La Belle Helene — Restaurant in Charlotte

I've been to this restaurant La Belle Helene from their first opening in 2020 and again the month they reopened with new owners post covid. And we have gone back periodically. Last night has to be the worst experience with service particularly the hostess stand. We arrived an hour early for a 730pm reservation, advising we will go to bar for a cocktail. At 7:25pm I went back to hostess stand ready for table. We were advised a table was being set up and we could see it directly in front of our bar seats. Then we watched as some walk ins got seated at the table. We waited approximately 10 minutes for another table and I went back to hostess stand and inquired. She apologized & said some other employee seated that couple while she was away. Then advised our table was being set up again. I pointed to a table and said is it that one and she said yes and advised she will get me at the bar which was again right by this table. Then I watched as some other employee walked another couple coats on just arrived to this table. I hopped up and walked over advising employee we have a reservation and have been here over and hour and were advised this was our table. Then I see the hostess and point to her advising this other employee she had promised to seat us when the table got set up. She quickly cuts me off and says "don't talk to my employee that way" which was astounding and rude because 1) employee was not near us and 2) I was merely pointing out the person I had been dealing with previously who had advised this was our table being prepared and would come get us when ready. This person then proceeds to tell me in quick rapid succession she will get us another table. She will get us another table... I advised we have had 2 failed tables promised in the last 15 minutes, it's well past our reservation and we arrived an hour early while sitting at bar patiently. She did not care they had been mishandling the seating repeatedly and continued to seat walk-in couple ahead of us. Nor did she care other table she would seat us at was less desirable location. It was the guests that spoke up and said they would take another table. This employee then conceded and we were able to sit down. Our waiter was very friendly and pleasant when we arrived but spent excessive time chatting with other employees as we waited to place our order and drinks probably an extra 15 minutes. When my mussels appetizer plate was cleared our waiter lifted it vetically spilling sauce all over the table cloth, a good 10"x2" stream left next to my glass and place setting. I had actually let out a oooh sound as it happened because it was headed towards my chair. She did not react or say anything but walked away with dishes. During service of entree and additional drinks there was no attempt to wipe it up or provide additional paper to cover. It was a sloppy mess to look at a cream sauce with onions and parsley all over the table. I ended up folding the paper over and placing the empty silver cylinder from the frites over it. Which sat there through out the meal without being cleared or comment. Surprisingly when ordering desserts we were advised they were complimentary. This was appreciated and our waiter for the most part did provide good service through out the meal with the exception of the delay and the spill left unattended. There was one more surprise from Open Table email inquiring why we did not arrive for our reservation. Which I know was on the restaurants system because I saw it during one of my hostess stand visits and pointed to my name which was #1 on their list. So how is it La Belle Helene is unable to properly seat guests? This does not have the integrity or service of a true high quality French restaurant. If you can stomach the incompetence the food is actually commensurate with the pricing and well prepared and enjoyable. The moules mariniere are not traditional. Although very good they are overpowered by use of safron which is not usually in this very...

I'm traveling from NY to visit my sister and I wanted to treat her to a nice dinner. Read great reviews of La Belle Helene, and it has been recommended to her so I decided to give it a try.

Worst dining experience ever. I don't think I've had worse.

I made reservations for 8:15 for the Easter buffet. My flight gets in around 7:20 and we wanted to make sure that we had enough time cushion to make it to dinner. Parking was horrendous and we got there at 8:30.

The place was empty. Which was weird because when I called the restaurant earlier in the week, they said that they were all booked up and we managed to get one of the few reservations left.

We sit and got the oysters and cocktail shrimp. We were chatting and catching up when we noticed that the wait staff were taking the buffet away. I approached them and asked about it. I was then told that the buffet ended at 9. What???

Not at any point were we told that they ended it at 9. Not when we got there. Not when we were seated. And not even before they started to take the food away. I HAD TO ASK THEM! what kind of restaurant doesnt let their patrons know that??

When they started packing the food away, I was told to "stock up". They had put all the plates away. So our waitress handed me 6" plate with a sacchrine smile, bow, and a "here ya go ma'am". Apparently this restaurant does not have dinner plates for its patrons. Expect a side of sarcasm instead.

Foodwise, I am less than impressed. Figured that all those things could be excused if the food was superb. Afraid not. Salmon looks regurgitated. Rotisserie chicken was bland and dry. Costco has juicier chicken. Lamb was dry with hints of cumin that dissipated very quickly resulting in a lamb that is a mock caricature of bland roughage. Did not try the soupy mashed potato which was going through an identity crisis- it couldnt decide if it were potatoes or grits. Beef Bourgignon was dry and chewy at best.

I also question how allergy friendly this place is because they made a blanket statement that I can eat everything which has NEVER happened before in the restaurant. This really made me supremely uncomfortable.

The saving grace was the oysters but they're served raw. So unless I fall prey to food poisoning, that was decent. Cocktail shrimp was also meaty and good.

I couldn't even eat any of the awful food I "stockpiled" on a 6" appetizer plate. I deserve better food than that.

Couldn't have the dessert but my sister liked the palmier cookies (we wondered if they were store bought) Their almond cakes were visually appealing but were far from moist and had the texture of sandpaper.

The whole dining experience turned me off from even trying this place again. I had planned on coming back for a sit down dinner if tonight's dinner was done well. Well, with all the other food options in uptown Charlotte, why would anyone WANT...

This Thanksgiving My family decided to eat out at la belle helene. We have eaten here before and had a positive experience so we checked and learned they were offering a Thanksgiving menu prix fixe and were excited to be dining here. When we arrived at 7:30 for our reservation we were ushered to the bar to wait for our table. 45 minutes later we were seated. We all ordered off of the off of the holiday menu.

First course chicken liver mousse was excellent, the salads were very good, particularly liked the pickled fennel and toasted pumpkin seed garnish. Main course 3 of us ordered the turkey and one beet gnochi. The gnocchi was brought to the table almost 5 minutes after the Turkey entrees. So we are all waiting to eat with 3 out of the 4 waiting with food sitting in front of us. I didnt taste the gnocchi but my daughter gave it a thumbs up. My disappointment was with the turkey plate. Now its Thanksgiving, one would expect that the Turkey would be the star of the meal. We received a pile of dark and white meat on a crowded plate of traditional sides. The turkey white meat was over cooked, so dry that i took one bite and pushed it to the side, the dark meat was from the leg with all the ligament and cartilage. I was expecting thigh meat with the ever coveted oyster and received the least desirable dark meat on the bird. I had a little pile of cartilage and sinew on the rim of my plate, My wife received cartilage as well. The rest of the plate included Brussels sprouts, the sprouts that had been cut in half were properly cooked, those that were left whole were nearly raw, the chestnut dressing was another dissapointment, kind of dry and not very flavorful. The items i give a thumbs up were the delicious sweet potato puree and cranberry sauce. Desserts were from their regular menu and were generally good, my only comment here was that those toasted pumpkin seeds we had on the salad were repeated on the dessert.

So my observation is that the menu items that were "regular items' were generally good to very good, however this was Thanksgiving and la belle helene was serving a special menu celebrating Thanksgiving. The attention to detail that they give to regular menu items was not given to the menu item that should have been the star of the evening and honestly fell flat.

Another service comment the waitress suggested an Appetizer, it was listed on the menu as a side but the waitress described it as an appetizer that we ordered. It wasnt delivered to the table until after we were served our entrees. As the entree plates came we all looked at each other and said oh i guess we're not getting the app. After we started eating the waitress brought it to the table. Appears the kitchen was not on the same page with waitstaff serving sides...