La Petite Iza — Restaurant in Greater Strathcona

RACIST RESTAURANT STAFF / WORST DINING EXPERIENCE I’VE HAD IN MY LIFE

I rarely post reviews and this is not the first time I’ve been to this restaurant.

Food: The first time food was good but this time their winter menu was very mediocre.

Service: Service was absolutely ATROCIOUS . Our waitress was SYDNEY. We were 1 out of 4 of tables of she was waiting on at that time, which is a reasonable amount of tables for each person.

1. Our reservation was 5:15pm, there was only one other table seated when we got to the restaurant. Sydney totally ignored us but attended immediately on two tables who got seated after us. We waited for 20 minutes and nobody paid any attention to us. We HAD TO ASK FOR SERVICE. When Sydney was told to attend to us from another staff member, she was very abrupt and dismissive compared to her interactions with the other neighboring tables (she didn’t go over any specials, we heard them from her going over it from other patrons and just asked us what we want)

2. We order 4 appetizers and one main course to share. Sydney got us the four appetizers and the subsequently ignored our table. She seemed to be wanting to force us to leave the restaurant as she was trying to clear obviously half eaten plates that were still being worked on. During the one time she refilled our water, she spilled water on my husband. When we finished the appetizers, we had to wait over a 10 minutes to clear the finished appetizer plates despite her physically passing our table many times to get to other patrons. After another 10 minutes of waiting for our main entree to arrive, Sydney came twice to ask us to order dessert. We found this extremely strange and informed her TWICE that we were waiting for our main entree still and will browse the desert menu after finishing our main entree.

3. After another 10 minutes, instead of our entree being brought out, Sydney brought us the bill WITHOUT US ASKING FOR IT. To make matters even more shameful, the lamb entree was on the bill. I have never had any waitress who shamelessly pushed people out of the restaurant without customers finishing their meal. We were all shocked. At this point, our appetites were ruined and choose not to complete our meal.

4. We spoke with the manager who was very apologetic for the poor experience quoting that Sydney was under the weather despite her excellent service to other patrons literally next to us. We paid for our meal and was still asked for an 18% tip. Unfortunately, we saw Sydney on our way out and she ignored us without a single apology for any of her actions.

This traumatic experience made us question why we were supporting this restaurant in our community: The escargot is one of top in...

We recently had our anniversary dinner at La Petite Iza. We sat on the covered patio. The vibe was great. Note that the two person table was very small. We ordered our appetizers and mains at the very start of our meal.

I asked to taste the pinot noir before ordering but was told the restaurant does not offer any samples. Mind you this was for wine that was being sold specifically by the glass (not bottle only). We ordered a glass each and thankfully it turned out well. That said, it could have just as easily not been to our liking. In all my years of dining out - from more casual places to fine dining - this was a first. I would strongly recommend the restaurant rethink this policy, among other changes it could make to improve.

Service was extremely slow - this was not due to our server, but rather the kitchen and the bar. We ordered 3 appetizers (the bone marrow, the endive salad and the cheese board). We were told that the bone marrow was taking a long time and for that reason none of the appetizers would be coming out. They waited to bring out all of our appetizers together. It was an extremely long wait. Especially given how small the table was, it would have made sense to bring out the appetizers that were available first and to bring out the bone marrow last. In terms of the food, none of the appetizers were bad but they were also not particularly special. The cheese board in particular was disappointing with just one large block of cheese, some butter and sub-par jam.

Entrees: they arrived, after a long delay. I asked for a second glass of wine. It did not arrive. Once we were done with our entrees (although not having actually finished), our server informed us that my glass of wine was 'on the way'. We asked her to cancel it, which she did. We had the duck breast which was on special, it came with puff rice along with the Parisian gnocchi which came with vegetables. The gnocchi was okay - again, nothing special. The duck, however, was awful. It might as well have been blocks of rubber. I'm not sure if the issue is the cooking technique or a lack of quality ingredients, or both.

We opted to forgo dessert. Thankfully, neither myself nor my spouse are ones to ruin our evening over sub-par food and service. We managed to enjoy our evening but we will not be going back to La Petite Iza. There are far better quality restaurants in Edmonton with exceptional food and service at the same price point (or arguably lower).

I've given 2 stars for food and service but the vibe, as I mentioned, was great. For that reason, I've bumped my overall...

I will start by saying that the staff here are phenomenal! The servers are friendly, and extremely attentive. They are also very knowledgeable about the food, and happy to make recommendations. Our water glasses were never empty, and they are incredibly fast to address any need, or question you might have.

The restaurant itself is beautiful with a lovely patio, beautiful inset tile, and hardwood floors, gorgeous painted ceilings, and huge floor to ceiling windows that exit onto the large patio.

The furnishings are classically styled, and suit the space perfectly. Giving it a lovely French bistro atmosphere. The only complaint is the three story hike to reach the space itself. Which unfortunately makes it inaccessible to individuals with limited mobility.

The menu is comprised of many classic French dishes which are beautifully executed, and presented. My only complaint is that the entrees we tried (the gnocchi, and the duck confit)seemed to be slightly lacking in depth of flavour. The dishes themselves are beautifully presented, and expertly prepared. They were however a little on the bland side for what I've come to expect from French cooking over the years.

The desserts however were absolutely fabulous! The chocolate mousse, and the lemon torte were beautifully executed, and delicious!

The torte was light, and lemony with just the right balance of tart, and sweetness. The chocolate mousse was lusciously smooth, and creamy with a delightful crunchy praline topping which was a wonderful textural compliment to the creamy, and delicious dish.

I tried the Passion fruit cocktail as a compliment to my dessert. It was delicious, and smooth. With a very strong passion fruit flavour, which was almost too sweet, and garnished with a half passion fruit.

They serve it with a small side of champagne, which they explicitly tell you not to add to the drink, and simply drink as a side. However after having drank half of my beverage, I ignored this instruction, and added it to the drink. Which I personally found balanced out the almost overwhelming sweetness of the beverage, and gave it a lighter, fresher quality.

I would most definitely return to this restaurant again, and would encourage anyone who has not yet tried...