Bistrot De La Gaité karaoké — Restaurant in Paris

Warning: Physical assault by Elia Cordier (manager of this bar) - avoid this bar

Unsafe environment

I have never written a review before but the injustice of this situation leaves me compelled to warn others about a serious safety incident that occurred during my visit last weekend.

I entered the bar with a friend and politely asked for a glass of water. There was a language barrier, and while my friend (who speaks French) was preparing to help translate, the manager immediately became aggressive. Before any translation could occur, she grabbed my arm and forcibly took me towards the exit, refusing to let go. Security stepped in to remove the woman from me. This has resulted in physical bruising on my arm. I attach a picture of the bruising to this review.

Other staff members immediately began apologising on the manager’s behalf and offered free drinks throughout the night - clearly acknowledging that her behaviour was unacceptable. They asked me to “please let it go” in fear I would escalate to the police. After the incident, my friend made two attempts to speak to the manager but was met with the same aggression. The manager herself refused to apologise or acknowledge her actions.

Reading other reviews, this seems to be part of a concerning pattern of aggressive or spiteful behaviour from staff at this establishment. This is obviously not an isolated event and I would urge the owner of the bar to take a serious look at who they have employed. Simply apologising in response to reviews and claiming this is not representative of the establishment is not enough - the consistent trail of reviews about poor behaviour from their staff suggests otherwise.

Having someone this aggressive in a customer facing role, especially a manager, is deeply concerning. In my view, a manager demonstrating violent behaviour sets a toxic culture and normalises completely unacceptable treatment of customers.

My friends and I consider ourselves respectful people who always treat service staff with courtesy, making the injustice of the situation even harder to process. My arm was in a lot of pain and I am still upset and shocked by what occurred.

I am including a picture of the manager responsible for this assault (lady in the light blue striped shirt and light blue jeans).

No customer should ever be physically assaulted for asking for water. We have considered involving the police due to the severity of the situation. This bar poses a genuine safety risk to customers.

There are many wonderful bars in Paris where you can enjoy yourself without fear of physical assault from staff. Please...

Went there for a friend birthday because they have a karaoke room. Food: the drinks are excessively pricey in my opinion, the tartare was actually pretty decent and tasty. Service: this is the negative point, the waiter was not nice, it looked like we were bothering him. Not warm or smiling at all. I have to admit that the waitress on the contrary that night was really nice, more joyful and smiley. I have been told by a friend that the waiter attitude was a "parisien waiter" attitude. Really unfortunate to encounter this kind of people.

I would not recommend to come as we do not feel...

HORRIBLE! AVOID AT ALL COSTS!! Incredibly rude welcome, the waitress made us feel unwanted the whole time, and they serve very mediocre food (their charcuterie and cheese planche is a disgrace, see for yourself). At some point the waitress started screaming at one of her staff in front of everyone, for several minutes, making a huge scene. It made one of the customers feel so uncomfortable they almost called the police on them. Absurd evening, will never set foot in this place again. ENDROIT A EVITER...