I never got to try Bizou while I attended UVA, so when my friend and I went back for a visit, this was high on our list to try! The atmosphere inside is a little bit dim and not super spacious, but it's a nice place for a date or a higher end dinner. We both got a drink and I got the pan seared salmon. We both enjoyed our dishes and drinks, just nothing super extraordinary. Our service was just fine as well and the prices were about what we'd expect for downtown Charlottesville.
Stuart Baker
Great atmosphere, staff, and food! If you are in the area check this place out. I would recommend making a
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
LENE 2024
It was Friday night and we went to our familiar restaurants, but they were all booked so with tried Bizon. The food was excellent. It was seasoned and cook well. I has the beef stroganoff. All six of us cleaned our plates. The chef introduced herself. A very young girl but has the skills of a experienced chef. Great job Bizon. My friends and I will return
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
John Jones
This is the third time I have had a disappointing experience at Bizou but my first time coming public. I ordered the meatloaf with mash potatoes and my date ordered a salmon pesto also with the taters.The mashed potatoes were more like potato soup. I saw hers and figured they were supposed to be that way. You know, wet and chilly. Maybe a vichyssoise? Nope.Ive been to Bizou several times over the years, reluctantly. Ive learned the meatloaf is the safest bet. But this night, all bets were off. It was not good either. Also not hot and kinda wet And the salmon with pesto was dry, did not taste particularly good, and maybe 3oz portion.Both of us were ill afterwards. Ill. I sent a note via their FB page and their email address via their web site, but no response.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 2
Christopher Pine
What a nice little restaurant in Charlottesville's Pedestrian Mall. We tried it for restaurant week. I drove all the way from Norfolk, 3 hours, and was not disappointed. Everyone was pleased in our group. We all ordered different dishes and shared, everyone I ate was really good. Elevated cuisine, wonderful cocktail options and a cool location made it really fun. It's decorated with lots of electric and interesting movie posters. The place is small so it can be a little loud, but not too loud. We really enjoyed it and will definitely be back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Haley N
Tried Bizou for the first time during restaurant week. Delicious food and quick serviceVegetarian options: Eggplant Parmesan
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Jerry Hou
Dietary restrictions: Gluten free options
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
C C
First off, food was very good.Only complaints were regarding service.We were seated late, which is just fine (this happens). Explanation was that the earlier parties were taking their time clearing out so the tables could be flipped, which is also fine. A good restaurant won't kick someone out of a table. Our complaint was that we arrived first out of all the other parties that shared our same reservation time (based on conversations we overheards as they checked in). And, for some reason, every other party that arrived after us that shared our reservation time was seated before us. That included two parties the same size as ours (two people). Other parties that arrived after us were also seated, who either had later reservation times than us, or showed up very late for a reservation time earlier than ours. The staff had to walk past us to retrieve the later arrivals standing behind us, and never gave an explanation as to why we weren't being seated in order of arrival for those of us who had reserved the same time. Possibly, seating regulars first, or some priority other than time placed on their reservations over us.Also never got the cocktail I ordered, but that is probably for the best since our food arrived a minute or two after we ordered so there was no time to drink it before the apps arrived.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 3
Caroline Patterson
Bizou has been around for YEARS and is a staple in the Charlottesville food scene. It's so good. The team behind these restaurants (I.e., Luce, Bang!, Bizou, Crushpad) know what the heck they are doing. I have never been disappointed eating here or ANY of their other restaurants. If you haven't been, you MUST go.
This is absolutely the worst place I've ever been to in Cville. I'm honestly shocked that people have given this place decent ratings. The staff was pretty nice but the issue was after we sat down and placed our order, we kept having to wait and wait for our order. Every time we asked the server, he would tell us our food would be coming right out. Except we kept waiting for another 30min....then another 30 min....and finally 90 minutes had gone by and we still didn't get our food yet. So we went and complained to the manager, who acted like he clearly didn't give a shit and told us nonchalantly that they were just putting our order into the system. We told him this was absolutely ridiculous and told him we were going to go somewhere else. This guy had absolutely 0 customer service skills, no "sorry" at all, didn't care, and just responded with a "yeah that's fine". Maybe don't hire a dopey-looking 20-year-old college dropouts as your manager Bizou.
