Café La Clémence — Restaurant in Geneva

As this cafe is situated in a prime location in Geneva Old Town, the manager and his staff have ZERO interest in providing good service to their clients.

On one occasion, they refused to serve a group of 8 of us, when SEVEN of us had ordered drinks/food. The argument was that everyone needed to order, as other people could be sitting and consuming instead, refusing the entire time to acknowledge that it was a rainy day in the terasse when there were no other clients in sight.

My most recent, and definitely LAST, experience at La Clemence, I was told my friend and I could not be served as I was fasting for Ramadan and was not consuming! Based on my experience, my friend had even ordered a large drink that could serve two, but they still refused.

To make things more petty, my friend had originally requested a lemon juice, to which the waiter said it would not be possible, and when half a lemon was requested so we could make our own with a bottle of sparkling, the waiter still refused. Finally when we offered to PAY for this half lemon, he STILL refused, saying that would be too much and they would no longer have enough lemon slices to go around for all the other clients (?!?!!?).

The manager was completely unapologetic and rudely stated that they have a "one chair, one person, one drink policy", and that having two glasses for a large bottle of sparkling would make other clients uncomfortable if I were not to drink it (again, what??).

While we understood that his business is run solely on beverages, we had explained that good service (more than refusing the occasional client who does not order) is what eventually makes businesses thrive in large cities, but he refused to accept this logic.

More sadly, despite me informing the manager that I was a client who had come on numerous occasions and it just so happened it was Ramadan, the manager said that his policy stands, that he is not RACIST, and that this is about applying this policy to everyone and not making any exceptions. Appalled, we left as we had no choice (unless we wanted to pay the price of a meal for two measly drinks for a single person).

All in all, it was a horrendously disappointing experience, and if someone has to clarify that they are not racist, it is evident that something is wrong there.Big shame as the location is great and they just lost another group of clients (friends and...

Nice location but terrible service (or policy as they call it): so here the story. I sit with a friend in one of the outside table. I order a bottle of SanPellegrino and I ask for some lemon juice. The waiter says they only have slices. So I asked if I can have half a lemon. He told that was too much (I even offered to pay for it, but apparently they have a tight lemon supply). So he asks what my friend is having, and she says she is doing ramadan and excused herself. He point out that the policy of the bar is that there is a drink per person otherwise they can't serve us. A bit surprised we go and talk to the manager and we learned that it is indeed a tight policy of the bar: you can't sit if you don't have your own drink. But wait... if you have a bottle of wine then is different, it can be shared. So apparently it is not about the number drinks but about the money you spend. Maybe they can just ask for a fee to sit on their chairs, at least we could enjoy their nice location. Great...

The lunch here is superb. We were on a 3 day stay in Geneva and sat here for lunch, not expecting to eat some of the best food on the trip! We got the chicken pasta (dish of the day) and the dish with shredded duck with Foie Gras sauce. It was so good, that we tried to go back for dinner on our last day, but unfortunately this place does not serve dinner.

The Atmosphere is probably fine if you are ok with cigarette smoke. lots and lots of the patrons smoke and the square is misty. I didn't appreciate it, but the food was absolutely worth it! USA visitors should definitely go. I haven't had food this good even in LA (my hometown) it's very close to the lake & and 2 minutes walk from the ST....