Toussaint Downtown Brasserie — Restaurant in Dallas

Swung by this place today for lunch after a few errands. The place was open during the holiday, I figure because it is part of the hotel. I've never been before. The description on Google is pretty accurate on the atmosphere. It is very classy, upscale vibe, well-maintained and clean. I was promptly greeted by the bartender Hannah, who gave me the choice to sit wherever I wished. I chose the bartop and was taken care of by her. We made conversation and she mentioned that she was relatively new to the restaurant, but she is very professional and seems to know the menu and hotel very well, already. Throughout my meal, I had four vodka martinis crafted by her. No complaints, they were good, and she was attentive. Before anyone gets onto me, I was using DART and made it clear to the one serving me that I would not be driving today.

I decided on just two courses for lunch, starting with the Crab Dip. The accompanying lavash chips were crisp and served warm, which was a nice touch. They worked very well with the dip, which was very creamy. Portion was pretty good, too, for an appetizer. For my entree, I ordered the Steak Frites, cooked medium rare. It came out cooked properly, presliced (the bartender, of course, did provide me a steak knife and other utensils before the food came out), topped with a nice persillade. Very flavorful, well marbled, and honestly a great deal at fourteen ounces, especially for a restaurant at a high-end downtown hotel. The frites were well seasons, not too hard or mushy, and paired very well with the aioli.

Attached to my review are a few photos, including the food side of the menu. It does say it on the menu, and the bartender Hannah made it clear when I sat down, but keep in mind that dishes with an asterisk are only available after 5 pm. Plenty of great options still available before then, including the Steak Frites I ordered. Your spending per person might not be as high if you don't order four cocktails like I did, although, at 11 dollars a martini, their prices aren't inflated or anything.

I definitely would like to return. The food, service, and atmosphere were...

Avoid at all costs. Water served without ice as we sat down. Tasted horrid. But I'm sure they can't do anything about it but without ice it was terrible.

The waiter was trying to bartend and bless his heart he tired but he obviously didn't know what he was doing and took over 30 min to bring our drinks. We ordered and eventually got our food... well 3 of 4 of us did. The 4th plate was brought out to the bar and if we weren't watching it would have never made it to the table. They were asking all around the bar who ordered it. I had to yell across the restaurant to get the attention of the other bartender trying to figure out where the food was supposed to go.

I ordered a specific scotch after asking the price and watched as a much cheaper scotch was poured and brought to me. I definitely said something and the waiter said that he guessed they didn't have what I asked for.

When I ordered a LIT he asked what that was....

He was utterly trying but a place that presents itself as semi fine dining has zero business using a obviously inexperienced kid. I was as nice as I could be with my ever growing frustration.

All the food was great at the table except the burger. I've had better at McDonald's. Looking at everyone's food I wish I would have gotten something better.

Highest point of the dining experience was the bill. We all had drinks and food and several things weren't on the bill.

It's not a big restaurant. It shouldn't have been that slow service. And they need to train the staff. I hope our waiter gets the training he deserves. He was trying but this was not his night unfortunately.

I wouldn't suggest this restaurant out of the level of service we got. The food except the burger was decent but not anything...

Had dinner last night and I’m waffling between 2 and 3 stars only because of Nina the Bartender and the food…my guest and I were seated immediately but waited 20-30 mins before my we were welcomed or even offered water for the table. I saw the Manager, serving coffee to a couple at the bar, he seemed cordial to them, so I asked him if he could get us water bec we had been waiting for so long and we were thirsty from our walk over. At the same time, Nina, the bartender, came to our table and she had a colder jar of water so my guest asked to be served that water instead, the Manager, actually, sighed aloud and rolled his head back and rolled his eyes and then turned and walked away as if we had asked him to cook a 5 course meal with no stove! I mean seriously he was super rude and we decided to leave at that time bec the service was atrocious. Nina was such a gem and apologized profusely for her “bosses” behavior and I really did want to try a bit of seafood there so we stayed only bec she waited on our table. The other waiter never even acknowledged that we were there and that Mgr Never came to apologize for his behavior. We were both very disappointed…we live downtown and love having a new restaurant to try out from time to time…but I will check ahead from now on and will not go there with that manager there and I will not recommend this place to my neighbors. I’m not sure what his issue was but he seemed to be ok with serving other people just not me and my guest…smh…kindness is free and good service is a must in the service industry…the 2 stars are only for Nina...