Breakfast in America - Champs-Élysées — Restaurant in Paris

No breakfast in Paris. It’s complicated. We showed up early to get ahead of the crowd, at 8:45, after the posted opening time. As we tried to enter the restaurant the person behind the counter glanced at us with an awkward look. “Are you open?” I asked. “It’s complicated,” she said, obviously too caught up in her job to acknowledge a customer (which visibly isn’t part of it). I felt the vibe and apologetically said “We came early because it says you open at 8:30.” “Yeah but not today.” That was the end of the conversation. She turned around starting to talk with her colleague. She could have taken down our name and told us when they would open, also a quick “sorry” would have been nice, but the “America” part was in name only. I’ve never felt more like a tourist after living here for ten years. If you want to go, take your time to sleep in, because they’re not open when they claim they are. Personally I won’t bother trying again. Clearly we’re not good enough for this place and they don’t need money. In the meantime it would be nice if they could fix their opening hours on Google and stop pretending they’re open at 8:30. That way people get to sleep in on a Sunday while they get their restaurant sorted in the morning.

I’ll just follow Supertramp’s advice and save my money for a ticket to California instead.

Note: Gave the food 3 stars as default but obviously didn’t get the privilege to try it. Service and atmosphere speak...

The restaurant was supposed to open at 8:30 in the morning, so I made an effort to get up early and arrived around 8:50. However, it was clear that the restaurant was still not open. A female staff member was present, but she clearly ignored me. When I asked how long it would take to open, she simply replied, “That’s complicated.”

I can understand the feeling. Perhaps she was overwhelmed — working for minimum wage, understaffed, facing unexpected issues, and stuck without anyone to help with the opening process. Maybe she was on the verge of tears.

Still, there are customers who come looking forward to the experience. There are many ways to handle such situations. She could have explained her circumstances and said that she didn’t know exactly when they would open, and then let the customer decide whether to wait or come back another time. If the customer chose to wait, she could deal with them accordingly.

But giving off a “don’t talk to me” vibe and ignoring customers because of an irregular situation — especially when you’re getting paid to serve them — is the worst kind of service. It made me not want to come back.

If your restaurant claims to represent America on the sign, then I would hope the customer service lives up to that standard as well. If you’re being paid to work in customer service, you should at least treat customers with a basic level of respect and consideration.

Very...

I was really looking forward to my visit, but unfortunately, my experience was disappointing. I was served pancakes that were completely blackened—clearly burned and inedible. The waitress passed by my table several times without acknowledging the issue, and there was no comment or concern shown.

When it came time to pay, I mentioned that I hadn’t eaten the food, expecting at least an apology. Instead, I was told I could have said something earlier and they would have brought another plate. But after being served something like that, I really didn’t feel like giving it another try. Sometimes, the first impression is enough.

I rarely write negative reviews, but I do hope this encourages more attention to both the kitchen and the service...