Les Deux Magots — Restaurant in Paris

🌇Atmosphere Café Les Deux Magots is steeped in history and charm, offering a quintessential Parisian experience. The outdoor seating is perfect for people-watching in the bustling Saint-Germain-des-Prés area, while the interior maintains an old-world elegance with its traditional décor. Despite its popularity and occasional crowds, the ambiance remains sophisticated and quintessentially Parisian.

📍Location Located in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Café Les Deux Magots is surrounded by cultural landmarks, boutique shops, and galleries. Its central location makes it an iconic stop for anyone exploring Paris’s Left Bank.

📚Information Founded in 1885, Café Les Deux Magots has long been a cultural and intellectual hub in Paris. Once frequented by literary giants like Ernest Hemingway, Simone de Beauvoir, and Jean-Paul Sartre, the café became a symbol of intellectual life in Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Its name originates from a 19th-century boutique that sold luxury goods, with “Les Deux Magots” referring to two figurines of Chinese merchants that still adorn the café. Today, it remains one of the city’s most famous cafés, attracting visitors from around the world.

🫧Cleanliness: The café is well-maintained, with clean tables and efficient staff ensuring a tidy and pleasant environment even during busy hours. Its historic charm is preserved beautifully.

💰Value for Money: While the prices are on the higher side, they reflect the café’s iconic status and prime location. For a historic and cultural landmark, the experience feels worth it, especially if you pair it with standout dishes like the cheese platter or moelleux au chocolat.

👨‍🍳Staff Behavior: The staff are professional and efficient, maintaining a balance between handling the crowds and providing attentive service. Their demeanor enhances the experience, making you feel part of the café’s long-standing tradition.

🧐Final Thoughts: YES! Café Les Deux Magots offers a unique blend of history, atmosphere, and excellent food that makes it a worthwhile experience. While it may feel a bit touristy at times, its cultural significance, delicious menu options like the cheese platter and moelleux au chocolat, and iconic location make it a must-visit. Yes, it’s worth experiencing at least once for a true taste of Parisian...

Les Deux Magots is nothing more than a money-making venture this year. While it holds a fascinating history, commercialization has completely tarnished its reputation. This feedback comes from someone who has dined at several reputable restaurants around Paris. The same experience we encountered three years ago persists today.

Upon arriving with our reservation, we informed the waiter about having a vegan diner in our party. The reservation seemed to surprise the waiter, who then directed us outside, clearly among the tourists. Despite dressing appropriately to respect the place’s history, we were left dining with others dressed in hoodies and shorts. One neighboring group had members sleeping on the table, sipping on Sprite. Another table had loud Americans wearing baseball caps and sports jerseys.

Maintaining their reputation should prompt them to welcome guests who appreciate the place through their attire. The disposable cardboard tablecloths were scattered on the terrace, along with a dreadful mess of dirty dishes and food remnants on the floor and tables. The service itself was painfully slow. The waiter opened the wine bottle at our table and left it there for half an hour before pouring into our glasses. The glasses and cutlery were dirty, and we had to send them back to the kitchen.

Despite mentioning the vegan dietary preference, there was no preparation for it. My appetizer arrived with eggs, despite ordering it as vegan. For the main course, I was served a salad because apparently, there were no other options. It’s astonishing that a renowned restaurant like this in the present day fails to recognize vegans.

The asparagus appetizer was watery and slimy. The salad, my main course, was decent but not satisfying in any way. My partner, who eats fish, received a clearly meat-specific steak knife, and my wine glasses were haphazardly mismatched with different wines.

It’s utterly disheartening that such a place struggles to comprehend the difference between a vegan and a vegetarian, which is absurd in this day and age. The overall experience was quite disappointing, and we had hoped that the establishment would maintain its reputation by demanding a more respectful dress code, providing better service, and catering to diverse dietary preferences...

All of the reviews I've seen on my socials all say this place is overpriced & has terrible service. I came on here to bookmark it to MAYBE try the next time I'm in Paris. I prefer to make up my mind for myself; however, I doubt I will try it afterall. This is why...

I read the owner's response to someone mentioning that they had poor service on here, & they were actually trying to make excuses, as if it were a rare occurrence! Clearly it is not.

To the owner: it's not a rare occurrence if that is a comment that is left across multiple platforms! A GOOD business owner would apologize & promise to IMPROVE the attitudes of your wait staff. They wouldn't try to claim that the guest is wrong in how they felt treated, and they wouldn't pretend the customer's experience was something outside of the ordinary. People with influence prefer that you OWN YOUR MISTAKES, APOLOGIZE, AND WORK TO IMPROVE THEM.

Also, I would love to know what makes the whipped cream worth an extra 3€? Do you make it from diamond dust, or do you astronomically overcharge for it hoping people WON'T order their hot chocolate with whipped cream? It's one thing to charge 11€ for hot chocolate, but it's another thing entirely to charge people 14€ who want that same hot chocolate, but with whipped cream.

So, I don't know if I know if I will give this establishment a chance, and if I don't, I certainly won't be changing my rating or recommending this place to any of my followers across any of my platforms. I'd have to see a MASSIVE change in the attitudes of the owners & staff.

I anticipate a very unprofessional & dismissive response from management when they see this too. They'll likely try to claim that I "can't" rate somewhere I've not visited yet. Actually, I can. 😁 I also anticipate another "positive" review will be posted soon after mine, likely from a staff or one of the owner's friends, to try to offset the rating I left, instead of action being taken to make improvements.

EDIT: Read ALL of the negative reviews before going there. The owner's response to every single negative review was the same - excuses, rather than assurances of change & action. Dropping my rating from 2 stars to one star after reading those responses. There were even photos of BUGS in people's...