Pierre Griffes Cafe Bar & Bistro — Restaurant in Liverpool

Born and bred scouser and have frequented Allerton Rd many a times since 1999! I've been to many a cafes in Allerton over the last 20+ years and they ranged from very very average to a bit pretentious. There are only 2 establishments on Allerton Rd I believe are excellent in terms of value for money, quality of ingredients, quality of service and general atmosphere- Pierre Griffes is one of them.

Strangely enough I remember the cafe that was here before Pierre Griffes and it wasn't good at all (had been there a long time), and I spotted Pierre Griffes months ago. The multiple times I've seen it since, I've never felt compelled to go in for whatever reason - until today......!

It was a very rainy Sunday and i noticed that there were a few tables available and thought, better now than never. I love the French theme inside - nice and subtle. Chairs are incredibly comfortable with great quality decor overall.

Menu had a good range of food - and kept things simple which I like (it is the French way....). I had the Salmon and Cheese Omlette and my mum the Egg Royale. We were serviced by a very sweet, unassuming and super friendly young lady. Perfect service, as she knew how to strike the right balance between giving us space and privacy and ensuring we were OK.

My omelette was seriously impressive. This isn't your average omelette that anyone can throw together, this is a French omelette which is totally different- and miles better. Well seasoned , fluffy, the right thickness and had a subtle lightly grilled texture on top - as a French omelette should be. Served with a simple salad garnish, two slices of baguette and side serving of 2nr butters (I appreciated the fact I got 1 per slice - i can't begin to tell you how much it does my head I to be given one small bit of butter for 2 slices of bread.....lol).

My mum's poached eggs looked great - they actually looked like poached eggs too! (Some places poach their eggs in a tightly wrapped cling film, so only feels like you've got a yolk!).

I'm proper fussy when I eat out nowadays, whether that's Allerton Rd, Lark Lane (I've lived off Lark Lane for 8 years and most places on the lane are either average, and/or overpriced), and it's so refreshing to come across the triangular gem - value for money, quality of ingredients and great service. You do get some pretentious places on Allerton Rd or the Lane where you're paying like £15 for eggs royale, which is obscene regardless if it tastes very nice or not. I want to feel relaxed in a venue and not feel like I'm hanging out with Instagram, middle class, BMW drivers 🤣 The atmosphere is great at Pierre Griffes as everyone is normal and nice haha. It's simple, delicate and relaxing.

Whenever I find a gem, I do go out of my way to make a long positive review, because I really want the world to know I've found a great place that ticks all the boxes. Especially if it's an independent business, they need all the support they can get. I'll be going...

I really wanted to love this place, as my Dad was French Classically trained and has sadly passed away, as I have so many memories of all of his French dishes, which were amazing!!. However, for a random Wednesday afternoon- things were quite disorganised and at times chaotic, and two very young girls were trying to manage everything and clearly out of their depth unfortunately, and would both disappear for periods of time- leaving most customers including us, wanting better service and in fact I imagine people left sooner because service was so slow- we went to Baltic Bakehouse for dessert in the end, as we were just wasting our time constantly waiting.

We ordered the French onion soup and steak baguettes and fries, which were ok, they were all served at the right temperature and the food was out pretty quick, compared to the rest of the service. However the ‘steak’ was casserole beef, and appeared to have been cooked with some of the French onion soup- as it tasted the same. I love a Beef bourguignon and I’m sure it is lovely as a sandwich, however it’s not a steak baguette or what we ordered. Plus the meat was not as soft or tender as if it had been slow cooked for a long period, so it was difficult to eat. So either they should serve actual steak as per the menu or slow cook the beef for a better result, in my opinion. I’d be interested to know what we would have been served has we ordered the steak frittes.

Like others, I think it has real potential here but does need a rethink on the food and actually communicating with customers if substitutions are to be made and give them the option to change their order. Plus god bless those young girls with zero clue or confidence with what they were doing, and god forbid they had to deal with a difficult customer. The price range is fine, if you are actually served the dishes as reflected...

Just had dinner here and I know they only opened this week but staff didn’t have a clue. All teenagers with no hospitality experience. Don’t even know what the soup is then forget to come back and tell you. Offered dessert as your entree plates are taken away. Cutlery not consistent on any table, and mostly back to front and watched customers get mains and not been given cutlery. A young waitress dropped a spoon on the floor in front of customers waiting to be seated and still put it on the table for them to use. Disgusting. Also no staff wearing masks as they walk round or when placing food down right by your face. Didn’t see any sanitising happening between customers either Customers are left waiting at the door for way too long, the reservation book is by the kitchen and then seems to be more confusion about who’s sitting where Food way to expensive for what it is. Works out about £25 for 2 courses of below avg food. My main was £17 for a bowl of undercooked new potatoes, I had to leave more than half as it was horrible and tedious to eat. It had 3 slices of grey ham which was heavily salted and that’s it. No ones come and checks on you, the owner is sat at the biggest table on his phone the whole time with a laptop open which is pretty disgraceful right in front of customers. He’s not teaching his staff how to do their job and not even checking on customers or their experience when it’s been open for only 3 days. Was really looking forward to this place and some French food but not sure how they cam compete with the likes of caveau in Woolton that has a 3 course menu of better French food for less. I know they are trying to keep costs down but not having one staff member that has any hospitality experience is just silly. No one looking after certain tables so everyone...