Le Bistreaux Coffee And Waffle Bar — Restaurant in Alexandria

The concept is great and the restaurant decor is really funky and kind of laid back cool. The coffee is good. My biggest issue with the restaurant is the food well my food. My niece had the strawberry vanilla waffle and she loved it, it was light and very tasty. To my food, I got the build your own Benedict, this is dish that should be easy for a restaurant focused on breakfast foods. The touch of using waffles instead of English muffins is a novel idea but the waffle should be freshly made, not like mine which was not even warm. Maybe I should have been wary when asked how I wanted my eggs cooked, traditionally Benedict eggs are poached, the menu called their Benedict dishes traditional so I said runny. The menu specifys two Benedicts with your choice of protein, for an upcharge, when the plate arrived at the table it was a disappointment. The bacon was the precooked type that you just need to warm up. The accompanying salad was just baby greens, no dressing, with a garnish of grapes, two lone whole grapes. The Benedicts or should I say Benedict was covered be Hollendaise sauce that was tepid just warm enough to pour over the Benedict, if the sauce wasn't from a packet I will be very surprised. The next surprise or disappointment was the egg, it was fried. Not poached, as Benedict eggs should be but FRIED. The surprises didn't end there, there was only one Benedict, I paid for two and there was only one. Now, I should have said something then but by this point I didn't care, the staff obviously didn't. There was no seasoning to the Benedicts no salt, pepper, lemon juice nothing. The restaurant is a interesting concept and if you stick to the waffles you are probably going to have a really good waffle but if you stray off the easy parts of the menu you are going to take a risk. The prices are more Vegas than Cenla, brunch for a family of 4 will put a dent in...

A great change in our usual dining experiences. Would return and try more menu items.

Location: easy to get to. Located in a shopping center. Parking is easy and plentiful.

Atmosphere: very comfortable layout with cozy booths and sitting areas. It's the type of place where you order at the counter and sit down and they bring the food to you. They did have menus available to take to a table and look over if you don't want to stand there trying to figure out what you want and I greatly appreciate that. After eating, we threw away our own plates at the trash can near the ordering counter

Food: coffee (raspberry, butter beer, regular, mocha, caramel, etc), hot chocolate, teas, soft drinks, waffles, omeltes, Benedict, chicken and waffles, shrimp and grits, bacon, potatoes, ham, scramblers and build your owns. They also have options for kids.

Service: friendly. Easy to order. They had someone going around making sure tables were satisfied and cleaning up.

Price: Waffles run about $10 and other items are closer to $15. It felt a little expensive for the items. Coffees are $2-$6.75 depending on type and size. I ordered the crab cake Benedict (waffle, crab cake, over easy egg, and hollandaise sauce) and I liked it, just wished there had been more sauce. Also got the butter beer coffee and enjoyed it. For my fiance and I to eat here, it cost us about $55 for 2 medium coffees (raspberry and butter beer), and 2 entrees (chicken and waffles & crabcake benedict).

Overall we would return and bring friends who love coffee and brunch items. It's a nice, cozy eatery that's good for family, couples,...

Disclaimer: My husband and I are restaurant owners. This means we unintentionally tend to be critical due to our familiarity with the restaurant world. That said, we really enjoyed our time here! We always look for 3 things when we go out to eat: A clean environment, good service and delicious food. This place hit all 3! The atmosphere is homey and comfortable but with plenty of attention to detail. Very clean. The service was friendly and attentive. The coffee we ordered was top-notch. And the food was high quality and creative bordering on the upscale side of things, but void of being stuffy or pretentious. Had a special dish that the owner recommended (Croque De Maman I believe it was) it had such a great combination of flavors. Our whole family enjoyed it. That's a tall order. The owner was there cooking and serving alongside his staff. Always love to see this level of passion in an establishment. That famous Louisiana hospitality and pride in it's food was very evident here! When your as picky as our family is, it is always such a huge relief to find a place like this. Being in town for a funeral, our experience here was a bright spot and ray of sunshine. It added to our time here in a special way! Will definitely return...