la Madeleine — Restaurant in Duluth

The ambience of the restaurant is cozy, friendly and perfect for people who wants to chillin', relaxing, chitchat with friends, and enjoying time.

Ordered Caramel Macchiato, French Onion Soup, and Chicken Crêpe Riviera. First things first, although it's not a coffee shop.. the Caramel Macchiato is good (slightly too sweet) but that's fine since they're not a coffee shop. Second, French Onion Soup -- always order this soup everytime I go to the french restaurant! When it came to my table, to be honest I felt so disappointed with the texture of the soup. ( I always had this soup with the melty cheese texture ). Anyways, when I tried the soup, it tasted good, not more than that. ( and again just a little bit too salty ). However, the onion was perfect caramelized and not too oily! Third, Chicken Crêpe Riviera -- oh this one is amazing! Chicken was super tender and it just like melted inside your mouth! This one's perfectly seasoned! I love it!

The only thing they have to fixed is their hospitality! I need to address this thing because from what I experienced here, the server / cashier didn't really care about their customers! Yes I know it's more like a self service restaurant. But come on, my coffee and my soup came after my entree? I came to them and asked where's my coffee and my french onion soup? They forgot about that! (note : the restaurant wasn't busy at all! and the staffs were having fun, didn't even care about the customer) What a mediocre service! What a shame! Sorry to say, but the service can ruin the whole restaurant.

Would I come back here? Yes and hopefully they fixed their hospitality problem.

Ratings: Ambience / Place ( 4.5/5 ) Food ( 4/5 ) Service ( 2/5 ) Ave. Rating (3.5/5)

[1: Very Bad, 2: Bad, 3: OK, 4:...

6/23/2023 update: Decided to try again, kinda sorry we did. Had the cafe sampler, which had gotten smaller. Soup cup not filled up, smaller salad, probably quiche as well.

Server had difficulty cutting quiche, then plating. Resulting in broken crust.

Bread is no longer on the counter for self-serve. They don't verbally offer either, so you need to ask. The "jams" are available in a pump container.

The rustic motif of the restaurant is charming, but it also hides lack of cleanliness.

As much as we used to enjoy dining here, I think we're done. Au revoir. 2022 For years, this used to be our "go to" restaurant. C19 changed our routine. Thought we'd have a special treat and dine out. To our dismay, things have changed here and NOT for the better.

The entire restaurant did not have a "clean" feel to it; something so important in these times. Tables were cleared, but not really cleaned. The counter server did not have gloves. We had to alert the manager. We saw employee bussing tables, then go behind counter without changing gloves to serve next customer.

A mistake was also made using a giftcard and when caught by us, the manager blew it off by saying we should contact the # on giftcard to correct. There was no phone # on the card. We persisted and they finally corrected their error.

Restrooms were not stocked with paper towels; sadly no other choice but TP. Needed to be cleaned as well. We are sorry to see this nice restaurant's decline.

The food has become disappointing as well. The once plentiful bread bar only has a few slices at any time. Had to ask for napkins and utensils.

Needless to say, we won't be returning...

Met a friend here on a Saturday at 12:30p for brunch. Place wasn't busy. First time visiting for both of us but never again.

We both ordered this berry french toast with bacon. They brought one plate out after about 15 minutes and the other nearly 12 minutes later after we asked twice the status of the second plate. Of course the first plate was cold by now when the second plate came out.

I took the plate back up to the register to complain to the woman on the register (who seemed to be a supervisor/manager) about the first order being cold. With a condescending attitude and tone, she says "Do you want your money back!"

Wait, what?

No, "Can I get you something else?" or "I am sorry your food is cold" etc.

Why would I want my money back when I was there to have brunch with someone? And what happened to bringing a table's food out at the same time?

I counted to 10 and I asked her how long it would take to prepare. Woman said it will take awhile. I asked how many minutes. She said 10 minutes or so.

In the meantime my guest was eating, we were talking, and after more than 10 minutes the woman brought the order over.

At this point my guest had finished eating, and I asked for a refund. Woman got loud and said "We could have solved this when I asked you did you want your money back." I replied, "Well, now I want a refund." She stormed off.

Horrible customer service, rude servers, and no respect for my dollar seems to be the norm at this place. And really, nowadays in many restaurants and retail stores good customer service has vanished. I am sick of it.

We both concluded we will never go to this...