Little Red Door — Restaurant in Paris

An evening dampened in Paris. Atmosphere was great. Definite 5/5. I think that's where the praise starts and ends.

Service from the lady was great.

But one of the waiters was was rude to me, extremely curt in most of their responses, and dismissive towards me - refused to let me keep a copy of the menu when I asked, ignored me twice, and forgot my friend's order.

Some girls were seated at the area next to us, and he immediately went over and treated them with the respect and courtesy. He was happy to give them seriously detailed and friendly sounding explanations - whereas to us he just sounded grumpy/like he didn't want to spend an extra second talking to us. Cannot tell if it was because our group was British, and their group French, or if the waiter was a lady's man/skirt chaser.

Most of the drinks were extremely mediocre for how expensive of a price they charge. We understand the premium comes from how the ingredients are ethically sourced, and go from farm to table. Nevertheless we would expect there to be a premium taste to go with the premium pricing. I will give credit to the melon cocktail, but it had a peaty/sulphuric taste that was rather unpleasant and took an edge of enjoyment off the cocktail. The table of 3 men (complete strangers, also British) in another area near us agreed that the service was pretty poor, and the drinks utterly mediocre/disappointing compared to other cocktail bars in both Paris and the UK.

The couple who were seated after the girls next to us left, confided in us and the 3 gentlemen sitting near us that their champagne cocktail was nothing to write home about.

Extremely disappointed as this was touted to be one of the best cocktail bars in Paris. I honestly cannot see where the hype was coming from. Then again, many people like McDonalds, many people like Five Guys, many people like Jamie's Italian, so there's a precedent for the masses proclaiming something to be the next 'Thing' when. As someone who likes their cocktails, and lives in the UK, if this is the standard for Parisian cocktails I will be sticking to the UK thank...

Little Red Door has changed way too much for me.

I’ve been a loyal fan of little red door since it opened more than 10 years ago.  I’ve seen a lot of menu changes over the years, usually with some new innovative inspired cocktails.  I’ve seen a number of staff changes as well, keeping a balance of ‘tenured’ staff and up and comers.  The staff could always be trusted to execute amazing cocktails on and off the menu and to keep it a collaborative guest focused experience.

My visit last week reflects a bad direction that I won’t return to see again.

There’s always a line at LRD, and in the past it’s been warranted.  It’s always professionally managed and kicks off the experience letting you know you’ll be cared for.  The doorman welcoming you, advising and keeping you updated while giving directions to patrons leaving on where they’re heading.

We were fortunate to sit at the bar and we noticed some significant changes…we didn’t recognize ANY of the staff!  The number of bottles on the shelves was way down.  The staff were more interested in talking to each other than the guests.  The menu was only 6 drinks long.  I certainly don’t need a Cheesecake Factory menu of drinks, but six for a top 50 cocktail bar is pretty limited.  We ordered 2 of the 6, and with a menu that limited, I would and should expect perfect execution.  One was flavored well but missed any nuance.  The cocktail was rather one note as opposed to layered flavors. Perhaps something you would get at a much lower rated bar or that friends house that’s very into cocktails.  The other cocktail was completely overshaken.  The flavor seemed to be good, but watered down. Five minutes later the flavor was gone, it was diluted and just a waste.

Considering the cocktails are 16 euros each, this is unacceptable.   The staff said they could make any classic cocktail, but with a pared down bottle selection and the inability to execute the cocktails on the menu…would you trust them with another 16 euro drink?

I’m...

Well, how to express the experience?.. let’s say we agree that the doorman is very special and friendly ( french but speaks excellent English) as long you give him the feeling that he is the boss !;) but this bar isn’t a bar where you like to go to meet new people ! Because the keep it just enough busy that everybody has a seat and that’s it. I believe that is what they understand under special experience that “when-if ”you get in then you have for sure a quiet and relaxed time with your friends. But don’t go there alone .. the most communicative are the bartenders and the British style door man. Anyway, we didn’t like that we had to wait really 20 min to get in especially my wife was freezing even with a big coat ( she comes from a warmer state 😎) and now to the cocktails .. well, whatever efforts the bartender do or how the ambience is .. it must be part of the price ! Because the actual cocktail 0.15 l didn’t reflect the 15€ AT ALL ! Ok i am general against that heavily overpriced paris thing and just here for a project but didn’t choose to be here. I lived 20 years ago here and things changed .. but not to the good ! It’s an heavily overpriced investor city and the Parisian flair is gone by the bad aftertaste of the hefty prices all over here. Summery: as a one time experience maybe quite fun, ensure you have a fun talk with the doorman to get over the waiting time and then enjoy you small cocktail and think about where to get a fair priced drink next ?😂👍 The cocktail in my pic looks bigger as it actually is . Due to the angle ! But believe me...