Billy's Bakery, NYC

Billy's is a small chain of bakeries (3 locations, does that count as a chain?) in New York.  One is quite close to my office, so their cakes show up from time to time.  I've tried it when there are leftovers and my conclusion is the same each time: in a city with so many great bakeries, this one is just too mediocre to be worth a visit.  I clearly must be a minority though, as they've been around since 2003 and obviously have opened multiple locations since.

Visit #1: 2023

Someone brought cake the office, and I was excited to finally get to try Billy's, as I had walked by so many times.

Carrot Cake. $80.

"Cinnamon batter with carrots, coconut, pineapple and pecans; topped with cream cheese frosting and chopped pecans."

This cake wins a number of awards for being the best carrot cake in NYC.  I love carrot cake.  I love carrot cake loaded up with stuff.  This sounded like my kind of carrot cake. But alas, I wasn't impressed.

It wasn't particularly moist.  The addition of shredded coconut made it fairly dry, although I'd expect the pineapple to help balance that out.  It was loaded with chopped pecans, which I do like in my carrot cake, but, this was very pecan heavy.  Great crunch, but, then I just didn't actually taste much carrot cake.  I think that is my real issue with it ... I tasted more coconut and pecans than carrot, and it ate very dry.  The cream cheese frosting was average.

Overall, fine, but certainly not rave worthy.  3/5.

Visit #2: June 2026

Several years elapsed before I had Billy's again. I tried 3 totally different items this time, hoping to find a winner.

Sheet Cake. $259.
Grasshopper Pie. $43.
Gluten-Free Vegan Mini Chocolate Chip Cupcakes. $29/dozen.

Vanilla Sheet Cake w/ Vanilla Buttercream.

"Classic yellow butter cake flavored with pure vanilla extract; frosted in Vanilla Buttercream."

The main attraction was a large sheet cake (16"x12"), which they say serves 36-54 (that's quite the range!) and costs a whopping $259.  I wish I could say it was worth that.

This was an amazingly boring cake.  The quality seemed no better than a generic grocery store.  The yellow cake was a bit dry, and had no real flavor.  The frosting was very fluffy, which was great, but it tasted like sugar and little else.  No vanilla flavor, but also, no butter really either.  Just, sugar.  A plain, very sweet, very boring, below average for a bakery really, cake.  2/5, if that.  I'm really shocked it came from a real bakery.

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes (GF, vegan)

"A mini version of our popular Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip cupcake is made with NO eggs, NO milk, and NO butter. Contains refined sugar. Frosted with non-dairy Vanilla Buttercream."

The cupcake was about on par with the sheet cake, even though it was both gluten-free and vegan.  The cake was very dense and dry, and just tasted a bit odd, yes, bad gluten-free.  The frosting was fine, but again was pretty generic sweet frosting, no real flavor to it.  The cake part barely gets a single star, frosting gets maybe 2.5/5, still just a 1/5 item.

Grasshopper Pie

"Fluffy whipped ganache and mint in a crushed chocolate wafer crust, then garnished with Andes mint crumbles."

This was by far the best item in the lineup, although at first I was confused and thought it was just a frosting pie.  It kinda looked like what a child might make with a premade store bought crust and can of frosting.  

It didn't really taste the mint (even once I knew it was supposed to be mint), and it too tasted like just fluffy sugar, although a slightly more complex fluffy sugar with a bit more body to it, which I guess makes sense as this was considered a whipped ganache.  The bits of Andes mint on the edges were the only real clue it was minty, and I liked the texture they added too.  

The chocolate crust was the best part, very tasty, good chocolate flavor, great texture to mix in to the green fluffy ganache.  I definitely enjoyed this more than any other Billy's item, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it, still just a mid-tier 3/5. 

Visit #3: July 2026

A month later, someone had boxes of Billy's cupcakes, tons left over. I nearly didn't take one, given my previous experiences, but in the end, I couldn't resist.  Plus, I hadn't yet tried a cupcake after al.

Red Velvet. $4.75.

"A southern classic…a mild cocoa flavor with a bright red color, finished with cream cheese frosting."

This was not a good cupcake.  The cake was dry, it didn't have much cocoa flavor.  The frosting didn't taste like cream cheese, and tasted slightly like chemicals.  I did not like this, I did not finish this, I didn't even bother trying to warm it up and serve it a la mode to save it.  Just not good. 1/5.

Visit #4: October 2026

Fall Florals Cookie Cake.  $69.

"Celebrate the autumn season with our stunning Fall Florals Cookie Cake. Featuring a rich, chocolate chip cookie base decorated with handcrafted buttercream roses and daisies in warm autumn tones, this festive treat is finished with an inscription of choice. It's the perfect centerpiece for your fall gatherings and celebrations!"

This was pretty awful.  The cookie itself was soft, it had that right distribution of chocolate chips, it should have been decent but ... it just did not taste good.  It tasted like a highly processed packaged cookie, not like something you'd get from a real bakery.  I tried it several times and the base flavor was just off putting.  Honestly, 0/5 for the cookie base.

The buttercream frosting was fine, sweet, not really wholesome, but fine.  3/5.

Overall though, 1/5.

Confetti Cookie w/ Vanilla Buttercream. $4.25.

"Our classic chewy sugar cookie with confetti quins baked-in. Frosted with a thick layer of buttercream frosting (assorted pastel colors)."

You'd think I'd never try another Billy's cookie again after that cookie cake, but ... there were so many of these left over, and I was really craving something sweet.

This was actually really quite good.  The base cookie was thick, soft, sugary, had a great depth of flavor to it, particularly for a simple sugar cookie.  I really enjoyed it.  4/5 sugar cookie base.

The buttercream was again fine, soft, fluffy, sweet but not cloying.  Slightly above average.  3/5.

Overall, 3.5/5 and one I'd gladly get again.

Butterscotch Gingerbread.

"A new take on an old favorite…classic gingerbread cookies filled with sweet butterscotch chips."

This really was exactly as advertised.  A fairly standard gingersnap (thin, crispy, good ginger flavor, some spicing, hints of molasses), with plenty of little butterscotch chips in it.  The butterscotch chips were very sweet, and only partially melted, and I still am not sure if I liked them with the gingerbread, but they were good.  I grew up in a family that served butterscotch pie at the holidays, so to me, this was two holiday things coming together in a way that makes sense, although I normally have them side by side, not combined.

Not a cookie I'd normally pick or I'd want again, but it was a decent cookie.  3/5.