la Madeleine — Restaurant in Arlington

UPDATE 3/2/20: This location has made some major improvements in management. The sandwiches were amazing, portion sizes are even bigger and the quality of the food is top notch. Staff was attentive and helpful. Glad to see they are back on track.

ORIGINAL REVIEW: I'm a big big fan of la Madeleine....but this location is not up to speed with the quality and service we receive at Las Colinas or Mockingbird locations. A bit of a cold reception from the manger started off our visit. Regardless, our order was taken and some special accommodations were made to allow for my favorite sandwich that no longer is on the menu for some odd reason, to be made even though I think it is less ingredients overall. In fact, I had really no complaints about the food itself, but la Madeleine in general has really cut back on their perceived "value" for what you pay about the same price, but no more Duo Magnifique means less sides all of a sudden? I'd really think long and hard about coming back to this location just for that reason alone if not for also the cold hospitality sort of makes me wonder what's the matter behind the scenes,. No one really seems to like working here as opposed to Las Colinas and Mockingbird the employees are amazing and always go out of their way to interact with us. Also seems to be a bit of a "foot traffic" issue near and around this location we noticed some questionable activity taking place nearby makes you sort of question your safety a bit after seeing the news reports of car jacking's in this...

I visited La Madeleine on N. Collins a couple of weeks ago and had a horrible experience. The breakfast had oily eggs, burnt potato galette and a soggy crescent. Totally inedible. After ordering it to go and taking it back to my office, and unable to return, the only thing I could eat was the sausage patty with a tomato slice. I called the manager to let her know to make her aware of how their meals were coming out. She promised to make it right. She told me to come back again and she would comp my next meal. So I tried La Madeleine again this morning, not to take advantage of the complimentary meal but to give them another try. Last year their service and meals were great. I often referred them to my friends. I would take my wife there for a weekend breakfast. This time it was just as bad as a couple of weeks ago. The galette was burned and hard, maybe a few days old? The eggs were oily and barely edible this time. The crescent was maybe 3 days old? So I wind up having sausage and tomato for breakfast again. And to top it all off, no one there knew about my last visit to comp the meal. No matter, I was happy to pay. But I guess I'm not the only one who feels this way about La Madeleine. Hardly anyone there, when it would always be a full house. I'm sadden by the downturn of this place. I don't hardly ever go out to eat and this was one of the very last places I would go, but..........

I’m still waiting for my food. My rating is based on my experience up to / before receiving my food. It was my first time at a la Madeline restaurant. There was no way to tell which is the main door from the outside. In fact, from the inside it appears it’s supposed to be the take out door, which in my experience is almost never the main entrance. It wasn’t clear whether you seat yourself, but I did because I saw zero waitstaff anywhere. Not even after the ten minutes wasted waiting. Finally, I saw a customer walk in off the street and HE was greeted and told to het a tray where to stand to get food. So I got myself a tray, and stood behind him. After a person made his plate for him, she asked for my order; which was the chicken dish. She then sort of glared at me and said ‘THIS is the salad line. Go over THERE to order.’ After getting in another line, ordered and paid and while getting my own drink the person who rang me up comes over to give me a giant wooden fork with an order # on it. Fair enough you want to defy every normal, typical process related to dining in. But for the love of GOD ….post your unique process online if you aren’t going to have a hostess. Also stop asking for tips at the register if the guest is going to do everything BUT cool their own food. Have you ever heard about creating an inclusive culture? Well....