Billy's Martini Bar

So I finally, after many failed attempts, found another place whose food I like. Funny that I originally ventured in for the drinks but left wanting to return for the food.

I had heard many good reviews about Billy's Martini bar when it was situated in the Holiday Inn hotel on Mentor Avenue, but unfortunately I never had the chance to visit before it moved.  And since it moved, the reviews I have heard haven't been glowing.

Well thanks to my all around town coupon book and the Tuesday night special (1/2 price martinis for ladies) I decided to give it a go. Here is what I found:

Mixed crowd - I sort of feel like the place has an identity crises. I heard that on weekends it is a bunch of twenty somethings, but on this Tuesday night there were a lot of business professionals and seniors getting their dinner cocktail on. I started off with "The Grass Skirt" martini. Since I liked all of the ingredients (gin, triple sec, pineapple juice, grenadine syrup and pineapple) it seemed like a good choice. Turned out to not to be such a good choice - way way too sweet! So in spite of the lengthy martini list and my initial eagerness to try some new somethings it was back to the tried and true gimlet for this girl.

I ordered the "Mama's Purses" for dinner, mainly because they reminded me of some Purse pasta thing they use to serve at Gavi's which I loved. The dish is a pasta stuffed with cheese and prosciutto in a creamy pesto sauce. It was amazing! I thought the portion size was rather small, but in the end that is probably not really a bad thing.

So even though I was less than impressed with my drink selection and the service while friendly was slow, I am looking forward to trying more eats from this local gathering place.

I do have one suggestion for Billy's though - don't advertise a sushi special at 5 when the cook doesn't arrive until 6 :)