Cafe Beaujolais

Doesn't Recommend

llaumgui

Joined 2 years ago

DON't buy a GIFT CERTIFICATE from this place:. As a Christmas gift I was given a 100$ gift certificate by my long time employee a few years ago. living on the West side I actually had never made when they were open (only after 5pm) and with the gift certificate with me. So I finally went there last week and was really excited to take my girlfriend there. We sat down and I gave the gift certificate. The host and co-owner (you can't miss him the tall French guy) went in the back for while and came back saying that they didn't recognized the signature on the gift certificate and said it was too old. He continued with a "So what's the story with this certificate? I couldn't believe it...There is NO expiration date on the gift certificate that they issue and it is numbered so if you kept your accounting you could check that it wasn't fake, and signed by an employee. We complained about that and even asked if they would offer at half but he said we either honor all or nothing. I'm pretty "honor" should not be part of his vocabulary.

No need to tell you we won't be coming back and will confirm that this place is truly "French" unlike their Business card claims "Everything French...but the Attitude"!

The best part is that I am French and found out that by law Gift certificate don't expire... I guess they made an easy 100$ that night but two angry non customer.

Voila, merci and good luck!

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mranders

Joined 3 years ago

Delightful & Delicious. My wife and I had a most enjoyable dinner at Beaujolais last night.

Its ambience is charming and very typical of bistros in France.

It's casual without being too casual, and upscale without feeling stuffy.

The place is popular so expect to wait a bit for a table during peak times.

Regrettably there is a lot of hard surfaces inside, including a cement floor, which can make it a bit on the loud side.

However, if you're looking for thoughtfully prepared and authentic French cuisine, served in an intimate communal-style room that exudes a lively energy, then Beaujolais is an excellent fit.

The wait staff were friendly, attentive and French.

A word to the wise: The French generally dine at a much more leisurely pace than Americans, especially during dinner, so expect your food to take a bit longer to arrive than you are likely accustomed to... You will find that it is well worth the wait.

Also, don't expect your food to come out looking like an Applebees platter. The presentation will be elegant and pleasant, but not flashy. Their fare is authentic French, not "Americanized" French.

The food itself is delicious... and for the moderate price charged, represents a real bargain.

The French onion soup is simply amazing.

You can't go wrong with their signature dish: fillet of halibut in champagne sauce with Parmesan crust.

Although we did not have room for desert they do look incredible; and judging from the number of diners that ordered them they are obviously very popular.

Overall we enjoyed a great meal, for a reasonable price, in a very pleasant atmosphere.

The only reason I can't give Beaujolais five stars is due to its somewhat high noise levels.

Bon appetit!

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FlowerFetish

Joined 4 years ago

Love it!. I have been eating here for years, great food, nice atmosphere and very cute men! :)

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EatSimply

Joined 4 years ago

Scrumptuous food, nice ambience and staff, relatively low prices for what you get. The food is amazing. Every dish I've ever had was either very good or simply mouth watering, especially the filet mignon (about $22). I've had steaks for three times the price that are not as good as the filet. The deserts are simply scrumptous, especially the fruit tarts (about $6). I would come here if the prices were twice what they are.

The atmosphere is simple and unprententious. You feel like you've escaped to some small out of the way Parisian cafe. The service is "slow": if you want to eat and run, you'll feel stressed. In Europe (and Cafe B.) the idea is to relax, enjoy a course, and then have a few minutes to chat before the next course arrives. My wife and I typically spend 1 1/2 to 2 hours for a dinner there, which is perfect for us.

Cafe B. is my favorite restaurant. I have been there maybe 15 times since discovering it a couple of years ago. I would be happy to come every week. It has become a favorite for anyone we've ever brought with us. I always look forward to going there and I am always quite content by the end of my visit.

In short: I come for the amazing food, but the ambience and the interactions with the waiters add to the enjoyment of the experience. Just don't come if you're in a hurry.

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elef

Joined 5 years ago

My husband and I frequent this restaurant.. My husband and I love this restaurant. We frequent it even though we're not Eagle Rock residents. It's casual, the food is good, the waiters are friendly and efficient. We have brought a lot of our friends here and we plan to bring more soon. I recommend this restaurant. It's simple French country food and not at all pretentious. As a mater of fact I think I'm eating dinner there again this Friday :) And don't mind the bad reviews at the bottom of this page. You should try this place. Find out for yourself. You won't be disappointed. And who knows, maybe those bad reviews come from competitors...

