Joe Allen — Restaurant in Paris

A relative took me to Joe Allen's for lunch a few weeks ago and I went back since. She told me it was the oldest American restaurant in Paris.

First of all, I rated it four stars not because there's anything wrong with it. The food is great. The portions are not American-sized, but bigger than what you'd find in Paris.

I'm a French person who's lived in the US for a long time and so I have specific expectations for both French did in the US and American food in France. I had brunch at Joe Allen's about a week ago and it was only served on weekends until 4 pm. There's nothing wrong with that. But I associate an American diner-style place as second breakfast all day every day. They do serve eggs for lunch, but those seem to be much smaller portions.

I also asked for coffee with cream and I got just that. Again, I was expecting black coffee with cream on the side. It's a detail, but you don't really expect cream served in your coffee in an American place. The mug it can in was nice. Branded to the restaurant's name, but small. I would have liked to have more coffee, but I was never offered. There never are refills in Paris, but I would have ordered more coffee if offered to. In the US, they're always offering you more coffee.

Again, to be fair, my waiter was just starting. When I arrived, he thought brunch was over. I had asked for shambled eggs in French and he asked me how I wanted them using the English words for the two options in a French sentence. I told him that the word I'd used in French meant "scrambled". We were both French. It was strange. There were only two options. You'd think he'd know both names for both. In the US, there would be at least six options: in addition to scrambled and fried (or "sunny-side up"), there would be over easy (what I usually get), poached, hard boiled and soft boiled. But you can't expect a whole American diner menu in Paris. It would be unprofitable.

I also had some jalapeno poppers. They were okay but there were few of them. The first time I went to Joe Allen's, I had the club sandwich, which was very good. I have not tried the burgers.

So everything is good, but the last time I went, at least, it was always one step away from a smooth experience. Nothing was bad at all. It was all good. It's just that things had to be justified, explained, accepted. It just made the whole feeling of the place seem unfinished. That's an issue for the oldest American...

So we went to Paris during half term as a treat for our sons 10th birthday, but were not having the best of times, fell for a ticket scam in the metro, apartment we were staying in had many issues which were not making the experience very nice. So we really needed something to go right, we had a look around the area near where we were staying and found Joe Allen’s. The oldest American food restaurant in Paris. My son instantly wanted to try it. It looked busy from the outside as was happy hour so had lots of Parisians sampling the drinks on offer. We were greeted by friendly staff who took us inside to the restaurant. Which was quite empty. As we did not speak French very well the staff conversed with us in English. The place had a really nice chilled vibe. We were there at 7pm and by 8pm there was not a table available anywhere, which I like to think is always a good sign. We ordered some drinks from the happy hour menu then ordered food, I had the Louisiana chicken, my wife had the wasabi salmon and my son went for the old favourite of a cheeseburger from the children’s menu. Before our food came we were given popcorn and peanuts, then bread and butter and also bottles of water. When our food came to the table all were lovely meals, they seemed like nice home cooked meals made freshly for us. The cheeseburger was big enough for any adult let alone the kids. We finished the night with some desserts, apple crumble and ice cream which were equally nice. As it was my sons birthday they also added a candle for him and sang happy birthday. This was the place we needed to make us all happy again. Great food, great atmosphere and lovely staff. Would...

We had a terrible experience last night at your restaurant here in Paris. The manager, Ian, was rude and un accommodating. Everyone at our table of 7 got their drinks and food but not me. No glass of champagne, no French fries no say their for half hour waiting while the waiter went back and forth serving other tables. When I went to the bar to ask what the problem was, Ian said the place was packed (it was not at all packed) and it was the waiter’s first day. He offered me a glass of champagne, which was a nice gesture, but had such an attitude! When my “Pomme frites” arrived, they were sweet potato fries that were SOGGY. The waiter said that in France, when you say “frites”, it means sweet potato fries. What??? Such BS! We were all together to celebrate a friend from Hollywood Savoy who passed away. Everyone at the table was a server there 40 years ago, so they know what good service is. Ian didn’t even know the restaurant when I asked him. I was a singer there in between singing with Michel Sardou. The last time I was at your restaurant in Paris I was with Jessye Norman during a production I was in with her at Théâtre de Champs-Elysees. It has gone DOWNHILL! I go to Joe Allen’s in NYC often, as it’s where I live, but...