Le Palais Saint Jean — Restaurant in Lyon

I spent a week and a half in France and it is hard to find decent food in the tourist areas. French cuisine is different then what you eat in the US, it is less salty and depends on the sauces and sides to complete the experience. Lyon is known for their good food and this restaurant is one of them. We were a group of 12 people including 5 kids 12 and under. One of us had the escargot and it was the best she had in the trip. Another of us had the onion soup and loved it. They serve the cheese on the side so it is easier to eat. The kids had the chicken and loved it ( they are very picky typical american eaters). The flank steak was very good and clean (not too many pieces of annoying fat). I had the filet of beef with red wine sauce and it was the best cut of meat I had on my trip (I gave up on trying to enjoy the typical entrecot). My wife had a fish plate and enjoyed it a lot. They offer menu style meals which are a better deal which include 3 dishes including dessert. Another one of us had the goat cheese salad and loved it. One of our group even dared try a local dish of the sausage (not tripe though) and really enjoyed it. The adult desserts were great! The creme brulee was one of the best and my chocolate mousse was excellent, not too dark and not too light. The service is very typical of France though (understaffed and sometimes agonizingly slow) but my conclusion is that it is a cultural thing. Our waitress spoke Spanish which was great because we also...

AVOID! We were a group of 8 who had lunch. Food was OK but service was slow. We split the bill four ways, My husband was the last to pay. We left & walked off down the street, the waitress chased after my husband with the card machine to say his payment hadn't gone through, strange how she knew which direction he had gone.... The payment was showing as pending so he didn't know if it would go through or not so took her word that it hadn't gone through & paid again. 2 days later both payments went through so he returned to the restaurant to ask for a refund. The waitress who served us wasn't working that day but another waitress spoke to my husband & was about to give him a cash refund when a waiter stepped in & asked what was going on. The waiter told my husband how did he know that my husband had paid for 4 people not 2 & refused to refund the double payment. So our lunch ended up costing €140...

The food was decent. The toilets were quite gross, though. The reason for my review, however, is largely down to the service. When the waiter was bringing the drinks, she accidentally lost balance resulting in two bottles of soda dropping on my daughter. One of the bottles crashed leaving my shoes soaked in orange soda. Mistakes can happen, however, I would expect any restaurants who commit such a grave mistake to at least offer the drinks for free. However, there was no sign of regret when the bill was to be paid. They acted like it had been just another visit. To me, it tells me they’re a tourist trap, who don’t care about providing decent service, as long as the grinder will send through another crop of tourists. I recommend to steer far clear of this place, and select on of the other restaurants in the square. I will certainly not be recommending Le Palais Saint Jean to anyone...