la Madeleine — Restaurant in El Paso

Update 14Feb2021 - Lowered my review a star because I called in to place an order before closing and the girl told me that I would have to arrive before 9 if I was going to order something and I said that was fine because I was outside. She put me on hold for a second and a minute later another guy answers the phone and tries to tell me its already 9 and they are already closed. At this point Im starting to get irritated because its 855 and they are lying because I can clearly see people still dining from the window. So I get off the phone and go inside... because its not 9 and the door is still unlocked. As I approach the counter a red shirt employee is standing there and I ask if I can place an order and he tries to tell me its already closed and that I cant order anything so I asked if I could even still get a slice of cake to which they sold me🙄. Even the receipt says 859 by the time they ring up. If you wanna close early just say you are closing early but dont lie and say you are already closed when you still have tables eating and selling food 🙄🙄🙄.

Tried this place for the first time yesterday for lunch because I found out they serve breakfast and I was craving breakfast food. The establishment looks nice and has a decent set up but the staff is lacking on courtesy. The food wasn't too bad but the eggs had too much butter/grease when they served it and the potato galette (read hash brown) was undercooked. They also completely forgot about my coffee and didn't seem too enthusiastic about making thus causing me to have to wait while my food got cold because their croissants are too dry and flaky to consume with nothing to wash it down. After waiting an additional 5 minutes I went for a water cup but then didn't see any water. I believe the most unFrench thing about the place was the lack of jam for the croissants. Thats on of the best things about Paris for variety of jams and preserves but they two "ketchup" pumps of jam - strawberry and blackberry (I think) - neither of them tasted good nor was the consistency appealing when you pumped it out. Cleanliness was my last issue with them since I had to pull out soo much silverware from their containers since most of it was wet and contained food particles from the previous meal. So I dropped it down to a 2. Coconut cake was good...

This used to be a good place but in recent years the quality of the service and the food has really gone down. To begin with, I am french, born in Paris France yet living in Canada. I visit El Paso a few times a year and La Madeleine holds a special place in my heart as it is the cafe I would spend much time with when I was with my ex. Going there brings back a flood of happy memories. Sadly the atmosphere has changed so much as it has become a loud, noisy place that is packed with rowdy people who's earsplitting laughter and annoying boisterous shouting drown the sound of classical music playing in the background! The service is horrible for so many reasons. The menu keeps changing and becoming more and more Americanized thus not offering anything close to authentic french food served in french cafés! They take way too long to make the food and when it arrives it is cold. I have never successfully ordered a decently warm soup even when I asked them to rewarm it, it still came out lukewarm. 3 years back they used to have the classic french baguette/Brie sandwich that is so popular everywhere in Paris streets but they removed it from the menu that is now crowded with unappetizing American type foods. The pastry seems to follow the authentic french style but still tastes very commercial. Prices are way too high for this type of poor quality of food. The fact that I asked for grilled vegetables and got a bunch of raw half sauteed vegetables made me question the competence of their cooks. Too many mess ups that resulted in me returning my dish and waiting half an hour only to finally give up and ask for a refund. Seems like they are quite successful with the El Paso crowds but as a French person I do believe it is a bit insulting to use the name and the french cafe concept to describe themselves. It would be like biting into a stale profiterole with no filling inside. ...

Arrived at aprox. 12:45 pm. Thursday 03/30/2017. Placed order at the counter, my dearest friend paid for both of our meals. Than we went to find our table. We got comfortable, than we arouse to go get our utensils and found the butter knife was dirty with dry lettuce on it. Went back to the table. I asked for the Manager. He came over apologized took the knife. Than we had to ask for our side dishes twice. Which were sautéed mushrooms and a small baguette bread. Our order was placed at our table. My friend was not satisfied with her meal it was so dry, she was expecting moister and flavorful French food. Considering the dishes served at this restaurant are a little pricy. We also brought this issue to the Managers attention and asked for the bill to be credited for her plate due to the fact that she did not eat even 1/2 of her plate. He offered pastry, baguettes, and something else. I do not recall. We both said no Thank you! We would like the plate credited. He walked away and said nothing and did nothing. We stayed to chat a while at the table to see if he would return. He never did. We asked the waitress for iced water so we could wait. Than the water was brought out to us and my friends water glass was dirty. Now! What kind of Restaurant servers you with dirty dishes and does not credit the meal which was not any good or offer to replace it with a new order ( the same order that was originally ordered) not pastry's and baguettes. He did not credit her card for the meal. Really! How dis courteous is that. Does anyone out there think that we will ever return to this Restaurant. I DO NOT THINK SO! Will be reporting to the...