Le Petit Célestin — Restaurant in Paris

Definitely got the “American Special” here. When I asked for a table for two the waiter balked and asked if we had reservations. I told him we did not and he said he would have to seat us outside. We agreed and he made to sure to seat us at a crammed little table right by the entrance so that people’s jackets and bags would be hitting my wife and I all night long. I didn’t fuss though and was grateful we could get a table since they apparently get so busy on a Sunday night.

After we sat down, everything went down hill. I had to ask for absolutley everything. I had to ask for the menu, for the wine list, for literally every part of my meal. We were blatantly ignored for long periods of time and when I asked a waiter for anything I would have to ask a minimum of three more times before we would actually get it. Meanwhile, all of the apparent friends of the staff and tables who had just women at them were VERY well taken care of.

Things came to a boiling point when I had asked my waiter for the fifth time for the bill. Yes, I had to ask him FIVE times and every time he promised he would bring it right away. I had physically hold my arm up and stop the guy the fifth time around because he refused to take my request seriously. Finally, we got our bill. At no suprise I look at the itemized bill and it had multiple things on it that we had ordered but never received. Luckily they did not have an issue when I pointed it out and removed the charges from the bill. Absolutley horrendous service all night and clear favoritism towards locals and friends.

It was insane how I felt like a prisoner there. At the end we only had a glass of wine each, some sparkling water, and two entrees. Somehow that took almost three whole hours from start to finish - mainly because the wait staff made it a point to serve nearly every other table in the restaurant before us (despite 75% of them arriving after us) and the incessant need to repeat requests for anything. Oh yeah, what little food we did get - was “okay”...

When my wife and I visit Paris, we always stay at the hotel Caron de Beaumarchais and we always have at least one great dinner at Petit Celestin. We met my brother in Paris two days ago and dinner last night at Petit Celestin was no exception. We started with warm bread and a plate of cornichons and freshly sliced ham for the table - simple perfection - everything you hope French cuisine. For appetizers, my wife and I enjoyed seasonal soup (pumpkin), my brother and his wife had ceviche and the special artichoke fondant - all wonderful. Our entrees were scallops, pasta, a smaller steak (fillet mignon) and a larger steak (ribeye). The steaks were served with superb homemade frites (French fries), an incredible peppercorn sauce, and were cooked perfectly (medium-well for me and rare for my brother). We drank copious amounts of red Burgundy (very good) and chilled water (Hint: everywhere in France you can always ask for a free "carafe de l'eau" - restaurants are required to offer it as an alternative to bottled water - spend money on food and wine, not bottled water, and help save the environment!). For dessert we shared a floating island (delicious and light), chocolate mousse (3 decadent scoops of dark chocolate mousse sprinkled with sliced almonds) and French version of "lemon meringue pie" (sour sweet lemon custard topped by mile-high meringue - best dessert of the evening). The restaurant has a lively, young vibe. Reservations are essential for dinner, less so for lunch. There is one larger table in the back (by the toilette) - ask to AVOID this table when you make your reservation - we have never sat there, but it imagine that it might be unpleasant. After dinner, we walk back to our hotel along the river and then window-shop along Rue Saint Paul. You cannot ask for a better...

What should have been a nice diner, became an evening of frustration and waiting.

When we got there we ordered wine and the charcuterie board (with 6 people). We got the wine and thought that the plate would arrive shortly. Eventually we ordered some more bites. The bites came, but the charcuterie board was still missing. After asking again they told us that the ham was out of stock. Okay, that can happen. We then ordered the main dishes. After waiting some more we got those. But they forgot the dish that 3 of us would partake in (they also forgot to give half of us knives, but okay). The waiting began again. Eventually the others began eating there food and they even finished. After they had long finished the other dish finally came. We must admit that the meat was very nice, but because of the time it took a little bit of the joy of eating nice food was missing. When we were done we wanted to get some dessert and coffee to end our dinner. But the wait took so long before someone would take our order that we just wanted to go at this point. So we told them. Where you would think that they got the message and would be a little quicker, they again let us wait till we got up and put our coats on. The waiter appologized, but in a way that sounded as if they themselves were annoyed (we didn't even ask once how long it would still take). With only some wine, bites and the main dish we were there for more then 2.5 hours.

We are no strangers to Paris and also prefer the none touristy restaurants. But this kind of bad service we haven't seen in a long time. Is it because we...