Billy’s Bakery

I finally tried Billy’s Bakery, the location at the Food Hall at the Plaza Hotel. I went for the seasonal flavor, Pumpkin Spice. really very good! Moist cake topped with a lovely pumpkin spice icing layered in satisfying sweet flavors. I look forward to stopping into a Billy’s a little more often now. give ‘em a go!

BEST $ 5 I EVER SPENT:
$ 3 for a Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate Frosting
+ $ 0 for a Yellow Daisy Cupcake with Vanilla Frosting (buy 1 get 1 free during Happy Hour until 7 PM!)
+ $ 3 for a S’mores Cupcake
+ $ 3.25 for a Peanut Butter Chocolate Bar
+ $.75 for a Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie
+ $ 0 for several free samples of huge pieces of Red Velvet cupcakes and Chocolate Chip Cookies
— all of my shame
— $ 5 from Google Offer
_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​
= $ 5 for the most satisfying, cheapest case of the sugar shakes ever.
The cupcakes were all pretty good, especially the classic chocolate, but the Peanut Butter Chocolate Bar was the real standout. Get it. And don’t sleep on the tiny, not really inviting looking cookies that are actually really good. And go during Happy Hour to get a free cupcake. And keep taking more of the generously sized samples when the lady turns her back (seriously, 2 or 3 of these pieces will equal an entire cupcake). And come back again to get another excellent overdose of sweetness.

I went in for desert with my friend’s to find a young lady working alone and I didn’t expect anything to come from my visit to this small bakery. I have to say I was very indecisive about getting an ordinary looking cupcake, the mini pie, or a cookie. That was until I saw the banana cake on the menu.
The worker there served me a monster size cake… so moist, sooooo delicious, so yummy! I thought about going back a few times so now I find myself sitting here, contemplating on the banana cake and planning another trip to Billy’s real soon.
I give this place five stars for being so good yet so simple. I hope to see this place around for the long run.

Disappointed. I had good memories of Billy’s Cupcakes when a friend brought back a carrot and banana cupcake for me. So when I walked by the store front with my sister during their cupcake happy hour (M-​Th 6−7PM), I was like, «Oh! This cupcakes were good. Let’s get some for dessert. And we can get two for one!»
Alas, the happy hour only applies for the traditional vanilla and chocolate cake. Bummer. But even still, I saw a pistachio almond cupcake as thought, «I… must… have… Pistachio.» So we got a pistachio almond cupcake to go.
My sister tried the cupcake first. Her words, which I am quoting with her permissions:
«The cake is dry.»
«The frosting tastes fake.»
«It’s really, really sweet.»
«I can’t taste the pistachio.»
«I could make better cupcake from cake mix.» (My sister can be judgmental and exaggerate a bit about her baking ability)
And after I took my bites of the cupcake, I’d have to agree with her. The cake was not moist as all, the frosting tasted artificially flavored, was granularly sugary (like they didn’t beat the sugar into the frosting completely) and there was not pistachio flavor at all. Maybe we chose the wrong cupcake or maybe it was too late in the day so they weren’t fresh. But I feel like this Billy’s Bakery cupcake experience was a big let down. ²⁄₅ stars.

When I first tried Billy’s a few years ago, I wasn’t too impressed, at least with the items I got.
This time they actually had the item I’d been wanting to try: Yellow Daisy Cake
It’s kind of funny since this is probably the most basic and plain cake that one can order, but I think the show of pure quality comes through since it is such a «plain» cake. I was given a nice, generous portion of this perfectly dense cake that had the vanilla flavor really come through… the frosting added that special buttery sweetness to the entire dessert.
Maybe certain items are better than others at Billy’s, but I will definitely come back for the Yellow Cake.

This is a great spot for Billy’s!
Its a casual little walk in bakery with a variety of of cupcakes, cakes and cookies. Its not your regular bakery but more like an old fashioned bakery.
The places smells of butter and sugar in the most magnificent ways. Their cupcakes for me, hit the spot. Not too sweet, not dry, and really just SIMPLE.
Those over done cupcakes in those fancy bakeries may look nice but thats about all that is nice.
The cakes are HUGE and at $ 5 a slice they give you a SLAB.
You cant sit at this location but if you are walking by, its great for grabbing a little something to go.

Did you know that Billy’s Bakery has 1-​for-​1 cupcakes from 6 – 7 pm, Mondays through Thursdays? Yes, they do. It’s amazing. It’s good for my dessert munchies (which I have at almost every other hour of the day). I tried both their chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting, and the yellow cake with chocolate frosting, and I found the chocolate cupcake very delectable. It was moist and chocolatey without being overly sweet, and the frosting served atop it was generous. I did find the yellow cake somewhat dry, though.

TINY place, the only negative. grab your noms to go and eat whilst you walk.
they’re really generous about their cake portions, which i love but my let’s-lose-weight self hates. their red velvet is so-​so, with the real winner being the carrot cake. ahh the cream cheese frosting… i don’t know how they do it. magic, melt-​in-​your-​mouth heaven. their banana pudding is also ahmaaazing. i’m not a huge fan of the cupcakes but maybe i need to give them another chance.

Super cute store and tasty free samples. A friend bought two cupcakes, one double chocolate and a vanilla and blue frosting cupcake. The cupcakes were okay, but nothing to write home about. I probably couldn’t distinguish these from a bunch of different generic bakeries, and at $ 3 a pop, I don’t think I’d buy these, but if you have a craving for something sweet and in the neighborhood, feel free to stop in.

