Les Deux Palais — Restaurant in Paris

Very disappointing experience. I truly feel we were treated poorly because we don’t speak French which made us feel very unwelcome, especially my cousin who is visiting Europe/France/Paris for her first time. Bad impression on her.

We sat down and waited 10 minutes simply to be served water, which we had to flag down the waiter to request (he went by our table numerous times and avoided eye contact). That would be not such a big deal except that after we requested our water and while we were waiting, still parched, our waiter seated a table (of French-speaking people) next to us and brought them water AND a basket of bread, all before we had even received the water we had requested minutes earlier… we were thirsty, hungry, and upset by this treatment, watching the people next to us eat and drink when we had been waiting for a long time just for water by this point.

When he finally did bring our bread, he practically tossed it onto our table, hitting the basket into my hand in the process… my hand which happened to be holding my cocktail as I was mid-sip, which resulted in the cocktail spilling all over my hand. He did not even acknowledge this or apologize for ramming the bread basket into me and spilling my drink… he just walked away. There’s no way he didn’t notice—he literally rammed the basket into my cocktail then placed it down on the table.

More than that, he did not smile, act friendly/hospitable, or really even try to engage with us even once. We are not obnoxious tourists… just hungry people who came to a supposedly nice restaurant for lunch and happen not to speak French. Truly, I tried not to take all this personally or assume he was doing it on purpose, but at a certain point it’s just rude. If you’re not open to serving non-French-speaking people or visitors, then maybe you shouldn’t be located directly across from the Sainte-Chappelle.

That said, our food was delicious. My goat cheese salad was memorable—I loved the goat cheese broiled onto the pieces of baguette! I was starving when we got there but I couldn’t even finish the whole salad. Filling...

Unfortunate experience. I met an American friend who's visiting Paris here. The premises are handsome, the location is excellent, the food is surprisingly good.

However, if the waiter asks if you're American, either decline to answer or say no. My friend said yes. The waiter then began to ask whether she was happy about Trump being elected. She said no. He wanted to know why, especially since Biden was "trop vieux."

I won't detail all of what was said, but the waiter would not be deterred from dwelling upon the subject, even as we were leaving. It was extremely uncomfortable. And though my friend valiantly attempted to defend herself, and kept her tone civil and polite, he just kept talking over her.

One of his final shots was to say that all immigrants should be thrown out of France.

Well, monsieur--I am an immigrant whose work brings visitors and their money to Paris and to France, and I pay more in impots each year than any French person I know. I obey the laws, I came here legally. I am not a drain on your economy, I am contributing to it.

I do not recommend this establishment if you are not deeply right-wing and if you are not French, as evidently we are unwelcome. The salad was quite good, but the politics...

The perfect place for an interlude between banks, especially if you find yourself caught in a downpour or simply in desire of a break. It’s a classic, bright and bustling and well-polished brasserie. No matter how crowded it may appear, an aproned waiter will always find you a good table for people-watching, a meal, or an intimate tête à tête with a co-conspirator.

The crowd is a pretty even split. On the one side, you’ll find clusters of Parisians arguing over a new legislation or book or family problem. On the other side, you’ll have Americans on their last day of their trip, the women in their berets and dudes in their cotton hoodies ordering fries and asking for ketchup. But the overarching vibe of this place is too powerful—it charms everyone into momentary cultural cohesion.

Should you crave something naughty to accompany your caffeine, the eclair is unlike any eclair you will have ever tried. It’s expensive, but there’s a reason. In fact, consider it your moral obligation to order one for the table. And when you do, you can take a bite, close your eyes and send thanks to this random reviewer on Google....