The French Room — Restaurant in Dallas

I rarely write reviews, so for me to take the time to do this says a lot in the first place...

First of all, ignore all reviews prior to September, 2017, as they no longer apply. The French Room closed for 18 months and reopened in September, 2017 with a new look, new chef, new menu and new wait staff.

My family and I have been regular diners at the French Room for 45 years. We returned last night, for the first time since the renovation, to celebrate my daughter's 15th birthday. We have been waiting with anticipation for this evening, as we've been so excited for the restaurant to re-open after its long, 18 month renovation period. We were ready to love the new look and the new menu. However, I can't even begin to describe how disappointing the entire experience was. I'm honestly not sure what took 18 months.

Ambiance - The true ambiance of the French Room has been ruined. The beautiful murals are gone and instead are replaced with plain white paint. As far as the wait staff is concerned, the only light of the evening was Connie who was the only original waiter to return after the renovation. Her friendliness and professionalism has always been second to none, and thank goodness that hasn't changed. Unfortunately, the rest of the staff don't share her expertise and know-how. Further, the staff attire has gone from elegant and traditional to casual and trendy. Again, even the new attire is not on par with the French Room history.

Menu - Every guest seated at the same table must all choose either the tasting menu or the pre fixe menu. My husband had planned to order the tasting menu, and my daughter and I would have preferred the pre fixe menu. However, that was not allowed. We all were required to choose the same thing. Therefore, we all ended up ordering the 7 course tasting menu. Does that make sense to anyone reading this?

Food - The food wasn't just not good. Instead almost everything was downright horrible, close to inedible. The one and only star of the night was the foie gras. It was truly perfect. Other than that, I'm not sure which dish was the worst, as they were all pretty darn bad. However, the duck stands out, because I actually took one bite and then sent it away. Everything was cold, undercooked and the flavors were really just horrible. The one standout spice was salt. Everything was overwhelmingly salty. Even the desserts were bad. I'm not sure how you ruin chocolate, but the chef managed it. My daugther's chocolate dessert tasted like plastic. Had I cooked such a meal at home, I would have thrown everything straight into the trash. Even as I write this, I can't believe that this review is not an exaggeration, but it isn't. I'm so upset at the loss of our old French Room that I'm truly about to cry. We spent $865 for three people, including tip, on a dinner last night that was the worst meal I've ever had, and I've had some pretty poor dinners in my time. If I could give zero stars here, I would. Unfortunately, we will NEVER return.

Based on our experience last evening, I anticipate that the French Room will be closed for good within 6 months to a year if it even...

To be clear, this is my first High Tea experience. So I have nothing to compare it to. A few details to keep in mind, the French Room is INSIDE the Adolphus hotel, smack dab in the middle of downtown Dallas. Be prepared for traffic and some walking if you dont use their valet service. Now, for the fun stuff. I went with 3 other Ladies to celebrate our August birthdays. This experience was classy. It took me a while to figure out WHY it felt so different from another just restaurant lunch. When I walked into the hotel to get direction to the French room, the desk lady was attentive, made eye contact, was friendly, nor was she on her phone. Now to be clear, seeing workers on their phone never really bothered me, we are addicted to them. But there was something so completely professional about the interaction, it left a positive impact. Same thing once I got to the hostess stand. They were attentive, I was greeted by two individuals who were quick to say 'welcome'. They weren't on their phones and were not surrounded by a glob of waitstaff. It is reservation based. They will not seat you till your whole party has arrived and they give you a 15 min grace period from your reservation. This is dress coded. Business casual. Me and my party all wore dresses. It was fun to see everyone else at other tables dressed up also. It helped make such an elegant atmosphere and helped curate the experience. You went seeing anyone in pajamas. The hotel was built in the early 1900s and was absolutely stunning with plenty of sitting and had a moody vibe. The architecture was beautiful and the French room was open, airy, and had beautiful light. The food was yummy. You might be concerned that it won't be enough food. But I couldn't finish my last biscuit because I was so full. So trust me, it is enough. They added candles to our cakes for our birthday! When it came to the tea, we were given two options. Our server seemed well educated about tea, where it came from, what it would pair well with, and if it would taste well with sugar or/and creamer. While we had a main server, all the waitstaff took care of us. I think there was about 5 on duty, and we interacted with each one. From filling our water, tea, or bussing our table. Our glasses were never empty.

I can go on and on and on. But this was the best dining experience I have had in...

While the service was wonderful and the food + drinks were superb, I was overall disappointed in the experience. When I made the reservation, there were options to select dietary restrictions. My dear friend who has a couple restrictions was extremely excited to go to a restaurant that could accommodate her needs. We were both under the assumption that there would be more thought given to a dietary-restricted menu, but the French Room failed terribly here. On the day of our tea date, the hostess called to confirm these restrictions and I really appreciated that! She mentioned the menu would be different, but they would be more than happy to accommodate. How embarrassed was I inviting my friend to tea and getting her excited about how they could accommodate her and the only options she was given was a salad and a mini fruit plate. In 2021, I would expect a restaurant who offers so many dietary restrictions as options (and who has master chefs) to have a menu that mirrors the actual menu. What about gluten free toast with a roasted veggie spread on it? There are many recipes that can be explored these days. It was sad to see my presentation of delectable food versus hers, and I kept apologizing to her and certainly would have taken her elsewhere but I assumed that a restaurant of this caliber would have been more creative given the dietary options they offered in the reservation. I am not at all happy that she was also charged the full price of the tea lunch as if she had the full menu. She should have been charged for a salad, mini fruit plate, and the tea and 1 glass of champagne. My recommendation would be to either remove the dietary options on the reservation so people don't think they are getting something similar to the regular menu, or take the time to create a menu that works for the restrictions you offer on the reservation menu, or not charge someone the full price for a menu they didn't have. Lastly, I asked for my dessert to be boxed up and when I got home to enjoy it, I saw that not everything was included. So bummed. I had been looking forward to this tea date for months and am honestly pretty sad about it and embarrassed that I talked the restaurant up to my dear friend! Again, the food and drinks were superb; I wish only the experience was as magical as it led...