Le Petit Vendôme — Restaurant in Paris

My wife usually does the reviews but this time I just had to write. As Americans on holiday we like to find unique resturants that will provide us with an authentic meal and atmosphere. So after a wonderful day in town, we decided to give this place a shot. It had great reviews and the photos of there lamb looked amazing. Let me start by saying that nobody greeted us as we waited in the front for about 5 minutes. We were so use to the amazing parisian service that we felt out of place. Nonetheless, I walked to the bar tender and asked for a table for 2. She pointed at a nearby table and asked us to have a seat. Well, close to 10 minutes go by and the server paid no attention to us, even though she passed by every minute. Eventually my wife calls for the server but the bar tender ends up coming. (Wth?) She takes our order and moments later brings our drinks. At this time we figured the server wont be taking care of us (even thou shes serving everyone around us and annoyingly keeps bumping into my right shoulder).. Well let me say that Klaire and I paitently waited 1 hour before we got up and asked for an update. I initially was thinking it was because they were making the food fresh but it turns out the chef never got our order. The bar tender starts rambling about how its not her fault and brings us some bread and cold meats. Then says she can put the order in again. At this point I've concluded that they simply dont care for us. I wanted to state that she could have atleast checked in on us but it was pointless to even attempt a conversation (she kept rambling), so we just got up and left. We ended up having a great meal at a nearby cafe and ended the night having cheesecake at a local bar/club 🤣🤣... btw this place literally had no locals there. I honestly felt like it was just for tourists. Which makes me wonder if the food is even authentic. Im glad I didnt end up eating there as there are literally ten times better places just around the corner... ferdi, cafe,...

French onion soup was great! Tried Foie gras for the first time here - definitely an acquired taste but good to try! Found this place from a few recommended videos, seems to be loved by locals.

Unfortunately, this place seems to pack-in more customers than it can handle. Seating is very tight (like physically not enough space to yourself). Some tables are so jam packed, the customers have to physically push them out in order to exit from sitting on the other side of it.

I would not recommend ever sitting at bar seating (and frankly they shouldn’t even offer this as an option due to food safety concerns!): there were bugs flying everywhere and I mean everywhere. There was open butter and meats and beer, and yes bugs flying everywhere. Had to constantly swat them away during my meal. On top of this, the sink is right behind the bar seating so it’s very disruptive when eating. In fact, they were cleaning something and splashes of soap and water got on our placemats (luckily our food didn’t come out yet). I was uncomfortable during majority of my meal.

I also have concerns re: safe food handling. No gloves were being used when handling/cutting raw meats, same hands used to slice bread etc. I also noticed raw meats touching the countertops (not on a cutting board or anything either?).

I also saw employees placing their coats under the section where they cut the meat? And apparently they let a customer store his over-sized suitcase next to this as well?!

Not sure my experience was due to overcrowding...

Shame on Eater for recommending a place that can't even make French fries properly! And treats non-French customers horribly! Loud, happy atmosphere, but that's where it ends. Almost impossible to get service, took forever to get menus. Only got the water we initially ordered when we got the check! The waiter laughed at my husband with his French customers, right to our face. Before that, he got mad at us for getting up to ask for a spoon, but he's the one who brought us soup without a spoon, and getting their attention is impossible. Why are you mad at us for your error?! He kept yelling instead of apologizing. I guess we got a classic "French waiter" experience, but it would have been more tolerable if the food were excellent, which IT WASN'T. More than half of my fries had to be tossed aside because they were nothing but hard, thin, inedible shells. AND the prices online are much lower than on the English menu! The onion soup is €8.50 online BUT IT'S €12 on the menu! Almost 50% more! So they either did not update their site or they charge tourists more. DON'T give them your business. We made a real effort to get there because of the Eater 38 list, but I don't see any reason for this hole to be included. SHAME!!! We were starving and exhausted, but what a wasted dinner, in a city full of fantastic food. With their crappy attitude I couldn't...