Le Septième Vin — Restaurant in Paris

My parents and I were in Paris, staying in the 7th, for a long weekend to celebrate my Dad's birthday. We wanted to eat in more local neighborhood restaurants. After doing a lot of research, I found Le Septieme Vin and made a reservation. They're old school and correspond through email or phone, no third party platform. My immediate thoughts upon walking into the quaint little restaurant was "this is going to be the best meal!" In truth, the food was excellent; definitely the best meal we had in Paris all weekend. The maitre'd seated us at a small bistro table by a window. He and the waiter were pleasant and attentive. The food was exceptional. If the night had ended there, I would be giving them a 5-star review. However, half way through our dinner, with the restaurant quite full, a group of people came in and stood right in the entrance. Making the space seem quite cramped. They were lead in by a woman who was very boisterous and animated in an obnoxious way. She began bossing around the maitre'd, pointing at our table and speaking in French. That then turned into her whispering and eyeing my family to the group of people. It was like being in a fishbowl and became very uncomfortable. She approached us and in an extremely condescending tone and asked if we could move tables because the larger group wanted to all sit together and needed our table. We agreed so as to avoid any conflict and were seated at the back of the restaurant next to the bathroom! As the reader, you can only imagine how that went. The maitre'd and waiter were visibly upset by her actions and did offer us a glass of champagne as an apology, but the night was ruined. The excellent boeuf bourguignon had soured in our mouths. The frustrating part of the evening was that it was clearly because we were American and she wanted to accommodate her friends. Owner, hostess, whatever she was, she is the black stain on what could have been our ultimate Parisian evening. Upon returning to Boston the following day, our annoyance at her audacity lingered resulting in my mother writing a review on another well known travel site. The restaurant responded with nothing but sass and defensiveness. Her explanation was a mix up with reservations. Interestingly enough, I remember the befuddled maitre'd pointing to his reservation book during their "discussion." The group who so desperately needed our table were clearly her friends, as she sat down to eat and drink with them. Professionalism? Out the window. In closing, in order for Le Septieme Vin to live up to the great potential that it has to be one of the BEST restaurants in Paris, that woman...

One beautiful night in Paris, my husband and I set out to find a place to eat. We were looking for a specific restaurant we had looked up on trip advisor. Walking by 7eme vin - which serves traditional French food - I noticed the cozy atmosphere and wanted to go in. But, we were on a mission. We walked a few more blocks and couldn't find the restaurant we were looking for. I suggested going back to this intriguing little spot. And as we entered, we knew we found someplace special. The restaurant is small but so inviting. The waiter seated us and brought over the menus on chalkboards. (They had menus written in English) We made our choices, using the little French we know to order. Looking around the room, we saw a couple romantically holding hands, leaning across the table like they were the only two there. A bigger table with women laughing and ordering bottles of wine. A French couple and young child, speaking in excited tones, like they were catching up. And one waiter, going from table to table - masterfully waiting on the entire room. The food was outstanding. The warm goat cheese salad, and filet with a port and duck liver sauce were to die for. The creme brûlée had the perfect crunch and creamy taste. At the end of our meal, the waiter brought us two shots for attempting to speak French and another two when we told him we were on our honeymoon. As we left, we already made up our mind to go back the next night... As that was our last in Paris. We wanted to close out our two week European honeymoon enjoying the delicious food and delightful atmosphere. And we weren't disappointed - our second night was just as good as the first! When we return to Paris, we will most certainly go back....

We loved this place. It's exactly what we were hoping to find and more. Visiting Paris with no reservations is not the best strategy, but we picked places each day based on where we were and tried to choose spots on good reviews. We had some average to bad meals. It's difficult to pick your way through the dining options in the city, especially if you don't want to spend over $100 per person. As well known as Paris is for food, we were surprised at how many places serve simply bad food. We stayed in the 7th, so we had a number of meals in the area. We lucked out with Le Septieme Vin. Easily our best meal in Paris. Amazing food, very friendly and a nice outdoor table. And a great value. I believe it was the owner who waited on us and she was great. Certainly someone who cares about the quality of the food and the experience of dining there and knows how to execute both. This place deserves to stand way out among all the tourist trap cafes and other restaurants in the area serving poor to average food for the same or higher price. Great cocktail bar next door too. Our most enjoyable...