Courtney T.
After reading a few food blogs. E decided to try Bizou as we are new to the area. It's a pretty small restaurants that feels very cozy as the seating area is in the back. Our server was very prompt with taking our order and the food did not take very long to come out. I ordered the shrimp and grits which was different than the normal presentation. I had asked the server if the mushrooms in the dish were larger or small since I'm not a huge fan of them. He told me they were small slivers but when the dish came out there were very large chunks. The beef ragu gnocchi was good but not great. The beef was very tender, but the fried gnocchi did not taste like gnocchi to us. They were more like unflavored large fried mashed potato bites. We're glad we tried it but most likely would rather try some other restaurants in the area instead of returning.
Jonathan Bartholomew
Great food. Dive bar feel. Strong recommend.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Stephanie A.
I was visiting Charlottesville for the day and looking for somewhere nice for dinner, and saw that Bizou was featured on a number of listacles! We stopped in just after 5PM, so we were able to be seated without a reservation. But it all went downhill from there. We hardly saw our waiter, and it took me 15 minutes of FRANTICALLY waving to get his attention. I hate doing that, but the window had passed to politely wait for him to stop by. When he finally stopped by after seeing me waving, he immediately apologized for our food being delayed and said it would be out soon, that the kitchen was backed up. I explained that that wasn't actually why I had flagged him down--I just needed more water--he got me some quickly. But (1) how could the kitchen already be backed up so early in the night, and (2) our food did not arrive shortly after. It arrived a very long time after. And then, it wasn't even very good. I got the ragu and while the potatoes were good, the meat was fatty, and the flavor was average. We had wanted to get dessert but the mains took so long we didn't want to stay longer. Given the below poor service, average atmosphere, and below average food, I wouldn't recommend it.
Fran B.
Interesting menu. No reservations. Service was fast. Food was creative. On the mall, easy to find.
Always delicious and the service is great!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Fried Chicken, Salad
I never got to try Bizou while I attended UVA, so when my friend and I went back for a visit, this was high on our list to try! The atmosphere inside is a little bit dim and not super spacious, but it's a nice place for a date or a higher end dinner. We both got a drink and I got the pan seared salmon. We both enjoyed our dishes and drinks, just nothing super extraordinary. Our service was just fine as well and the prices were about what we'd expect for downtown Charlottesville.
Great atmosphere, staff, and food! If you are in the area check this place out. I would recommend making a
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
It was Friday night and we went to our familiar restaurants, but they were all booked so with tried Bizon. The food was excellent. It was seasoned and cook well. I has the beef stroganoff. All six of us cleaned our plates. The chef introduced herself. A very young girl but has the skills of a experienced chef. Great job Bizon. My friends and I will return
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
This is the third time I have had a disappointing experience at Bizou but my first time coming public. I ordered the meatloaf with mash potatoes and my date ordered a salmon pesto also with the taters.The mashed potatoes were more like potato soup. I saw hers and figured they were supposed to be that way. You know, wet and chilly. Maybe a vichyssoise? Nope.Ive been to Bizou several times over the years, reluctantly. Ive learned the meatloaf is the safest bet. But this night, all bets were off. It was not good either. Also not hot and kinda wet And the salmon with pesto was dry, did not taste particularly good, and maybe 3oz portion.Both of us were ill afterwards. Ill. I sent a note via their FB page and their email address via their web site, but no response.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 2
What a nice little restaurant in Charlottesville's Pedestrian Mall. We tried it for restaurant week. I drove all the way from Norfolk, 3 hours, and was not disappointed. Everyone was pleased in our group. We all ordered different dishes and shared, everyone I ate was really good. Elevated cuisine, wonderful cocktail options and a cool location made it really fun. It's decorated with lots of electric and interesting movie posters. The place is small so it can be a little loud, but not too loud. We really enjoyed it and will definitely be back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Tried Bizou for the first time during restaurant week. Delicious food and quick serviceVegetarian options: Eggplant Parmesan
