We were in Richmond on a Sunday evening and traveling with our four legged friend. There were…read moreseveral options for outside dining and the menu suggested this was a good place to start. Soon after we. Ordered the octopus and mussel appetizers a storm came in and the rain fell pretty hard. Our choices were to run back to the hotel or stay and dine huddled under an umbrella. Being a little wet with beverages and good food seemed the better option so we ordered more food. The octopus was great. I have tried it prepared many ways and here it was both tender and flavorful, really done well. Shrimp cocktail is usually pretty basic, but often the simplest dishes demonstrate the most skill. This is truly one of the best I have ever had. The shrimp were plump and flavorful. Their cooking stopped at just the right time leaving a slight bit of translucent hue, but still cooked through. Very nicely done. The salad with home ranch was dressed nicely and the dressing was light. The scallops were cooked well and perhaps my only criticism is that the corn purée was better in concept than execution. I can't say enough about the staff. We were two people on a Sunday night crazy enough to dine in a downpour. The staff never made us feel like they wanted to punch out, embraced us being outside and were creative in waiting on us with umbrellas to keep the food from getting wet. It would have been understandable for them to limit the trips to check on us, but they persevered and made us feel welcome. If you are in the area, highly recommended stopping by, rain or shine, and sampling their menu. Nicely done.

The food here was amazing! The grilled octopus was so tender and the risotto was delicious. I…read morewould've liked a touch more lemon zest in the gremolata though. The pan seared fish was moist, but the grits it came with were not crispy. The whole fish was also moist and tender, but the exterior could be a bit over-charred for some. The blueberry upside down cake was great. The staff were friendly and attentive. Overall, I would definitely come again!

Seafood boils can be hit or miss, as they really just come down to one thing. The quality of the…read moreseafood. Live Crawfish & Seafood hits all the right marks. The Family boil came with 4 pounds of shellfish - 1lbs of snow crab, 1lbs of dungeness, and 1lbs of both shrimp and crawfish. The great thing here was you could mix and match - since we weren't huge fans of crawfish we could get more shrimp instead. All the seafood was fresh, with meat that was plump and sweet. The seasoning was flavorful with heat and Cajun spices. And there was ample butter. The boil came in at $80 which felt more than reasonable. The service was on point, with helpful waitstaff that were able to guide us through decision making. And the interior had a nautical theme that fit with the menu without being overly tacky. I'm excited to come back with a larger group to eat more delicious seafood.

My husband and I have been eating here for a few years. The owner Nathan is very attentive. Food…read morecomes out fairly quick. All hot and freshly made. Crawfish come in live from Louisiana and are large. Needs a bit of a boost. Nothing fancy for a seafood joint.

One of the best restaurants I've visited. Ambiance was nice, seated right away, music was great (if…read moreyou're into 90s r&b), service was outstanding, and the food was some of the best I've had. I had the sweet potato cornbread, crispy salmon, with a side of collards. My wife had the oysters (with a really tasty hot sauce) and the crab cake (no filler). Everything was savory and light, cooked to perfection. We were both stuffed as we walked away from this gem!

Beautiful decor…read more Had: Short rib burrito Shrimp, shrimp, and grits day and night espresso martini Attentive service, quick and there when you need it Reasonably priced yet high end style.

if you are going to read any of these dumb yelp review in full, this is the one…read more i once read an article describing the talent of the head chef's ability here to "cram so much bold flavor into a tiny dish". in general, i usually dread small plate restaurants expecting to pay a large bill and leave hungry. this was the exception. these were the most unique, creative, high end, flavorful, dishes i have ever had. seriously. the absolute best BITES of my ENTIRE life. i swear to god dormant tastebuds and flavors i didn't even know existed were provided here. the chef here draws spanish inspiration into each dish, and i was in there feeling like the food critic from ratatouille the way familiar flavors blended in effortlessly with extravagant flairs. and don't get me started on the presentation !!! everything was gorgeous. this restaurant was named #3 out of 100 in the city, and i honestly think it should be #1. i may be biased since my boyfriend works at a sister restaurant owned by the same guy, but this is definitely the favorite sibling for me. unreal how fresh, flavorful, and carefully crafted everything was. so so so so good. if you come to richmond, make this the top priority to visit. that being said, if you can't handle intense, innovative flavors, this isn't the place for you. also, go during happy hour

Hats off to the staff at Lillian who continue to be wonderful, but now that they have scrapped…read moretheir dollar oyster lunch specials, the food has absolutely nothing to offer. Like too many restaurants in the Scott's Addition area, this is seafood cooked without finesse and then absolutely brutalized with absurd amounts of palate fatiguing, brash, loud flavors. Every item on the menu endeavors to conceal mediocrity in the quality and handling of the ingredients with explosive, overwhelming additives meant to shock you into submission. Things like black garlic and chili oil, raw garlic, sesame seed oil, and punishing heat are inescapable on the menu, which really says to me loud and clear "we do not understand the appeal of seafood, and might have a fundamental misunderstanding about good food in general." I don't exaggerate when I say these dishes would be improved (setting aside things like inability to properly cook octopus) by scaling back the flavors to 5-10% the loudness level they are currently at, to let the ingredients speak, and to make the dining experience less of a punishing marathon with no relief. I have had much subtler and more skillfully balanced dishes at Indian and Thai restaurants, cuisines known for strong flavor profiles. I'm through listening to these Richmond restaurants trying to excuse simply bad food by claiming "that's the nature of the cuisine." In this case, Lillian claims that dishes characterized by these cacophonous competing flavors is "South American." No it isn't - the person conceptualizing the dishes is just a bad chef who doesn't know what he's doing, and at the prices Lillian charges, that's inexcusable. Drowning every dish in flavors that overwhelm the palate is not a way to respect your ingredients or your diner, and only communicates youth and insecurity. Anyone who's eaten widely and knows their ingredients will rightly feel assaulted and insulted by this overpriced, unskilled fare. To anyone who decides to go anyway: Good luck with the digestive distress, and with the taste that will still be left over in your mouth the next morning, no matter how much you brush your teeth.

