Aux Artistes — Restaurant in Paris

We tried to have dinner last night as a walk up but they were fully booked. The atmosphere and super food aromas made me determined to return before we left Paris. So I diligently made an online booking (my French is very limited so I didn’t want to call). We were not disappointed. This is a true local French restaurant filled with locals. Apparently the restaurant has the same atmosphere as it did when it opened in the 60s. It’s great. Our family of four- 2 adults and 2 teenagers enjoyed the 3 course meal. Starters- escargot (we all really enjoyed them; even the super super fussy eater), house pate, tomato & mozarella salad and meat platter. This was followed by our mains- chicken scewers, sirloin beef w pepper sauce & Beef Bourguignon & steak tartare. I’d try the pork chop next time. The salads, chips and mashed potatoes complimented the meats well. Dessert was also great- pear & apple crumble, sorbet and chocolate cake. There were no leftovers. A good selection of drinks. The service was great. The staff had lovely personalities and were happy to engage in brief conversations. They were busy. If you’re after fast service, this isn’t the place to come. My understanding is that the French like to enjoy their meals and to take their time. I appreciate this. It’s not a race and it’s great not to feel pressured to get out the door. The minimum number of bookings is for 3. If you want a walk up table, I’d suggest getting there close to opening...

If you don’t speak French please avoid. Let me start by saying, I like to think of myself as pretty culturally aware, I always try to be courteous wherever I am visiting and even studied some French prior to coming to Paris as to not come off as an ignorant rude American who expects everyone to speak English. I even order in French to the best of my ability, that being said, I understand that not every country has fast turn around in restaurants, have waited for a while many a times (it Italy especially) however, when the young lady and her elderly mother (total strangers) that sit next to us even become outraged that our food is taking too long, you know there is a problem. Our appetizers were tomato and mozzarella (nothing cooked) which took 45 minutes to arrive. The main courses, bœuf bourguignon and a cheeseburger took another 45 minutes, which is when the young lady next to us (after finishing her main course, mind you she only ordered 5 minutes before us, and we waited about 25-30 minutes after they were served) asked the waiter “where is their food? They’ve been waiting so long (all on her own, we said nothing to them) the waiter looked at us and shrugged, as if to say “oh well”. Food was mediocre and to top off the evening, my wife ordered ice cream and found a large, beautiful sharp shard of plastic which could easily cause...

If there was a choice for no stars, that would be it. We made reservations for 7:30. We were here on time. After 2-hours of waiting for our dinner and watching people that came after us be served before us, we asked the waitress and instead of apologizing she became extremely rude and defensive and told us she was doing the best she could. She offered no apologies and no explanation on why tables with large groups that came in after us were eating their entree choices and finished, yet we were still waiting.

Her excuse was that some of us ordered a steak well done and it takes longer. She offered no apologies to the fact that those that had to order a steak were already on their third choice of entree because what they ordered initially and secondly apparently was no longer available. We, however observed people who came after us get the choice of entree we ordered. So, be cautious if you’re an American coming to dine here. We were not rude. She even asked us to write our course choices on a piece of paper, which we gladly did. This made the process easier for her. We did not see her ask any other table to do this. So don’t be fooled by the good reviews. We will...