Delirium.
We weren’t interested in a heavy dinner that night and stuck with 4 app’s and a salad. Sara tried escargot, reluctantly, and surprisingly ate her entire portion. I loved them, they were perfectly cooked and the butter made for great sopping. The scallops stood out the first time so we ordered them again, they did not disappoint us on that decision; great sopping sauce. The cheese croquettes and fries were delicious as well. I’d order everything again. The goat cheese salad, was a salad. Well dressed, big slice of goat cheese, and tasted good.
I’ll eat here any day!

Went last night for a «date night» with my wife and we were both blown away with how delicious everything was. I mean, knock your socks off delicious! We tried a variety of appetizers (shrimp scampi, scallops, calamari, and escargot) and every bite of every dish made you want to take your time and get the most out of each one. We then split a bucket of mussels in curry cream sauce and were amazed again. The staff is very friendly and the service was outstanding. Very impressive wine list and also a large variety of Belgian Beer. We will definitely be eating there again.

Outstanding! Food, wine, drinks, atmosphere and staff! Met the owners — wonderfully delightful. Really taken in by the enthusiasm for the food by the wait staff. When a server from another part of the restaurant comes by to say how excited they were about what you ordered, it just gives you a good feeling. Casual yet refined. Love it. Great go to spot for any occasion.

Well, my first visit wasn’t a fluke! This place is now solidly among my top 5 favorite restaurants — you folks north of the river are missing out on this one; I definitely recommend you make the drive! I took a friend to Belle Vie last night so he could try it out. It was the Thursday night rib eye special night so I was tempted to get it again, but went for the Le Filet Mignon de Porc à L’Ancienne (pork tenderloin) to expand my menu experience. My friend eats light so ordered the Les Coquilles de Saint-​Jacques au Beurre Blanc (scallops) from the appetizer menu and a La Salade de Chèvre (salad). He offered me a scallop and I almost fell on the floor. I have NEVER had such a perfect scallop! It was large, extremely fresh, and perfectly cooked. I’m still thinking about it and wanting more. My pork was also perfectly cooked (medium rare — trust me, it’s safe and oh so good) and had an amazing mustard sauce. My only issue was the green beans, which I thought were a little under salted for my taste, but still perfectly cooked.
I’m trying to make Belle Vie a regular on my dining rotation since I eat at a lot of restaurants. I just need to plan my day so I skip lunch, making more room for this incredible food.

Per my quick tip, this was actually better than I remembered! We had Moules Au Roquefort and Moules Ail Et, Crème, that were both amazing. My biggest hesitation about going was that the owner lives near my friends, he and his family have no regard for speed and it might one day be costly. You can also clearly see when their friends enter the restaurant, they greet them and cater to them. Never ONCE speaking to my friends or me.
The food is good, but treating all of the customers the same will create regulars. But, then again, maybe they don’t want regulars.
Ok, back to food, the food was good.

I agree with Kathy; after dining here on Saturday and subsequently reading the reviews here, I was astounded at the overall rating of this restaurant. There just arent enough reviews to give a true read on the place — it’s a local gem in my opinion.
We had moules, vegetarian lasagna, a beef dish and the kids poulet/​frites. All were excellent! Everything was well (not over) seasoned — nothing was too salty. Veggies were fresh and colorful. Service and presentation were fine and the desserts were wonderful, especially the lavender crème brûlée.
To me this restaurant is the anti-​CanCan. The former is ridiculously hyped, pretentious and overrated while Belle Vie is excellent Belgian/​French dining without the BS.
I’d also point out that on Saturday evening, the restaurant was packed.