Le Waf — Restaurant in Lille

I visited this café with my partner on our weekend in Lille. Firstly, my partner loves dogs so we were very excited to visit this café. On arrival, we stood outside the café for about a minute (glass frontage) and then opened the front door. The female member of staff there shouted, "STOP STOP." She quickly shut the door in our face. We then entered the café. The female member of staff didn't apologise for shouting at us or explain why she had which I found a bit odd. A male member of staff who spoke excellent English then spoke to us and explained that the dogs were rescue dogs. He then explained that it was €10 each for unlimited coffee/tea/hot chocolate/smoothie and if we wanted any food to wave at one of the staff members. We had a coffee and a cup of hot chocolate which was fine. Dogs were lovely, each with their own personality especially the puppy they had at the time. There were 3 members of staff who all stood in the corner together. We were not spoken too by staff members after we arrived. A simple improvement would be to ask customers whether they want something to eat 5/10 minute after they've sat down. At the end of the day, it is a café after all. It felt like we were not particularly welcomed by the staff which was a real shame. At one point a members of staff walked past us with a toastie and a salad but still no one offered any food. Very much a DIY place, not so much a café. It would be a nice idea to give customers dog treats to give the dogs or to have staff members bring the dogs over to customers to encourage them to play. One of the dogs did a poo in the middle of the floor and another did a wee on one of the table legs. This is to be expected as they're rescue dogs and not house trained. All in all, lovely dogs but could have been a much better experience....

A glorious place. We wandered past on our first trip to Lille, on the way back from the Citadelle, and I’m so glad we spotted a pair of ears and a waggy tail in the window – we were hooked! Le Waf is a playroom for dogs, where you pay (ridiculously reasonable) rates to spend half an hour +, with unlimited teas and coffees. They do a charmingly homemade brunch on a Sunday. Wonderful atmosphere of play and fun – you’re introduced to all of the dogs when you walk in, and told about their personalities, favourite toys, and who is up for adoption. Everything is remarkably clean, and I do not understand why it doesn’t smell of dog… impressive! There’s also plenty of space for the hounds to remove themselves if they’re feeling a little overwhelmed from all the love. Not a whiff of commercialness – everyone is friendly, laid-back, and having the best time. I’m sure word will spread quickly, as it’s only been open for three months to date. Hats off to Ophelie for setting up such a wonderful refuge for dogs and humans alike. Please bring one to...

Very nice concept, the workers were nice and the dogs are really cute! I saw them constantly taking one dog at a time for a walk, which makes me believe the dogs are well taken care of. I would just suggest a better cleaning of the space, which i imagine it's hard to do with so many dogs around, but i still believe it can be improved. Also suggest maybe somehow a training for the dogs who need it the most, for them not to be so reactive to the people/other dogs walking outside. Their reaction forces the cafe to have the curtains constantly closed which makes the place darker and sunlight and some better air flow could be very positive. I support this place and encourage...