L'Experience Paris - Bellevue — Restaurant in Bellevue

THE START TO A PERFECT DAY… While on a casual walk, to what was a perfect start to my Sunday morning, I decided to stop at L’experience Paris. The restaurant sits on a beautiful corner, the massive windows and the open door is very inviting. Needless to say, L’experience was not friendly or welcoming as you’d think.. I DO NOT PLAN TO VISIT THIS PLACE AGAIN. The quality of goods and services seem to be on the decline to a point that I can no longer deem this place as the go to French spot in the neighborhood.

IT STARTS WITH THE GREETING. Never have I walked into a French establishment that I wasn’t hit with a bonjour! Especially at a boulangerie. So when I walked into the L’experience I was, at a minimum, expecting a bonjour… Instead I received an emotionless “hi, what can I get you?” I fault myself for having an expectation.

AN ACTIVE CUSTOMER TRUMPS A RESERVATION! I ordered a quiche and felt almost like I was being turned away from eating at the restaurant. After informing the woman that I was interested in have the quiche there, I was asked if I had a reservation. The place was practically empty. Why is this even a question when the place is empty? Accommodate active guest and adjust as reservations arrive. Also, it’s a bakery, the idea is that it should be quick and easy, not a formal dinner.

WHY ARENT YOU STOCKED UP? As I made my way down the nearly empty pastry display bar, I asked if I could have a non-fat Latte with an extra shot. They could not accommodate my request because they did not have cow milk at the moment so I had a milk alternative latte instead. Which by the way, I had to ask not to be charged for since they were out of regular milk. There is a grocery store 2 blocks away, run to the store and stock up.

FINALIZING THE SALE. After this 3-5 minute interaction, I’m ready to cash out. At this point I’m ready to just walk out, but I didn’t. The order wasn’t repeated to me, I didn’t hear the cashier say “your total is” the terminal just lit up and I was expected to do my thing. I held my phone over the pay terminal, and that’s when the cashier finally spoke up. “Oh! our tap feature isn’t working today.” I pulled out my card, swiped it and made my way towards the empty bar.

THE CHAOS! I sat at the bar and waited for my latte and quiche to arrive. While waiting, I observed the staff quite unorganized, seems like roles aren’t really assigned, looks like the instruction is to keep the ship from sinking. You have a person making a latte, and then rushing to load dishes in the washer, and then attending guest coming in. Because the place was not busy, I overheard the staff chatting about lack of resources, menu item shortages, and basically all of the issues going on in the kitchen.

THE QUICHE. A but cold on the inside and a bit chard, the flavor was spot good but not sure if it was fresh. Also the size to price ratio is a way off. The quiche needs to be cheaper or bigger.

FINAL THOUGHTS… Before the pandemic, I visit this place often and was blown away by how friendly the staff was, how cool and down to earth the owner was and how tasty the food was. Seems like they’ve let this place go. With the competition in the area on the rise, I hope this place gets it together in order to stay relevant and keep the customers they haven’t lost yet.

The follow up to Julien

My review was written about my experience on the morning of Sunday March 26th. The exact time is unknown, but it was around 10:00am give or take.

Didn’t realize that you’d be assignment homework professor. Point you to a review, write an email…. Pretty demanding don’t you think? Your defensive, sarcastic and condescending tone is indicative of my experience and doesn’t merit anymore feedback then what was already provided.

At no point did I bashL’experience, I just share my experience, no need to patronize me!

A beret would be a great touch, I suggest throwing in a stripped shirt to...

What do I look for when dining out? There are a few things that affect my dining experience and ratings. Obviously, the first is the quality and quantity of the food (are hot foods hot, cold foods cold, taste, preparation, wait time, etc.). Next in line is the quality of the serving staff including personal interactions. Another factor is the ambience of the facility including décor, comfort and sound levels. One more factor is the parking (free lot, street, paid parking lot, etc.). For Father’s Day 2024 June 16), I looked for a new place to celebrate with my family (8 adults all over age 50). I do not remember where I got the name of L’Experience Paris but it probably came from a newspaper review or comment. It sounded wonderful since all of us had been to Paris and loved the food there. We checked the online menu and it was perfect. I called them in Bellevue WA to make a reservation for 8 people at Noon. We all arrived from different locations at the same time, on time. Some found parking on the street (free) and my wife and I parked in the building garage. The parking garage had a machine near the elevator to pay for parking. It rejected all of my credit cards and my $5 bill. I left my car in the garage without paying and went up to the restaurant. I do not know if parking in the garage was free on Sundays or not, but it was for me. Issue number one. It was a chilly day but one side (of the two outside walls) of the restaurant was wide open to their outside patio so it was a bit cool inside where we sat. One side of the table was a long bench-like seat with cushions to sit on and for your back. It was not ideal. However, it was ready for us. Our server, Alexandra was friendly and attentive. She answered several questions about the food and her home in France. Good start. We ordered our food with big smiles on our faces. Then it went really bad. A couple of us were looking forward to their Croque Madams/Monsieurs. NOT AVAILABLE! A couple ordered quiches. NOT AVAILABLE! A couple ordered Eggs Benedict. TOOK 45 MINUTES TO DELIVER! This was long after everybody else had been served and finished dining! I ordered the jambon/fromage (ham/cheese) omelet. It was one large or two very small eggs, not the three or four I am used to. It was delicious but not very filling. I tried the potato balls that came with another diner’s meal. It was awful. Universally panned by all who tried them. Some meals were served on the cool side even though they were supposed to be hot. Thanks to Alexandra, a couple of meals were taken off the bill as compensation. Overall, I would rate our “experience” about 2.5 stars out five. I do not remember if I ever gave a score that low. Server was five stars, out of five stars. Ambience, open wall with outside temperature around 60 degrees (F) and seating comfort, about 1 star. Some of the food was five stars, most about 3 stars; zero stars for the missing meals! Parking availability: 2 stars Will I try it again? Maybe...

This review is primarily regarding their service. I have dined at L’Experience Paris - Bellevue on several occasions.

On several occasions, they have been fairly uncrowded and the service has been more or less adequate, if unexceptional. The food, however, was generally decent enough to merit returning.

Today, a Saturday morning, was different and very disappointing. Upon arrival, the restaurant was moderately busy, but there were several open spaces at the bar and at least one apparently open table. There was no one waiting in line ahead or behind us.

Upon entry, no one greeted us or acknowledged our presence in any way. It took several minutes of awkwardly standing around before we were finally greeted by a rather unwelcoming waitress.

She inserted a surprisingly long-winded and unneeded lecture about how to make reservations, but ultimately sat us in the open seats at the bar. There were several additional seats next to us, all also open.

Immediately after sitting, the experience was largely normal. She brought us waters and menus.

Then, we waited. And waited. And waited.

There were three servers working, but certainly not hard. They spent a lot of time just standing around, milling about the restaurant, looking at their phones, and chatting with each other.

We waited upwards of 15 minutes before one of the servers finally acknowledged us, asking us if we were ready to order. We responded yes, at which point she said she’d be right with us.

She proceeded to walk into the open kitchen and spend several minutes looking at her phone, while the other two servers stood around aimlessly.

A few tables left. One server cleared them, while the other idled about.

I figured, with the restaurant emptying out and ample time to clear tables or simply hang out, surely it’d be time to take our order.

But they never came. We never ordered.

Finally, nearly 40 minutes after arrival, we had enough. We put on our coats and walked out. No one seemed to even notice.

I used to recommend this place to my friends and family. But with service this terribly inattentive, I cannot continue to do so in good conscience...