Le Café by Yannick Alléno — Restaurant in Paris

Unfortunately, our experience at the Dior Café in Paris was quite underwhelming. While we expected a luxurious and refined setting, the reality was far from it.

Atmosphere & Ambience: The café area is quite small with very limited seating, making it feel cramped and busy. Given the Dior name, we anticipated elegant décor, but it was disappointingly plain, with no distinct branding or luxurious touches to indicate we were in a high-end designer café.

Service & Menu Accessibility: Service was slow—we waited 20 minutes for our beverages despite only ordering a hot chocolate with oat milk and a chai latte with oat milk. One of the biggest inconveniences was the menu situation. The menu was only available in French, with no option to scan a QR code or access it in another language. This meant the staff had to read out the entire menu, which felt rushed and uncomfortable.

Beverages & Presentation: The hot chocolate was rich and enjoyable, though a little cream would have been a nice addition—unfortunately, this wasn’t an option. However, the chai latte was room temperature upon arrival. When I politely raised this with the waitress, she called over a supervisor/manager named Edmon, whose customer service was appalling. Instead of listening to my concern, he immediately became defensive, insisting the drink was fine because "the machine makes them all the same temperature." He also wrongly assumed I was asking for a refund when I simply wanted a warm drink. His dismissive and rude attitude made me extremely uncomfortable, and I chose not to accept a replacement. Despite returning the untouched drink, I was still charged for it.

Overall Experience: For over €30 for two hot drinks, poor service, and no luxury experience, this café is absolutely not worth the visit. There are far better cafés in Paris that offer exceptional service, better value, and a much more enjoyable atmosphere. Save your money and...

As with any outing, we like to eat first before sightseeing, and before our Dior Gallery tour, we decided to do just that. Instead of heading straight in like everyone else, we stopped at the smaller café you end up in after the exhibit — and it turned out to be a great choice. It was quiet, calm, and beautifully designed, a perfect place to start our visit.

We were warmly greeted and told to sit anywhere, so we chose a corner table for four and ordered a few things to share. I started with a mocktail since it was still early. We had the sandwich trio — smoked salmon, egg salad, and chicken — all beautifully presented and delicious, so much so that we ordered another set. The croque monsieur, wrapped in a charming houndstooth-printed bread, was a fun surprise, and the ham baguette sandwich was simple but very good. The Caesar salad, adorned with edible flowers and shaken tableside in a cocktail shaker, was both clever and tasty.

We also ordered a couple of bottles of water, and while I don’t remember the exact total, it was easily over USD $100, with the salad alone priced at €25. Yes, it’s expensive — but when you’re sitting at Dior, eating off Dior china with Dior cutlery, it feels fitting. It’s less about the meal itself and more about the experience, and on that note, it was...

At the entrance, I was greeted and politely shown to my table — that’s a plus. I ordered a cocktail and the famous “star” dessert, which was okay, not amazing. Of course, you come here more for the experience than the taste, but when you overpay, it’s for a reason — at least for a welcoming attitude and atmosphere.

Unfortunately, my server, an Asian-looking woman, seemed to be having a bad day. When I asked for her dessert recommendation, she responded in a rather aggressive manner, as if one more question would make her yell or spit in my drink. She didn’t even say “enjoy your meal” when serving the food, and her face expressed nothing but dislike for the world, people, and her job.

I genuinely believe that people who dislike working with clients should change jobs. It was clear she had no interest in tips. While the café’s garden and overall setting are pleasant, I would rate the service from this waitress at minus 100 if possible. I strongly suggest Dior management choose staff more carefully, remembering that in such places, service matters more than...