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Dietary restrictions: Gluten free options
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
First off, food was very good.Only complaints were regarding service.We were seated late, which is just fine (this happens). Explanation was that the earlier parties were taking their time clearing out so the tables could be flipped, which is also fine. A good restaurant won't kick someone out of a table. Our complaint was that we arrived first out of all the other parties that shared our same reservation time (based on conversations we overheards as they checked in). And, for some reason, every other party that arrived after us that shared our reservation time was seated before us. That included two parties the same size as ours (two people). Other parties that arrived after us were also seated, who either had later reservation times than us, or showed up very late for a reservation time earlier than ours. The staff had to walk past us to retrieve the later arrivals standing behind us, and never gave an explanation as to why we weren't being seated in order of arrival for those of us who had reserved the same time. Possibly, seating regulars first, or some priority other than time placed on their reservations over us.Also never got the cocktail I ordered, but that is probably for the best since our food arrived a minute or two after we ordered so there was no time to drink it before the apps arrived.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 3
Bizou has been around for YEARS and is a staple in the Charlottesville food scene. It's so good. The team behind these restaurants (I.e., Luce, Bang!, Bizou, Crushpad) know what the heck they are doing. I have never been disappointed eating here or ANY of their other restaurants. If you haven't been, you MUST go.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
This is absolutely the worst place I've ever been to in Cville. I'm honestly shocked that people have given this place decent ratings. The staff was pretty nice but the issue was after we sat down and placed our order, we kept having to wait and wait for our order. Every time we asked the server, he would tell us our food would be coming right out. Except we kept waiting for another 30min....then another 30 min....and finally 90 minutes had gone by and we still didn't get our food yet. So we went and complained to the manager, who acted like he clearly didn't give a shit and told us nonchalantly that they were just putting our order into the system. We told him this was absolutely ridiculous and told him we were going to go somewhere else. This guy had absolutely 0 customer service skills, no "sorry" at all, didn't care, and just responded with a "yeah that's fine". Maybe don't hire a dopey-looking 20-year-old college dropouts as your manager Bizou.
After reading a few food blogs. E decided to try Bizou as we are new to the area. It's a pretty small restaurants that feels very cozy as the seating area is in the back. Our server was very prompt with taking our order and the food did not take very long to come out. I ordered the shrimp and grits which was different than the normal presentation. I had asked the server if the mushrooms in the dish were larger or small since I'm not a huge fan of them. He told me they were small slivers but when the dish came out there were very large chunks. The beef ragu gnocchi was good but not great. The beef was very tender, but the fried gnocchi did not taste like gnocchi to us. They were more like unflavored large fried mashed potato bites. We're glad we tried it but most likely would rather try some other restaurants in the area instead of returning.
Great food. Dive bar feel. Strong recommend.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I was visiting Charlottesville for the day and looking for somewhere nice for dinner, and saw that Bizou was featured on a number of listacles! We stopped in just after 5PM, so we were able to be seated without a reservation. But it all went downhill from there. We hardly saw our waiter, and it took me 15 minutes of FRANTICALLY waving to get his attention. I hate doing that, but the window had passed to politely wait for him to stop by. When he finally stopped by after seeing me waving, he immediately apologized for our food being delayed and said it would be out soon, that the kitchen was backed up. I explained that that wasn't actually why I had flagged him down--I just needed more water--he got me some quickly. But (1) how could the kitchen already be backed up so early in the night, and (2) our food did not arrive shortly after. It arrived a very long time after. And then, it wasn't even very good. I got the ragu and while the potatoes were good, the meat was fatty, and the flavor was average. We had wanted to get dessert but the mains took so long we didn't want to stay longer. Given the below poor service, average atmosphere, and below average food, I wouldn't recommend it.
Interesting menu. No reservations. Service was fast. Food was creative. On the mall, easy to find.