Au Petit Riche — Restaurant in Paris

One of the worst dining experiences we had during our two weeks in Paris. "Au Petit Riche" We waited at the front to be checked in while other groups walked straight past us. Booking felt pointless — would’ve been quicker to just walk in. The bartender was arrogant and moody. The restaurant is huge but clearly understaffed. Our waiter, Anthony, seated us at table 54.

We were crammed into a small space with rickety chairs and too many tables. The vibe was unfriendly, almost like you’re supposed to feel lucky just to be there. Staff didn’t seem welcoming — maybe they just don’t like foreigners? Other guests were eating while still wearing their coats like they were dressed to walk their dog.

The only bright spot was the tall manager, who seemed professional and friendly and upbeat, but he was busy with a black-tie event upstairs so I didn't get to raise my points of disappointment with him.

I ordered a fillet steak for my son, medium-rare, I specifically said, “Please please don’t serve it too rare.” It came out nearly blue, see the photo, it didn't get eaten. The pate en croute was nice.

I complained. The waiter apologised but didn’t even take it off the bill, despite knowing we didn’t eat it. He offered something else, but at that point, we just wanted to leave. I felt he was too nervous or too new to deal with it properly or speak to the chef or manager they should train the staff how to deal with problems. Not acceptable.

We left and took our son to eat somewhere else. Total disappointment. This place feels old, tired, and arrogant, living off a once-good reputation. Definitely wouldn’t recommend. Give it a miss.

I think that the place has too many customers who are scared to stick up for themselves or mention...

The food was great, the staff was greater still We got here at about 7:15. They had just opened and we were NOT used to the French eating times. First day. They said we needed reservations, but, my wife can be quite pitiful. A little tilt of the head, a little pouty lips and a sad little "please" and we had a table for 4. Yay! We had 4 different dishes to try out the French food, and, 4 different deserts. The Rum Baba was FANTASTIC. We raved over the RUM on it, and, they brought us the entire bottle, so, of course all the deserts now had their rum on it. Yummy. The wait staff was very attentive. And, of course, we heard how the French really don't like us UGLY Americans - but - you could not tell it from the way we were treated. Almost like celebrities. We had our first experience - waiting for the check - and guess what? You don't get it until you ask for it, and, the reason you need reservations? There's only one seating from what we could tell, and, we went there twice during our stay. We were there, laughing, eating, having fun (and that bottle of rum was almost gone when we left - with no additional charge). But, everyone else was doing the same. When we finally asked for the check - and left - around 3 hours later - the same people were in there that were there or came in at 8pm (seems that is the go-to time for evening meals in France) .. I loved it. I'll go again just to go there. Really. I think I should have given it 5 stars, oh, and a booth they keep just outside the eatery .. just for oysters .. fresh .. on the shell .. and very inexpensive. Had to have a few of those before I...

Our hotel concierge recommended this to us and the reviews on google looked good. The place is nice inside and we were excited to get a nice authentic French meal before we returned back to the USA. 3 of us ordered the beef filet and one ordered a salad. Our main issue was our 'Medium' cooked filets were raw....literally cold on the inside. We tried to communicate this to the server and have them re-cooked to temp. He spoke little English, and rather than getting his manager to help translate, he just shrugged his shoulders (really!), and took our plates back. We thought they would come back re-cooked, but we got new orders of the same exact thing, and yes, cold raw on the inside and not warm pink. Rather than make a fuss, we just ate the outsides and got done and then asked for our check right away. When he saw that we didn't eat the insides he finally pointed that out to the manager, and the manager came over and we told them they were basically raw.....twice! He agreed, and said nothing, and we assumed he would make a reduction on our bill. He did bring out some complimentary macaroons and a shot of cognac for each of us, but when we got the bill it was full price. So, this was our last impression of Paris as we left to go home the next day. Take away here, I guess is, if you can't speak French, maybe avoid this place. I wish our visit would have gone better. There are better places near the opera district to eat...