09/01/09

Worst Service for High Class Priced Food

by Angie C

The waitress Jenny was rude and condescending to my friend and I. The next day we found out that she charged 20 dollars extra for her tip on the credit card without our consent.

• Pros: Good Appetizer and Entree
• Cons: Bad Serice and Over-Priced Desserts

06/21/09

Beware, read this before you go

by violetgirl426

I went to this place with my boyfriend for my birthday dinner. My boyfriend called ahead of time to see if they offered anything for free for birthday and the manager answered they offered free chocolate cake.

It was so dark when we went inside and I told the waitress to give me a few minutes for me to decide what wine to order. It was so cold inside that I decided not to order wine and to order hot tea instead. The waitress looked at us as we were too cheap to order the wine. My boyfriend and I already checked the on-line menu and knew the prices and we can definitely afford anything in the restaurant. As a matter fact, we had spend $35 + 40% tip for lunch because the service was so great. I told the waitress that we are still full from lunch and I would like to save my stomach for desserts, so we are going to share one appetizer and one entree and two desserts. Again, the waitress looked at us as we should leave because we did not want to order more food.

While we were waiting, we saw how well the waitress treated her other "two" tables. She was attentive and refilled iced water and cleaned their tables constantly. She did not offer us any ice water and only brought us our food and never cleaned our table. I placed my tea wrapper on the edge of the table to make it visibly clear that it was trash. The wrapper was still there when we left. This place was high end and other high end places that I had been to at least clean everything before dessert. I think because my boyfriend and I look young as if we were college kids, and she treated the other mature customers well.

When my boyfriend asked the waitress to bring us my free birthday chocolate cake, the waitress looked shocked and gave him a look as if "how dare you ask me this." She did gave us one scoop of "ice-cream" and no chocolate cake.

I would like to emphasize that the check was $66 for two people. We spent high class money, but was given worst service than Denny's.

The most SHOCKING things was that my boyfriends ATM/bank card was charged $20 extra as added tip. We tried to contact the restaurant but did not get any reply from the owner. The money was not credited back until one week later. This was ridiculous because what if my boyfriend had an overdraft in his checking account. The restaurant said that they would send us gift certificate to make up for everything, but we never received it.

The food was excellent, but we never went back. Can you believe that I used to refer people to this place and this was how the restaurant treated its customer by ignoring and not keeping their promise.

• Pros: Excellent Food but Overpriced
• Cons: Cocky and Rude Waitress, who gave herself $20 tip

05/30/08

interesting vegan dishes, excellent ingredients

by kocur5

With a lack of "high end" vegan/vegetarian restaurants in the Los Angeles area, it is nice to have Madeleine Bistro. I can already hear the cries about available "veg cuisine", but I truly appreciate an opportunity to enjoy a gourmet vegan meal without having to rely specifically on authenic Indian/Asian restaurants, that happen to be vegetarian friendly, for my dietary considerations.

I appreciated the well prepared organic vegetables that appeared throughout the meal. My favorite dishes of the evening included the appetizer of beet tartare and the chocolate souffle dessert. The bottle of wine we ordered was reasonably priced and organic as well. The service was friendly and unobtrusive. I can't comment on the need for reservations, as I dined during a mellow weekday evening.

• Pros: gourmet vegan, organic ingredients
• Cons: Oddly functioning front door, dining room a bit too darkly lit (unable to easily view the food)