My first review for this location, but I reviewed the Chelsea and Tribeca locations in 2009. While the 2009 reviews received 4 star ratings, my most recent cupcake tasting disappoints. In part because other competitive cupcake places are now available in NYC (Sprinkles, Molly’s, etc.), and in part because this tasting involved all new flavors: chai, pumpkin, and almond pistachio.
I didn’t personally try the peanut butter chocolate pie slice, but was told it’s overly soft and sugary. I will try to return for their signature icebox cakes.

I love how cute this location is! Actually, all their locations are super cute, but I like how as soon as you walk through the door, you feel like you’re in your grandma’s kitchen.
I had the pumpkin pie and cold cider. Not sure if they make the cider fresh, but it was pretty good… I’m assuming they don’t. The pumpkin pie was alright. My uncle makes a killer pumpkin pie and I haven’t found one that is remotely close to it. I’ve had their cupcakes at the uptown location and loved them, I imagine they taste they same here.
Great service and perfect location for a quick snack after shopping all day!

I like this location because it is never crowded. The one employee is always happy to see you come in through the door. I guess they don’t get enough customers. The baked goods are probably baked off-​site and delivered in the morning. You have your choice of cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and pies.
Cupcakes are $ 3 each. They are good, but not great.

I came here based on a recommendation from a friend. First time was to try it out, and second visit was to buy mini cupcakes to bring back to LA. Unfortunately, it was not as great as I thought. The cake was a little dry and frosting was really sweet. The price cannot justify for me to crave it whenever I’m in NYC. Maybe I’m just over the gourmet cupcake fad.

Hi Billy. My, what pretty cupcakes and pies you have. I tried a girly vanilla cupcake with pink frosting. The cake was dense and fresh, while the frosting was a little overly sweet. Still, I enjoyed trying this place out. They offer cute clothes (including onesies) here too!

This place is so cute I can barely handle it. Buttercream colored paint on the walls and decorated with old muffin tins make it an adorable place to sit for a minute and eat a baked good.
My friend RAVES about their icebox cake, but we had no reason to buy a giant cake the day we went. I settled for a red velvet cupcake. It was rather meh. Yes, it was wonderfully moist and stained my fingers red for the rest of the day, but the frosting was just not as good as I wanted it to be! The frosting makes the cupcake in my book.
… I will be back for that icebox cake though, you can be sure of that.

I gave Billy’s Bakery several tries in the past couple of years and each time I just wasn’t wowed by their offerings.
Their cupcakes are too sweet for my taste. Their icing feels too sugary and leaves a oily residue on my tongue. The cakes themselves doesn’t taste like anything special. I always like to order chocolate on chocolate, but their version doesn’t ever seem to satisfy my chocolate craving.
I’ve also tried their cakes. The black forest was good and came in a huge portion, but again… after a couple of bites, the sugar overwhelms me and the chocolate just doesn’t come through.
There are so many cupcake bakeries popping up all over the city and I’ve already acquired a couple of favorites on my list, Billy’s is just not one of them.

My first time at a Billy’s Bakery branch. Cupcakes are slowly growing on me, and I really liked the tastiness of Billy’s cupcake. The cake is denser than at most places, but very moist and buttery. The frosting is sugary and also buttery, but I found I didn’t need a ton of it to complement the cake so I scooped part of it off.
Also tried the key lime pie. In comparison to Steve’s at Red Hook, I’d say the graham cracker crust at Billy’s is superior. It’s thicker and denser, and tastes like a cookie on its own. The filling, however, is tart but a little too thick and custardy. It felt a bit heavy to my tastebuds, but I did like the lime slice on top as a decorative touch.

Popped into this well known bakery spot for the first time thanks to Taste of Nolita Fest. The deal was a Signature Classic Cupcake. I thought the choice would be easy but it was not. In the end, I decided on the Classic Chocolate Cupcake with Vanilla Buttercream frosting.
I died.
The cupcake is light, moist and the frosting perfectly creamy and sweet.

Billy’s is a cute, quaint place. The staff here are enthusiastic and friendly. The cupcake selection isn’t the most extravagant, with the simple classics ($ 2.50) and then a few special ones like the Red Velvet, German Chocolate, and Coconut. They also have an assortment of cookies, pies, and cheesecakes thought we weren’t as inclined to try those.
I got a Classic Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate buttercream ($ 2.50). The cake mixture was a bit dense, though not heavy. The heaviness of the cake mixture was accentuated by the lightness of the buttercream. I usually expect the buttercream to be a bit thicker, but somehow they made it just right to compliment the cupcake. But with the likes of Sugar Sweet Sunshine, Martha’s Bakery, and Crumbs, I have to say Billy’s has a lot of catching up to do as their cupcakes are no where even close to being as good as their competitors.

Really 2.5 **** but I’m still not good at being harsh (yet).
Grand Opening 1÷31÷11. This is their third location, they have one in Chelsea, and one in Tribeca. Through twitter, I discovered their new NoLita location was having a «Happy Hour,» .40 cupcakes from 4−6pm. Unfortunately, their «smart» advertisement/​promotion left out the detail about it being only one 40 cent VANILLA or CHOCOLATE frosting cupcake. It’s impossible to fit in 140 characters, but that’s not an excuse!
I was excited to go to my first grand opening. Not only was it not grand (they had two balloons and their cashier did not seem too happy nor was she informative about the deal) it was misleading, and my cupcake was dry and the frosting was too sweet for my liking.
Overall, their space is small but quaint, but nothing special. No board to explain prices and menu… and only one table?!
Tip: they prefer cash over credit, at the moment.
Lastly, I recommend their banana cupcake. I’ve had their red velvet and it’s way too dry in comparison to other bakeries I’ve gone to, and my friend got the chocolate cake/​chocolate frosting and it wasn’t very enjoyable.