Alpin Bistro — Restaurant in Gainesville

Terrible dining experience here. Would give it zero stars if allowed. We went as a party of 6 on a Friday at 7:40 PM. We were seated promptly and then waited 15minutes before a waitress came by for the first time. We ordered drinks and waters. She brought out 5 waters for 6 people of which she did not refill a single time during the entire 2.5 hour dining experience. She brought a glass of Pinot Noir when asked for Chardonnay to one of our group. With my drink order she had to come back to the table for me to remind her what I ordered. We placed our food orders and she "warned us" on Fridays it takes a while for food to come out and it will come out at different times. I guess we assumed "a while" would be more reasonable than what we experienced. After 1.5 hours we had yet to be served any food. We went to inquire about what was taking so long and then 5-10 minutes later our food began coming out. First arrival was a ramekin of goat cheese and crostinis. It took 1.5 HOURS to bring out cold goat cheese and crostinis. Second item a few minutes after, another goat cheese plate with grapes and crostinis and pear slices. Then about 10 minutes later the baked Brie and our three orders of the Croque-style sandwiches arrived. The final item the chorizo came after we had completely eaten the rest of the food and we sent it back to kitchen. I feel pretty strongly it would have been 30 minutes longer had we not finally said something. Don't get me wrong the food was tasteful but the experience was horrible. Instead of attempting to correct the situation the manager/owner was upset at us with being upset about the service and dining experience which is a terrible approach to customer service in the food industry. We tried to discuss with her about leaving prior to the food even coming out because of how poor the experience had been but they said they will "see what they can do to make it up to us." In the end they only took off 4 of our drinks and the chorizo plate that we sent back to the kitchen anyway from the bill. Needless to say I will not be returning and will let everyone at UF Shands know to avoid this place. If you go, go to have a drink before going to...

My boyfriend and I visited this restaurant for the first time on Valentine’s Day. We arrived 20 minutes early and were only behind one other couple in line. At 5 PM, they began seating reservations, which was surprising because their website states that reservations are only available for parties of six or more. There were maybe four couples with reservations in total.

Upon entering, the other non-reserved couple ahead of us was given a cozy, private table off to the side. However, despite several open tables, my partner and I were seated at a large communal table in the middle of the restaurant. What made this more frustrating was that we weren’t even asked if we were okay with it—unlike another couple at the far end of the same table, who were given the option. As one of the first people there, this didn’t feel great, but I decided to overlook it and focus on enjoying our evening.

We ordered two cocktails, and while they were strong (felt more like three drinks instead of one), they were enjoyable. The food itself was absolutely incredible—easily the highlight of the experience. However, the service left much to be desired. Our waitress, Ray (I believe), clearly forgot to put our order in. We watched multiple tables that arrived after us receive their food, finish their meals, and leave before ours even came out. At one point, our waitress asked if we wanted to order anything else, as if we weren’t still waiting for the three dishes we had already ordered. When she realized her mistake, she simply said, “I just forgot, but the food is coming.” It was probably about two hours between being seated and receiving our food. There was no apology or acknowledgment of the mistake, which was disappointing.

Unfortunately, because of the delay, we were unable to have dessert as we had to get home to relieve our babysitter. This was a huge letdown, especially on a special occasion. That being said, we absolutely loved the food and will be giving this place another chance. We’re sharing this review in hopes of encouraging better customer service in the future because the quality of the food truly deserves a better...

Good food, slow service. Illogical reasoning for slow service. Prices are higher than reasonable, but considering the location is Gainesville you are paying for the experience of both culture and ambiance.

My husband and I went for the first time for Saturday Brunch and ordered 3 types of crepes, no drinks. Despite there being 6 or 7 staff and only five full tables seated at the time we arrived, it took almost 20 minutes to receive tap water and our table was facing the drinks station.

We then watched as people who had arrived after us received food and were finally graced with our first plate 55 minutes after ordering. While it was delicious, at this point we were annoyed as crepes are usually done in under three minutes and at no point was the restaurant full.

It took another 13 minutes to receive our 2nd plate and was then informed by our waitress that, "They can only cook 2 crepes at a time," as their reason for being slow. This doesn't make sense as we'd never received any of our three at the same time, yet other plates were flying out to the patio despite it being half empty when we arrived. The last crepe arrived 10 minutes after we finished the second and the waitress was kind enough to ask us if we wanted the bill then or after. We finished eating and paid thus closing our nearly hour and a half long brunch consisting of three delicious but pricey crepes.

We were delighted at the opportunity for French food as my husband is European and I had lived across the pond for a while, but sadly the service and wait ruined this place for us. I REALLY wanted to like this place, and the food did live up to my expectations. Sadly, the service was less concerned with our experience than joking around with each other behind the counter.

Verdict: What should have been a lovely 35 minute brunch with my husband was instead a clock-watching, stressful experience where we were made to feel unwelcome and unimportant. We likely...