Just about two blocks from the Alteria theater and close to VCU so perfect place to grab a bite to…read moreeat before a show. Not a lot of seating- 3 tables and two long bar areas. But nice service and people working the night we were there. Also has the fisherman vibe with the decor inside. Food: Crab dip and the homemade chips-very good!!! Buffalo wing special that night was also very good! Good flavor to the wings Beer-can't recall what my hubs had, but he liked it. Overall a great small dive-ish bar with good food and service.

The food and drinks are all reasonably priced, and they have a solid variety! The vibes are very…read moremuch dive bar-esque, and the music is rather loud so I do not recommend this place as a date option or for anyone you're trying to catch up with lol. But for a casual hangout and for seafood lovers this place is a solid option! The crab hush puppies & spicy honey butter were absolutely delicious, & cooked to perfection! I was really looking forward to the crab melt but I think it was a bit too cheesy. it could make a great sandwich instead of being open faced though. The service was decent, & everything was out quickly.

Incredible food. Great vibe. Live music was such a treat. Best piña colada I've ever had…read more Crème brûlée was a bit curd-y but did not overshadow the great vibe, great service, and freshness of the food. It was too hot to sit on the patio overlooking the river but I'd imagine that would be spectacular on a lovely day.

Date night. Had the shrimp tacos. Batter is nice and light on the shrimp, tortillas were very good,…read morethe fillings, salsa, slaw, etc. were all very good. Little bits of diced jalapeño was a nice touch. Grilled corn was good as well. Had a beer, wife had a pina colada, she said it was one of the best she has had. Not overly sweet as many of them tend to be. The location is fantastic, great views of the James and city of Richmond. Lots of historical stuff around and it is right next to the capital trail. Also, server was a super, sunny and warm young lady.

My awesome girlfriend made us a reservation here and kindly requested a seat by the garage…read moredoor....and they did it!!! Literally so nice and cool! Food was fantastic and really made you sit back and wonder "how did I end up in the French countryside and why do I have an urge for a cigarette?" Can't wait to come back!

SO good, favorite spot of our Richmond trip!…read more My brother and I were looking for late night oysters. Sadly when we came in Wednesday night at 9 PM, we were told they were only serving drinks at that time. I emailed the restaurant and was informed that on most nights, they indeed close the kitchen and only serve drinks after 9 PM, but that on weekends they'll keep the kitchen open longer. I'm so glad we came back on our last day of the trip. It was a Thursday night at 7:45 PM and pretty full. Thankfully, there were some seats at the bar which we preferred anyways since you got to watch the oysters get shucked right in front of you. We ordered the bread service, and though it said house cultured butter OR whipped beef tallow, our kind server made sure to ask if we wanted one or both (the answer was both, of course!). We also got 4 Virginia oysters (appreciate not being forced to order in increments of 6 or 12), chargrilled oysters, and "dessert tonight" which ended up being the most perfect chocolate cake (I think it was describe as something else, but my memory fails me) with a white chocolate ganache-like topping and pistachios *swoon*. I tried the wine of the day which was an orange wine that it was a nice not-too-sweet, not too dry wine. I'd recommend it with a pasta or fish. Our server (didn't catch his name but he had a nice brown sweater and a beanie, receipt says Taylor so maybe that's his name?) was so nice! Great vibes all around from the interior to the bathroom to the service. Would definitely come back.

i love the dim lighting and the family style entrees…read more the brocc rabe garlic + oo w ricotta + parm add shrimp was absolutely life changing i cannot wait to have it again we had an amazing waiter he was spot on w everything so grateful to have been shown this restaurant

I know this is a Richmond institution bc it's been around forever. It's good but I feel like it…read morecould be even better. Very old school with no online reservations which is not super convenient but hey I can get behind it if they are going for an exclusive vibe. Very much an old style Italian restaurant but feels like they have really packed the tables in here - like sardines- so yeah it feels a little tight for my tastes. Service was friendly and helpful. (Making the reservation over the phone was not overly warm and fuzzy but hey I get it you probably are tired of having to take reservations over the phone all day lol). We got a popular app- the squid,white bean and arugula which was bright and flavorful so lived up to the hype but a little disappointing in that there was not a lot of squid so $18 for beans and arugula seemed a bit much. Also got the seafood bisque which was pretty tasty. For entrees we got the halibut, the monk fish fra diavolo and the spaghetti with crab meat. The spaghetti with crab meat was shockingly good. It better be for $40 but I don't always like crab bc it can be overly fishy in a not good way but this entree was very good. We also liked the halibut- nice piece of fish perfectly cooked. The MonkFish had a nice flavor, but the bones in it was a little bit overwhelming, and kinda made eating a lot of work. Seemed pricey to me since only one of us had a glass of wine and no other drinks, but I guess $50 a person sans cocktails and dessert is the new norm?!