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navelmaxime

Joined 5 years ago

A friendly, lovely place to have a good time..... We are going to this place since a year and never had a bad expeince, the decoration and the atmosphere are just like those little French Cafe place in Paris that i miss so much.

The food is also delicious and the owner and the staff are very friendly, i was disappointed to read some bad comments about that place but i guess that those come from people who usually like more coke and pop corn than a fine dinner. W e will come aain and again as long as the place will be like it....

Just addicted to it!!!!!

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DONTSPAM

Joined 5 years ago

Old World French. It's a great kept secret and one of my favorite french restaurants. If you need an eat-and-go dinner, which many americans are accustomed to, (like entrees in less than 20 mins after order is placed) then this is not the place for you. If you are still in love with your wife, or with a gaggle of chicks and want to gab over some delicious wine, this is your place. Food is authentic and bistro-like, not 5 star over-the-top elegance. Again, go somewhere else if that's your impression of french food. This place is how your average frenchy eats---think "Cheescake Factory" of Paris, but more intimate, better food, and a smaller menu. The wine list is adequate--you won't get Lafite Rothchild 1982 in here, but it will be good and reasonable. Totally reasonable. Oh, and if you hate hot waiters with french accents then this is definitely not your place. -xo to all you lovelies, Blair

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jajajajak

Joined 5 years ago

Delicious, perfectly cooked food. I live down the street, so I frequent this place often. The staff run a tight ship and are very friendly and professional. The food is incredible -- perfectly cooked steaks, yummy side dishes, and all the cheesy buttery goodness you can handle.

Good ambiance inside. Not too casual, not too formal, good lighting and atmosphere all around.

I highly recommend this joint if you're in the Eagle Rock area and want to have your palate sing.

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EzraDad

Joined 5 years ago

Homey, charming, generous. My folks live nearby and have long recommended we try Beaujolais, so we did last night. A Wednesday night, we were easily seated even without a reservation. The front room was large and already boisterous by 7:15, but we were ushered into a smaller back room, and drink orders were quickly taken. The service was efficient and quite friendly. The restaurant is truly typically French, the decor is sort of faux rustic bistro, complete with framed commercial posters, but the ambience was really animated and active, without being so loud you couldn't carry on a pleasant conversation.

The food was very good. Not the most spectacular, nothing remotely flashy about it, but it will remind many of a fine meal in a boite they ate way back when. I had the escargot, my wife a green salad -both, excellent, and, again, typically French, swimming in garlic. Our entree were steak frites and duck breast in a very, very good sauce. We shared a nice creme brulee for dessert. The service was leisurely, but we were done with the entire meal in 2 hours, which gave us tim to chat, and never feel like we were neglected. The entire meal was less than $100- quite a bargain!!

If we lived here, we would be regulars. If you enjoy good French food, a bit nostalgic, but not hackneyed, and a convivial room, you'll have a delightful evening.

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socalnative2

Joined 5 years ago

Global cuisine without the travel. I read some of the reviews here and was pretty disappointed that people have had a bad experience (or at least claim to have had a bad experience at CB). I have lived in Eagle Rock since 1999 (many days before it was trendy and before anyone even knew Cafe Beaujolais even existed). The waiters at Cafe B are dolls! Although I live close by, I have only been to CB perhaps a total of 6 times over the past year (there are so many options with Pasadena, Burbank and Glendale a hop, skip and jump away). Anyhow, in just those 8 times, the waiters know me by sight; they are always warm, seat me (and my friends) promptly; they are very attentive, gentle in their speech and I've never had a bad experience (even when I was a newbee).

I will say that the service can be a bit slow but part of that is cultural (French culture--all the staff are native Frenchmen). Understand that the French consider each meal (esp. dinner) a special event. It's a time for people to relax, linger over deep conversation, fully enjoy your food and be "in the moment."

Sadly, we Americans tend to always be in a rush which makes us inpatient and makes "us" seem rude. So, the next time you wonder why "you" had a bad experience at a place where most others have had a positive one, before you cut people down, think 1. Either it was a bad night. Let me try it again before I confirm this place is a wreck. Or, 2. Perhaps I'm the A-hole and I just don't see it. People are treating me the way I treat them. Hmmmm...now there's a thought.

All -- Try this beautiful little country-style restaurant before believing some of the very negative views of some folks. People are generally nice if you are nice to them.