Lily's is definitely not the kind of place you'd expect to find in Gastonia. It's a breath of fresh air in a town with limited fine dining choices. The first thing you should know is that if you want to come on a Friday or Saturday night (aka prime time) is that you should probably make a reservation. They do have outdoor seating but obviously in winter it is unusable space for diners.
It's a pretty cute and inviting space. Nice sized tables with elbow room and bistro feel with white tablecloths. The only decorative aspect I didn't like were the red paint strokes on the walls everywhere - although some might say "creative flair", it felt more like "crime scene" or an afterthought.
When you walk in, there's a small bar to the left which was filled with diners and unfortunately not really any other waiting area around the hostess station. This part of the restaurant seems to get bottlenecked pretty easily. We arrived 10 to 15 minutes before our reservation and were lucky enough to be seated early.
The wine menu was fairly impressive and I was able to find a Montepulciano D'Abruzzo for only $23. For starters, we had the diver scallops seared and served on risotto and the PEI Mussels with bacon in white wine. The risotto had a nice al dente texture and the sauce the mussels were cooked in was delicious. The Chicken Scarpriello was a four star dish. The chicken was moist and I loved the combo of pepperdew peppers, potatoes, sausage , and Swiss chard, all pulled together in a rich brown sauce; very hearty and a great dish for a cold evening. The Penne with artichokes was unimpressive. Something was lacking. The dish was just too light and plain, which is weird considering it had capers, Kalamata olives, artichokes , roasted peppers and lemon - it was also very watery. A two star dish.
There are definitely enough choices on the menu to find something that appeals to you. Service is really attentive, patient and helpful.