La Poule au Pot — Restaurant in Paris

Every restaurant is allowed to have a bad day and not every discrepancy has to be rated immediately. However, what we experienced in "La Poule au Pot" on May 6th, 2023 is simply unimaginable and a low point par excellence. To start with, the tables are so close together that one cannot get up from the bench without pulling the table all the way forward. The guests at the next table are literally 5 cm away from you. When we arrived, we were left sitting for 15 minutes. No question about whether we want to have a drink. When the waiter found time for us, the menus were handed to us more or less without comment. We quickly ordered two glasses of champagne, which came after 10 minutes. When our order was taken, we asked for the wine list. After the starters, it still wasn't there, so we asked for it again. This came with our main courses. We were already halfway through the main course when I had to wave the waiter over again to order the wine. We really tried to keep the spirit up, smile away the disagreements and give the staff a chance to get it right. However, the hustle and bustle in the restaurant was almost unbearable. The staff seemed totally hectic and in a bad mood. No communication, no asking if everything was ok, plates were silently put away. I was sitting by the exit from the kitchen. One waiter (Chef de Service?) was so hectic, nervous and aggressively running in and out of the kitchen that I was afraid the whole time that the swinging door to the kitchen would hit me. With so much hectic and aggression, it was impossible for us to feel comfortable. Our wine came, but the wine cooler didn't fit next to our table (like I said, very tight). So we had to vie for the attention of the staff for every glass. Only the staff was so inattentive and uninterested that our patience was tested. I don't want to enumerate every detail, but just a few examples: the appetizer came, I had to ask twice for the bread that went with it and waited for 10 minutes, our glasses were not changed between champagne and wine, the ladle for my appetizer was missing… That wouldn't normally bother me much, I would just ask politely for the ladle and be fine. But when the staff is so inattentive and every little request becomes a test of patience... At some point we gave up, it didn't seem to be salvageable. I have to note one detail: the toilet in the restaurant (one!) had no soap. The rather large soap dispenser stood smeared and empty next to the sink. No soap in a restaurant, especially one that wants to be upscale, is unreasonable. Especially since the large soap dispenser was certainly not emptied that one evening. Now for the food: solid French bistro cuisine. Undoubtedly good, but let's be honest: is "good" enough when asparagus with mousseline sauce costs €42 (small starter)? Wines are in the high-price segment, but without any advice or recommendation from the staff. The flambéed steak in pepper sauce with loads of allumette fries (who needs so many fries?) for €48 was decent (albeit more “bien cuit” than “à point”). Rock solid and anything but bad. But the circumstances described can spoil any (and much better) meal. With two glasses of champagne, a bottle of wine, mineral water, two starters and two mains, our bill came to €272. We skipped dessert, we just wanted to leave (and again had to ask for the bill twice in a half-empty restaurant and wait almost 20 minutes). It's the first time in my 42 years that I've left a restaurant without leaving a tip. Small comment at the end: The employee who received us (managing director?) asked as we were leaving if everything was ok. I said no and briefly described the above-mentioned. He asked: How was the food? Yes, it was ok, I said. Him: Well, desolée, but at least the food was good. We were speechless. At this price level you can eat much better even in Paris - in a friendly, appreciative and hospitable atmosphere. "La Poule au Pot" is definitely not one of those...

My partner and I arrived at Poule au Pot no more than a minute or two late for a 9:00 p.m. reservation that had been made through the restaurant's online reservation system almost a month in advance. Upon arriving and greeting the host and mentioning our reservation in French, "Thomas", responded to us in English that he did not have a reservation for us. When I showed him the confirmation email, he pointed at the date on the email that notes when the reservation was made and insisted that was the date of our reservation and that we had made a mistake. While my French is bad, it isn't that bad, and I pointed to the proper date for our reservation noted on the email. Once I did that, he insisted that I had not clicked the "Confirmer Ma Reservation" link in the email and that our reservation had been canceled. He tried to prove the point by having me click on the link while in the restaurant. When I did so, the reservation website brought up an "Authorisation refusee" message that the host used as justification for saying that we didn't have a reservation. The problem? Since it was now a few minutes (no more than five) after our reservation time, this is the message that the website displays whether or not a reservation has been confirmed. I know that I had confirmed the reservation promptly a few days earlier, but since the reservation system doesn't generate confirmation emails, there was no way of proving it.

When I asked if we could be accommodated anyway, noting a few empty tables in the restaurant, we were told that they were booked for the night. I then asked if it would be possible to make a reservation in the next few days. "Thomas" was completely unhelpful, refusing to look up availability and only gave us the restaurant's card and told us that they might have availability "tomorrow or Monday" and to call and ask for him. We then left annoyed by the situation but me mostly mad at myself that I had somehow made a mistake in booking and confirming the reservation.

About 15 minutes later we arrived back at our hotel room, at which point the anger at myself shifted to the restaurant and the host, "Thomas". In looking online to see if another reservation was available during the remainder of our stay in Paris, I discovered that there was a 9:30 p.m. reservation available that evening, so the host's insistence that the restaurant was booked for the night was a lie. Furthermore, I discovered that the restaurant is closed on Sundays and Mondays - the two days that the host told us that the restaurant may have availability.

Since the two of us arrived on time for the reservation, were dressed in a manner and style similar to the other diners, greeted the host in French, were polite during the entire interaction and are white, it is difficult to come to the conclusion that we were turned away and treated as we were for any other reason than we were a gay couple. I would recommend that any LGBT person who wishes to dine at this restaurant to do so only with the expectation of the possibility of being refused service, and a backup reservation at another...

A place managed by some kind of rude idiot, denied us entry to the restaurant despite having a reservation and refused to check for our name 🤦🏻‍♂️

When we arrived in time for our reservation, we were immediately asked to show our email reservation confirmation, not exactly in a courteous way but fine. Mother-in-law explained her phone battery died but provided them with the name the reservation was under.The sweaty idiot with long hair which I imagine is some kind of manager didn't wait to say "If you come for me the reservation confirmation, you can't eat here" which is as rude as it is idiotic. He wouldn't check the reservation list for our name and frantically repeated "Can you show me the confirmation email? No? Then you have to leave", essentially kicking us out without Even doing the care minimum of checking for the reservation list. We were dumbfounded, certain we had the reservation (mother in law called them to confirm a day earlier, got an email reminder in the morning that prompted her to confirm her attendance, which she did). The sweaty idiot which had a very agitated/erratic behavior said "I don't have a reservation for that name" without checking any registry and asking us to leave, it's clear we were not welcome here.

Back at the hotel, we did in fact, have a reservation and the phone still had the confirmation page open, evidence mother-in-law did click the confirmation link.

At best this place is managed by profound idiots that care very little about the people visiting their establishment, at worse the Asian background of my in-law that walked in first in the restaurant triggered this intense reaction. Quite an embarrassment as a Parisian myself sadly.

Edit: Reading through other reviews the behavior of "the manager" and especially towards foreigners appears to be consistent with it experience 🤔 I'd avoid the place as the food reviews are mixed at best but the service is so blatantly bad you're essentially making a gamble as to whether you'll get your reservation denied, be ignored by waiters or be treated rudely and rushed out - Pick...