Paris Baguette — Restaurant in Edgewater

My boyfriend and I have visited this Paris Baguette a couple of times now with very different experiences. On a holiday weekend, we got great service and spent over $65 between the both of us. Fresh pastries, great drinks, amazing sandwiches. However, our weekday visit told a completely different story.

PARKING The parking lot is always packed, but it’s a large enough lot with space to take some steps if necessary.

ATMOSPHERE From the outside, this place looks rinky dinky, but the inside is mesmerizing. The inside can get quite noisy, almost as if it echoes due to the high ceilings. The outside is lovely Everyone’s respectful of their volume outside on the waterfront, and sitting outside took the cake!

SERVICE This is where my experience gets mixed. On the holiday weekend, everyone was super efficient and fast. My iced drink was great, and the sandwiches were amazing. The excellent service was from Priti S, who went ABOVE and beyond for my boyfriend and I!

On a weekday, the workers looked lost and overwhelmed. This place is always busy it seems, and they had a hard time managing the flow around 11am. The service I received from Jennifer H was disappointing, though she gave my boyfriend excellent service. He even got a very nice strawberry matcha latte that was better than the weekend one.

My boyfriend and I decided to pay separately, and I was trying to remember to mention my drink order precisely because I’m allergic to whole milk. My boyfriend walked up with me to the cashier, and I said “don’t mind him, we’re paying separately,” then turned to him and apologized for not wording it better. Jennifer H misinterpreted this interaction and treated me poorly afterward. I get it, he’s handsome. I’m amazingly lucky! But that doesn’t excuse behavior or poor service by taking things out of context and judging me based on a small interaction.

She mixed up my sandwich order. I handed her a Caprese Baguette but was charged for a chicken Caesar baguette. My boyfriend was confused because he knows I don’t eat meat as my first meal of the day, and he witnessed my sandwich being given to another customer. When I asked to have my sandwich heated, she put my sandwich in a paper bag after it was done while his went in a box after his was heated. She practically threw mine onto the dirty counter top with no tray. My boyfriend was furious and got me my own tray because she assembled his to leave my stuff out. When she eventually made my order right, she put it in another paper bag with the same dismissive attitude. She also pulled out her phone to text in front of customers, which seems unprofessional.

My boyfriend received excellent service from Jennifer H while I was treated poorly, which was particularly frustrating given that we were both customers deserving equal respect.

The sandwiches really need to be labeled since the Caprese and chicken Caesar baguettes are on different shelves and look completely different.

OVERALL This Paris Baguette has great potential and a beautiful waterfront location. Priti S provided exceptional service that shows what this establishment can be at its best. However, consistency in service seems to be an issue.

I get overwhelmed easily in busy environments and sometimes struggle with communication, and I’m working to get better 1% every day. Everyone deserves the same level of service regardless.

Service ultimately comes down to establishments putting the right people in place as well. I hope the management addresses these service inconsistencies so all customers can enjoy the wonderful food and atmosphere this place has to offer.

I also don’t want to attack Jennifer H. Maybe she was having an off day or maybe she was new. Maybe I read it wrong, but even my boyfriend was put off by her behavior and told me I should...

I've visited this location twice with my wife over the past few weeks, and I really want it to succeed as it’s just a 7 minute drive from home, and the space has a lot of potential. The coffee is solid, the ham and cheese baguette (especially toasted) is absolutely delicious, and while the pastries can be hit or miss, the strawberry pistachio cream puff we tried was fantastic.

That said, I hope management takes this feedback seriously, because there are a few areas that need urgent improvement: customer service and cleanliness.

Customer Service: The atmosphere behind the counter feels low-energy. During our most recent visit, there was a long line of customers waiting, yet only one of the four employees was working the register. The rest were behind the counter but not actively engaging with the line. A little more urgency and attentiveness could go a long way.

Cleanliness: On both visits, the dining area felt neglected - crumbs and stains on tables, trash like straw wrappers and receipts on the floor. The space itself is beautiful, but that charm gets lost when upkeep is lacking. I’d recommend assigning a team member to routinely clean the sitting areas or rotating the responsibility among staff.

I also noticed some hygiene practices that raised concern. On our first visit, we ordered both cold and heated sandwiches, plus pastries. We were asked to hand our entire tray (with the cold sandwich and pastries) to a staff member to toast one item. I saw that the tray was placed right next to a sink where another employee proceeded to wash dishes. With the water splashing right next to our exposed pastries, it made me nervous about cross-contamination. On our second visit, I noticed a staff member compacting trash with gloved hands and then returning to handle coffee drinks and cups without changing gloves. There are simple fixes, like using a clean tray for hot items and requiring glove changes after touching trash. These could make a big difference in customer confidence.

I’m sharing this not to complain, but because I want this location to succeed. With stronger training in service and hygiene, this could easily become...

When I lived in the 6th arrondissement, there was a small café tucked between a perfumery and a cobbler who still hand-stitched soles by candlelight. The owner, Gilles, refused to serve anyone who pronounced "pain au chocolat" with the faintest hint of American optimism. He once closed the shop for a week simply because someone asked if he could "toast the croissant." That was Paris — not just a place, but a posture. A city that rewarded restraint, reverence, and quiet aesthetic suffering. So you can imagine my horror upon visiting this establishment, which calls itself a “French café” with all the confidence of someone who thinks quoting “Amélie” makes them continental. The espresso was bitter — not in the nuanced, poetic sense, but in the over-extracted, soulless way. The pastries looked like they’d been massaged into shape by someone who learned about laminating dough from TikTok. The menu was a democratic farce, designed to please everyone and satisfy no one. Gone is the unapologetic simplicity of a tartine and black coffee — replaced by pistachio sweet cream and mango lemonade refreshers. Why not just serve crème brûlée in a mason jar and call it a day? I didn't have high hopes for this so-called “French café” chain— the muted tones, minimalist font, and faint scent of burnt espresso all hinted at something promisingly Parisian. But alas, my expectations were swiftly shattered like a delicate sablé beneath a steel boot of mediocrity. The staff, bless their hearts, tried to maintain an air of refinement, but you could see the defeat in their eyes. I watched one barista attempt to explain the difference between a macchiato and a cortado to a man in cargo shorts. It was like watching someone recite Baudelaire to a brick wall. If you're the sort who enjoys their croissants with a side of ranch dressing and a Bluetooth headset, you’ll probably love it here. For the rest of us — those with discernment, taste, standards — it’s a sad parody of what a French café should be. One star, in the tragic spirit of Molière — for this café is a comedy of errors,...