Terrasse Choron — Restaurant in Paris

I don’t know what happened but I was thirsty for a cold beer yesterday sunday evening around 5 pm, after a long walk with my senior parents. We sat down outside and I ordered a “silver” beer to the waitress, she was surprised that I was the only one drinking.

I am not sure if there is an unspoken rule about everyone must order something to have a seat at a cafe terrasse. I spent one hour researching cafe etiquette in Paris and found nothing about such a rude attitude.

A man (manager, owner? not sure) approached to us and asked what we ordered, I replied “I just ordered a beer” he also was confused and I continued “Yes one beer, they don’t want anything yet, I am the only one drinking” but he started telling me in broken spanish “No, no es posible” ... I thought it was a mistranslated joke like “really? only one beer? we have so many cheap options at happy hour” so I insisted that I only wanted one beer...but my parents were so offended that they left immediately before I could react, so I had to follow them without knowing what the man actually meant.

They felt kicked out without explanation, they felt discriminated.

If it was a misinterpreted joke, I would just recommend the staff to be more careful with seniors. If it was not a joke they need to seriously understand that if not everyone in a group wants to order immediately it does not mean that they will never order. My parents are not so open about buying stuff in the street because they don’t know if the place is good. I would bet my heart that they would have ordered something after my beer, but we were just kicked out without explanation. They do not drink alcohol but would happily order a coffee or a dessert, apparently "that is not possible/no es posible" is a rule here.

I do make an effort to understand french ways and I try to not be rude but my parents are not so open, they just felt discriminated. If you had a written sign or something please know that there are people on earth with eye or hearing problems who depend on other people’s kindness to communicate. We found none at your cafe.

It was a shame for everyone because I was craving for that beer, no...

Oh dear. We reserved a table on their website, but when we arrived we were told they didn't take reservations - even though we had had a text confirming it - and they didn't even have a fixed telephone line. Then 10 minutes later we overheard a couple being told that the table they wanted wasn't available because it was reserved. The food wasn't great. The waiters were flippant and sarcastic. This is a place we used to come to often, but with the new management clearly not making an effort to make their clients feel welcome, we...

À fuir : incompétents, malhonnêtes, désagréables. Une adresse qui n'a plus que son emplacement pour séduire. Dommage car nous avons eu de bonnes expériences par le passé mais force est de constater que ce temps est révolu.

Du jamais vu à Paris : ma collègue souhaitait commander une salade sans sauce, elle demande donc très poliment à la serveuse "est-ce que c'est possible de..." mais sans même pouvoir commencer sa question, la serveuse l'interrompt immédiatement d'un "NON" sec tout en levant sa main vers elle sans même avoir pris connaissance de la demande.

Au final, 1h10 d'attente (un midi en semaine !) pour des plats corrects mais quelconques : frites surgelées, morceaux de viande réduits à peau de chagrin.

Enfin, scène absurde au moment du règlement. Il y a un menu midi plat+dessert à 13,90 euros. J'en profite donc pour prendre un plat qui à la carte est normalement à 15,90 euros. Vu le temps d'attente pour être servis, nous n'avons pas eu le temps de prendre le dessert auquel nous avions pourtant droit et sommes allés régler directement. Mal nous en a pris.

À la caisse, aucune excuse quant au service et le bouquet c'est qu'on me compte le prix à la carte de 15,90 euros au lieu du prix menu 13,90 euros. Je rappelle alors le principe du menu midi, et me vois alors rétorquer d'un ton condescendant que c'est tout à fait normal puisque je n'ai pas pris de dessert. D'une logique économique implacable.

J'ai fini par réussir à payer le prix juste après moult palabres.

Il y a de nombreux autres restaurants dans le quartier, allez...