L'Escalinada — Restaurant in Nice

While strolling through Old Town Nice, we were drawn in by an amazing smell and noticed L'Escalinada nearby. It was dinner time, and our two young children were hungry, so my husband approached the waiter—despite the restaurant being nearly empty—and asked for a table. The waiter rudely said they were "completely booked." No problem—we asked to make a reservation for the next day at 7 PM for four people. He took our name, and we left expecting a great experience.

When we arrived the next evening at 6:50 PM, we patiently waited as multiple other groups were seated ahead of us, despite us being first to arrive. The same waiter from the night before repeatedly ignored us. Finally, my husband approached him and said we had a reservation. The waiter responded, “Do you mean Angelique?” My husband said no and gave his name again. The waiter then asked, “Was it an online reservation?” and when we said no, he rolled his eyes, gestured to someone inside, and told them to "make us a table."

We were led through the restaurant, up and down stairs, and seated next to the bathroom—basically in a storage room near the kitchen—despite at least a dozen open tables outside. The service from that point remained poor. The same rude waiter made a sarcastic remark when we didn’t order alcohol: “Let me guess, just tap water.”

The food? Mediocre at best—maybe a 4/10. And the worst part? We spotted not one but two rats running across the pizza prep station in the kitchen—yes, actual rats. We have a photo to prove it. Completely unacceptable and absolutely disgusting.

When we left and politely said thank you, the waiter just glared at us.

Do yourself a favor and avoid L'Escalinada. Rude staff, filthy kitchen, subpar food, and an overall...

Went there alone, unfortunately there were no sitting options outside so I had to go inside for a table, had a the octopus salad as the starter and 2 main dishes, the ribeye and the prawns, they brought some kind of a sea food baked in over with sardines and some kind of a sauce, it was cold and in one of them there was some kind of a really hard but that hurt my teeth a bit (guess my luck?) The starter came in a reasonable time, it was fresh and did not smell, liked the combination. First main course the steak came perfectly as I ordered it, it was medium rare with a side of vegetables and a rucola parmesan salad, the steak itself lacked salt and spices but could be fixed with them added on ( wouldn't be as good if they add it before cooking) after a while , a side of fried chickpeas came, it was a bit too dry for me and it tasted ok, prefer having normal fries with my steak . Next course came just before I take the last bite, prawns made their own style, it had 6 prawns in it , grilled and topped with a tomatoe sauce, it's not completely a large portion but it'll fill u if you finish everything including the rice and vegetables beside the food, the rice that was beside it did not have enough spices? Maybe it was the style but I prefer having something that leaves a better taste in my mouth, I also loved the vegetables at the side of prawns more than the steak, they had a chew to them and I liked the texture very much. Overall a nice experience, even though I didn't get the best sitting option(usually very busy at nights at summertime) very friendly and attentive staff, did not ask for tips in the end and I think it'll be a nice experience for people to visit here on their...

What a wonderful gem Nice has to offer. I came here based off of a recommendation from my AirB&B host and it was spectacular! I wish I had another person to join me so I could try more of the food, but I ordered the Fritures d'encornets ou de calamars €13 and the Gnocchi crème de parmesan et truffe €18 with a recommended red wine, which was perfect!

The Fritures d'encornets ou de calamars was served with a small salad, lemon, and some tangy white sauce, that paired well with the calamari. It was delicious.

The Gnocchi crème de parmesan et truffe was served with some Parmesan on the side, but it was delicious on its own. The truffles really made this worth it.

I was going to order the Chianti that they offered, but they sold out of it, however the waitress had a wonderful recommendation that left me ordering another after I was finished with the calamari.

Thanks again L’Escalinada for a wonderful evening. Y’all really made my...