Beefbar — Restaurant in Paris

A Disastrous Birthday Experience at Beefbar Paris – Stay Away!

I have never written a review like this, but my experience at Beefbar Paris was so abysmal, it’s hard not to warn anyone considering dining here. If you’re after pretentious, overpriced mediocrity, Beefbar has you covered. But if you value your time, money, and taste buds, avoid this place like the plague.

I chose Beefbar to celebrate my 50th birthday – a milestone that I thought would be accompanied by a special dining experience. When I made the reservation, I clearly stated it was for my birthday. You’d think a restaurant with the word “bar” in its name could at least take note of basic customer requests. But no. Upon arrival, we were not greeted with the warmth or attentiveness you expect at such a price point. In fact, it was obvious that no one had been informed about the special occasion. Instead of a prime table, we were given the worst one in the house, stuck by the kitchen with constant traffic of waiters brushing by – a fabulous birthday setting, don’t you think?

To make matters worse, I had brought a cake from a renowned bakery – a cake that I had carefully chosen for this special evening. In any real upscale restaurant, such a gesture would be met with accommodation and even a bit of fanfare. But Beefbar? They outright refused to serve it, even though I offered to pay a plating fee. I’ve dined at high-end establishments all over the world, and never – I repeat, never – have I encountered a place so unwilling to offer basic hospitality. It was only after threatening to walk out that they grudgingly agreed to store it in their fridge for the remainder of the dinner. It was a shocking display of arrogance and lack of customer care.

But the horror didn’t end there. When the food arrived, it became clear that Beefbar values style over substance – and by style, I mean the kind of faux-luxury that only a clueless establishment can deliver. The starter was a disaster: thick slabs of fish that tasted like they had been frozen for months, lazily defrosted, and served with a sauce so bland, it felt like a punishment. It was supposed to be melt-in-your-mouth delicacy; instead, it was a smelly, chewy insult.

The main course? A supposed filet mignon that could only be described as an affront to cattle everywhere. It was stringy, tough, and unmistakably not the cut they claimed it to be. Calling it a scam would be generous. The pièce de résistance of this sham was a side of sauce Béarnaise – for which they had the gall to charge 11 euros. Eleven euros for a tablespoon of what could only be described as a culinary crime. Watery, flavorless, and entirely devoid of any of the rich, velvety texture that defines a good Béarnaise.

To say I was disappointed is an understatement. Beefbar’s prices suggest a premium experience, but what you actually get is culinary fraud served with a side of incompetence. It’s one thing to charge premium prices for fine dining, but this place is essentially robbing its patrons while delivering subpar food and shockingly poor service.

I cannot emphasize this enough: Beefbar Paris is a waste of money, time, and frankly, respect for your own birthday. Save yourself the frustration and go somewhere else – anywhere else. This place is an embarrassment to the Paris dining scene and deserves to be shut down. Please, for the sake of your wallet and your stomach, avoid Beefbar...

I must say I’m very disappointed about our experience having dinner tonight at Beefbar. I did read the reviews in advance of going and I should have trusted the feedback, but we still decided to give the restaurant a chance and we regretted our decision as we felt we waisted our evening in Paris.

Food: food is fine. I consider my self a big time steak expert and I try steak all over the world from Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas London etc. If you like very large American style steak, this is not it but the quality of meat was good and steak was cooked to temperature per order. Pricey compared to quantity of food, but you know how much you’re paying before going here and this is Paris after all so complaining about price is not fair.

Service: This was my entire issue here. Front desk staff were very friendly and welcoming and one of the waitresses who was not our waitress ( black hair don’t know her name) was very friendly. However our waitress was awful and not attentive at all and just rude at some point. Drinks took forever to be delivered. The table next to us was seated after us and had drinks prior to us. Waitress came by table and as we are asking questions about menu and trying to order she started another conversation with a different table in the middle of us speaking with her. Service was very slow. Food came out promptly which was the positive by kitchen. Once we were done with our meal, we told her we need to leave soon and we are full so we don’t want dessert and that we’d like our check. 20 minutes later and still nothing. At this point the dining room was not busy but the waitress just continued to ignore us and started setting up the empty tables next to us with plates and glasses but for some reason decided our check was not important. Finally we got a hold of the nice person who I mentioned earlier who promptly brought the check and ran our credit card. Our main waitress just seemed upset with us and everything we tried to engage with her a bit to turn the night around she wasn’t having any of it. She didn’t even bother to send us off or come by and say thank you or anything after we had to use another waitress to close out.

Look I understand Paris has a reputation for not providing good service but that is to be expected at cafes and smaller caliber restaurants. When I’m paying prices like this, I’m not coming just to enjoy the meat alone, as a client I’m looking for that experience that is ultimately driven by the quality of the service provided by the staff.

What is frustrating is that the management of this establishment has responded to several reviews on this post that mostly also have had issues and complaints about the quality of service vs. the food but it seems that nothing has been done to resolve this ongoing issue with...

Short summary: Where Beefbar stands out is the artistic interieur style while creating a cozy atmosphere as well. It’s a great place for special occasions, but also easy to go to any time.

Welcome, first impression & service: We received a friendly welcome and were greeted by the waiters when being brought to our table. The plates with individual Emojis imprinted are a felicitous change and can even be bought in their online shop. Important: The restaurant has different rooms and not each of them has this artistic style as shown on the picture. I assume the earlier you book a reservation, the better the chances to be in that room. The service was very friendly and attentive for the whole night. Also, we never had to wait long for what we ordered.

The food: As a starter we had Rock Corn (corn in tempura with spicy mayonnaise) and Mini Big K (Mini Kobe beef bacon burgers & sauces). While the Rock Corn is definitely to recommend, the Mini Big K was not special. You do not really taste the Kobe beef and the sauces are the same for each of the 3 mini burgers. As a main I had the Terroir Filet, 200g with Fries, jalapeños peppers and the Paradise Pepper Sauce (Sarawak black pepper, pink peppercorn, yellow mustard). Simply said, on point. Medium rare to the point, high quality meat, delicious sides and a tasty sauce. I would order this combination again. Nothing to complain on what I ordered.

Worth to mention: At first, I wanted to order the Coeur d‘Entrecôte from the menu’s Grilled section with Parmesan & Summer Truffle Fries. I was told that’s not possible. All the meat from the Grilled section comes with the Homemade Potato Mash always. This is nowhere mentioned on the menu and is also something I do not understand why it should not be possible. But, there was no way around it. In the end I chose something different which was delicious in the end, but also cheaper for me or also said less profitable for the restaurant. In that regards, I would expect more flexibility or a better explanation why I must take the...