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Customers dine at Le P'tit Paris in Coconut Grove. Photo:Â Alex Kolyer.
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What you said
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I received the same argumentative and unapologetic service as the Herald.
My wife and I saw this place a few weeks ago when we went to have brunch at GreenStreet (our usual brunch spot). It looked interesting, so we decided to have our next brunch there, which happened to be this past Sunday.
The hostess and one of the waiters told us to sit wherever we would like. We wanted a table on the Commodore Plaza side, so we stood near one that was being cleared by one of the waiters.
To our surprise, the guy turned around and started yelling at us that we had to wait and to stay away from the table because it was being cleaned. We found it quite odd and shocking. We had made no attempt to either sit or even hurry them, we had simply stood near it. I guess that should have tipped us off right there.
After taking a few steps back, he came up to us and gave us this diatribe about how the tables need to be cleaned first (duh) and that if we wait, we'll have better service, and we'll be able to eat and leave happy from the great service we're going to receive. That was the second bad sign, and we should have just left and crossed-over to GreenStreet at that moment. Ever the optimists wanting to try something new, we stayed.
We finally sat down and after a few minutes our waiter came to take our order. Our drinks came, and then that was it. We sat there forever and ever.
A table of three that had sat down about 10 minutes after us got their food. A couple that was seated next to us and had arrived 20 minutes after us had gotten their food, and I heard the woman complaining that it took too long. When I checked my watch, it had been 40 minutes since we sat down and placed our order.
I called the waiter over and asked why the food was taking so long. My question seemed to have perplexed him so I told him it had been about 45 minutes and we still hadn't gotten our food. He left and then came back about a minute later saying the food would be out in two minutes and that "it's actually been 40 minutes." Our food finally did come, without so much as an apology.
By now, our expectations were quite low. The food, as expected, was quite disappointing.
My wife's "three egg omelet" was more like 2 eggs; the potatoes were just regular boiled potatoes, completely unseasoned (they were white!); the "toast" was just two pieces of untoasted(!) bread; the bacon was just one tiny piece of bacon.
My three pancakes were thick and tiny; they were overcooked and dry which made them taste very cakey. I had ordered a side of breakfast potatoes, but didn't get them. After tasting my wife's, I didn't bother asking for them since it would have been a waste.
We ate our food quickly and asked for the check. Funny enough, they had charged me for the breakfast potatoes that I never received. Fortunately it didn't take them long to correct the bill.
We took comfort in the fact that we weren't the only ones that were disappointed. The couple next to us, who were complaining that their food was taking long, were practically done with their meal by the time we had gotten ours. They must have waited about 10-15 minutes for their sandwiches, exclaiming "they're just sandwiches, how long could it take?!" When they had finished their meal, I heard the woman tell her husband that they were never going back there again.
The family sitting at the table behind me had problems with their food, too. I heard the woman saying something was wrong with her poached eggs and I saw her trying to take it apart.
One final observation, we noticed all around us that people were offered both glasses of water and bread when they first sat down. We were offered neither.
This experience epitomizes what is wrong with Grove businesses; they give bad service and bad quality and expect people to come back. The businesses that are still around, have made it for a reason. I don't know how these people expect to make it for much longer. The only reason they have probably lasted so long is because they're just bottom-feeding off of GreenStreet's overflow. We're definitely never going back to Le P'tit Paris. At this rate, I give them just a few more months.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/le-ptit-paris-coconut-grove#hrid:ZXmvCh75cASRA1rtw-1VwQ... Read more
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A friendly staff and great tasting food appealing to me more than anything. I go there regularly for their great espresso ($2) after a night out on the town.
The owner is very nice and is usually there and the servers are also nice. I usually have whats on the Board outside listing the specials. Although the portions must be french cause I cant get enough, but delicious. ... Read more
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I've been to le P'tit paris many times and I always enjoyed the food, the staff & the ambiance.
The home made foie gras and the lobster are amazing ! I love to go for dinner with my friends and for brunch on WE with all the family.... Read more
The big review: Le P'tit Paris **
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Yahoo BookmarksBy Victoria Pesce Elliott
At the corner of Main Highway and Commodore Plaza in Coconut Grove, one could throw a crouton in any direction and have it land in a hot bowl of onion soup au gratin.
At Le P'tit Paris, the most authentic and reliable experience at Le P'tit Paris, so far, is breakfast, when you will find patrons clamoring for the fresh, crusty, super-buttery croissants with a lovely café au lait.
Lunch and dinner are iffier. Afternoon servers are kind but clueless and dishes are uneven. A thin slab of tuna suffers from an overly creamy green peppercorn sauce that has already formed a thick skin by the time it hits the table. Individual quiches are cheesy and rich but a bit flabby.
Tiny black mussels are as petite as I like, fresh and plump but soaked in a salty, bouillon-cube-like broth. Bread is slightly stale and sodden salads are composed of weepy bagged lettuce weighed down by heavy dressing and sorry cucumber rounds. Pastas are rich if overcooked, and crepes are thick and leaden baked deals with too much greasy cheese and heavy filling. We had an especially bad experience one night when the kitchen was clearly in crisis. Tiny, black and crumbling crab cakes tasted of propane, as if they had been scorched by an amateur grill jockey. In fact, nearly everything that evening was dramatically over- or undercooked.
The seafood we tried, including snappy grilled shrimp, was fresh enough and tasty but uninspired. Steaks are a better option, including a big, meaty filet nicely marbled and gently scorched but still juicy and red in the center. Thick, golden, perfectly crisp pommes frites promised to save the evening if only a surly waiter hadn't ignored and argued with us by turns. Waits for entrees extended to half an hour or more -- a trial that might have been eased by a refilled glass or at least an acknowledgement that the kitchen was having difficulty.
And it was. A visit to an unkempt, oddly out-of-the-way bathroom gave us a view of a true hell's kitchen, engulfed in smoke, where sweating staffers screamed at each other. Even our petite hostess could be seen elbow-deep in soapy water, trying to help out.
A glass of wine from a cheap, French-dominated list is a simple pleasure not easily spoiled. Rosé, cote du rhone and rugged Bordeaux are worth sipping for the price. Lunch specials offer drinkable house wines for as little as $3 a glass that, along with a simple sandwich such as a sweet and eggy croque monsieur, can ease a crazy day. Follow it with a straightforward chocolate tart and life is good.
On a bad night, though, this sliver of Paris is about as enjoyable as being stuck in a Eurotunnel traffic jam in a Renault.
Le P'tit Paris, 3464 Main Hwy., Coconut Grove; 305-445-7331. 7:30 a.m.-1 a.m. daily. Appetizers and salads $7-$15, sandwiches and pastas $7-$10, entrees $13-$22, desserts $7-$9
FYI: Reservations accepted but walk-ins welcome. Wine and beer only; corkage $10. Metered street parking; valet $5. AX, DN, MC, VS.
Published: 11/08
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