Bon Ami — Restaurant in Denver

I was excited to try this French restaurant with my friend, but the food was lackluster (some was just plain bad), and the staff was intrusive and insulting.

I met with a long-time friend of mine for what we hoped would be a great catch-up dinner with great food and lots of wine. We ordered a bottle of wine to split, the mussels in white sauce, and escargot. The escargot was better than others I had eaten before. The mussels' sauce was pretty good, yet uninventive, but the mussels were not good. My friend actually spit one up because they were so bad. If the mussels didn't look good, they should have just let us know they were out and offered another option. Instead, they cooked the bad mussels for us to eat. I'm not feeling well today.

We then went on to order the duck rillet, brussel sprouts, the seafood crepe, and tried to order another bottle of wine. The waitress asked us how we were getting home. I was thrown off, but then thought, she doesn't know that I'm at dinner with a long time friend and may be looking out for me? I let her know I took a lyft there, which is the responsible thing that I did knowing I was going to meet a friend for a catch up dinner that loves French food and wine as much as I do. The waitress then sighed with relief and put in our order with just one more glass each and our additional three food items.

The duck rillet was not very flavorful at all (tasted like light mayo and canned chicken/tuna in a ball) with croustinis and baby dill pickles. Again, it was uninventive, extremely plain, and bland. The brussel sprouts were good, but they were something you could find at just about any restaurant these days. The seafood crepe came out last and was a bit of a saving grace and our favorite thing thus far, but again, lacked much seasoning. Maybe simple with no seasoning is what they are going for, but in my experience, simple can be mouthwatering and delicious... this was not that.

Then we moved on to get dessert and digestifs. My friend ordered something off the menu for a suggested drink when they did not have what he asked for. I asked to try a glass of it as well, in addition to a limoncello to have with our tres leches dessert crepe. The dessert came with my friends drink and my limoncello. I assumed she had forgotten my second beverage, but that was not the case. The dessert crepe was my favorite thing of the meal, followed by my least favorite thing - the waitress telling me I had enough for the night when I pointed out she did not bring me my other drink I ordered. It was 9:30, I was completely coherent, not causing any issue, sitting with an old friend, wanting to enjoy his company over dessert and drinks while there were still at least a half dozen people at tables and the bar in the front room. I just returned from a trip to europe where I had many long meals with multiple bottles of wine topped off with digestifs. It's not unusual for me as I love to try new foods, wines, and restaurants. There was absolutely no reason for her to question us on our beverage intake mid dinner nor after dinner. It was rude, intrusive, and insulting.

Not only am I extremely insulted by the wait staff and underwhelmed by the food at Bon Ami, I am also extremely disappointed as I had high hopes for this restaurant. I will NEVER go back. There is a plethora of fantastic French restaurants in Denver. I suggest you try a different one where the food is more authentic and flavorful, and the wine is flowing as it would...

There were three of us dining at Bon Ami Saturday, April 6th, and we arrived to find a close on-the-street parking spot at about 10 minutes before their 5pm opening time for a reservation, that was confirmed by email from Open Table on 4/5/24 at 9:18am, for three at 5pm. As my wife and step-mother went up to the door to see if they were open, they were turned away by Brittney who told them they don't open until 5pm, so they returned to the car to get out of the cold very strong wind. My step-mother has issues with walking, and they had hoped to be seated inside since there was a very strong, cold windstorm going on that was breaking tree branches along our route to Bon Ami Bistro & Creperie. At about 4:55pm as a large group of people arrived, parked and started getting out of their cars, I got out of our car, and went to the door to be the first in line waiting at the door. The Open Sign beside the front door said open, and I didn't touch the door, knowing from several previous visits that they can be very serious gatekeepers and will sometimes open a few minutes after 5pm. As I stood there, the person that denied my co-diners, Brittney, opened the door and said, "It's not locked, you just have to pull it open" as if I couldn't read the large "PULL" sign on the door. I said I was told by the two people I was with that had just been turned away since they tried to enter at 4:53pm, and told the opening time is 5:00pm. I waved to my wife and step-mom and they got out of the car behind the large group. Then I went in and when she asked if we had a reservation, and told her our last name and for three, and she said the server/table that was requested was not available, and the reservation was for two, not three people and that was all that could be seated. When it was our turn my wife got the confirmation email on her phone, and I tried to get Brittney to look at it, but she wouldn't and just said their system was all messed up. The requested table remained empty as we were leaving, and the requested server stopped by several times to chat. Steven, the server for the table we were at was very capable, friendly, and embarrassed at the behavior of Brittney and the way we were treated. We enjoyed all of our previous visits to Bon Ami, and the food was great during this visit, but will not be returning any time soon. Disappointing...

As a francophile, I LOVE French cuisine! Bon Ami is a wonderful new country-style French restaurant at north end of Wash Park (Alameda and Pennsylvania). They have only been open for about six months.

Especially since Le Central closed a few years ago, Denver should warmly embrace this great new affordable French bistro!

Happy hour is amazing! (M-F 4PM-6PM) We set a reservation for 6 p.m., but got there about 20 minutes early. Discounts include half-off bottles of wine, and $10 shareable appetizers! (Get the mussels!)

Wine: they have a great selection of French wines at an affordable price point, especially when they're half off! We tried a full-bodied Cab-Sav from the Bordeaux region. It was excellent!

The wait staff was very attentive and helped make some great recommendations. We settled on sharing the moules at frites prepared in a garlic cream sauce. The mussels tasted very fresh, and the sauce hit the spot! They also offer a tomato sauce version. The fries were thin and crisp served with a mayonnaise sauce, Belgian-style. The mussels are one of the things I miss the most about Le Central, but Bon Ami does an excellent job. Bob ordered a cup of French onion soup. He really liked the flavor! You can tell they spend a lot of tender loving care in that complex recipe!

Aside from the major French staples including Boef Bourginion, Bon Ami offers a very healthy selection of crepes that can be eaten as a full sized entree. Bob ordered the Cordon Bleu crepe served in a mornay sauce, while Travis ordered the La Merise crepe which was filled with beef tenderloin covered in a gruyere cheese sauce. We all agreed that Travis' selection was the best crepe of the two. I ordered the beef tips entree. I asked for the beef to be cooked rare, and the chef did a great job! It was served like a stew in a red wine, mushroom and cream sauce, pairing nicely with extra creamy and fluffy mashed potatoes along sauteed vegetables.

We skipped dessert completely, but I am excited to see what they offer the next time I visit.

Bon Appetit! They also serve brunch...which sounds...