la Madeleine — Restaurant in Gilbert

My brother and I visited Madeleine French Bakery for the first time last week. The decision to do so began with a search for "french toast" late one weekday night. My brother, your average breakfast for dinner fiend asked me if I knew any place that sold good french toast, to which I hastily checked Google. This location was the second option, following an ad for The Cheesecake Fac. and Denny's as the closest place to us that sold what they call french toast. I saw the owner's photograph of what the considered french toast and it caught my eye, it was elegant, triangular, plump and beautiful decorated toast, decorated with fresh fruit, we had to have it. We usually hang out in the central Phoenix area, but decided to make the drive out. As we arrived, we were greeted with warm "bonjour"s coming from most of the employees. The whole place was clean and a fire place adorned the left side of the restaurant. On the right, a great display case full of decedent desserts (from which we tried all the minies, the coconut cake, lemon tart, and creme brulee). We made our way down the restaurant corridor, which is fashioned sort of like a Panera Bread or a Zuppas, traditional cafe vibe. The waitress and waiter/barista at the time of our visit were welcoming to our queries and allowed us to ask away a few questions before finally ordering a classic grilled cheese with soup and the object of my brother desire: french toast. Now here's the thing I should clarify, they carry two french "toasts", but it's actually a cinnamon bun with elements of the actually dish colliding with the pastry. It's surprisingly light, not doughy or overly sweet, served simply with a few slices of strawberry, a sauce, some optional syrup, and a dusting of confectioners sugar. I loved it, my brother loved it, the bit we left was engorged by our roommate who also said it tasted delicious. Would I revisit this place? Yes, absolutely. It sits like a cafe but yields date night warmth and vibe. The food is tasty, served quickly, and the staff is friendly. Would I recommend this place to others? But of course, others have to know!

Sidenote: their lattes are perfectly steamed, greatly balanced espresso shots, and served at great...

I have been to the Marketplace location a few times. I like the atmosphere, quiet and chill. But, there are a couple things that could stand improvement. The cherry turnovers, there really is no filling, it is basically a light layer of cherry sauce that has congealed to the inside walls of the pastry. I have ordered these twice and twice been disappointed. I do enjoy the dark cherry cream cheese danish, it's quite good with the exception that they put way too much powder sugar on top. Infact I have come to crave these quite a bit. That being said, I went in this past weekend to get one and to my utter dismay there were at least half a dozen visible fruit flies walking around on said pastries, and several others flying around freely within the glass pastry case. I spotted one dead carcus next to a chocolate mouse slice. When I told what I suspected was a person in charge they seemed to act like me informing them of the pastry infestation to be bothersome. Had they even bothered to say thank you for helping keep the customer food clean, or offered to make me a fresh unmolested pastry that would be a different story, but nothing but a blank stare. There has been an occasion or two that there were several tables that needed to be bussed thus leaving minimal clean seating options. I have probably only eaten at this location 7-8 times, there have been too many negative experiences, that coupled with the images of fruit flies crawling over my potential breakfast keeps me from coming back. Also, The window next to the front entrance is filthy. I will say the croissants are damn good but the fear of getting unwanted extra protein...

Every time I go here, I remind myself I need to go more often. I love this place! The atmosphere has a home-y, rustic, French patisserie or boulangerie feel. When you walk in you are immediately greeted by the pastry display offering so many delicious options. I love that I can get a tiny little dessert for days when I don't feel like splurging calories, but when I do, I have options for that as well. You order your food at the register, anything from pasta to salads and soups to crepes. They bring your food to you and they clean up after you, so leaving a tip is a good idea. The staff is dressed for the part of French restaurant staff and they even use some French terms when addressing you, like bon appetit. It's just so charming! The food has always been top notch when I've gone as well. This particular time I had the ham and swiss crepes, a small lemon tart, and we also tried the corn chowder and a lemon madeleine. Everything had amazing flavor and texture. It was nice to sit and enjoy the fireplace, and just relax like I would if I were on vacation in France. Definitely recommend!

Later....went back for breakfast, which is served all day, and it was amazing also!

Even later (June 2025): I stopped in today for treats and learned that corporate is discontinuing the lemon madeleines. Beyond disappointed!! That is something I get every time I'm there, and the dipped ones just aren't as tasty. The staff said that's the same feedback they are getting from everyone, so corporate is apparently doing this despite the...