Barbette — Restaurant in Minneapolis

We had a baguette and some pastry delivered today via Doordash. A ham and brie baugette was delivered instead of the turkey and brie baguette which is on the menu. Ham. It's a good thing I'm not Jewish or Muslim. I called the restaurant to inform them of the mistake, which I consider a big mistake. I had a hard time getting it through to the woman who answered the telephone what happened. I told her that we ordered the sandwich, it arrived and it was not turkey it was not turkey it was ham, and she told me that they don't have ham and brie baugettes on the menu, that they only have turkey and brie baugettes. We went back and forth 3 or 4 times on this, it was ridiculous. She was strangely confused. I spelled it out for her one last time before she understood. She apologized. We talked back and forth for a minute, and then I think she was done because then she said I don't know what you want me to do about it, she said that a few times. She told me to contact Doordash for a refund. We had already contacted Doordash. I told her one thing she could do would be to maybe go speak with the kitchen help and convey to them the importance of preparing food orders correctly. Like I said, what if I had been a Jew or a Muslim and I bit into a ham sandwich? It's a pretty significant mistake. I said in my previous email that we loved Barbette and we would continue to patronize Barbette, but we would not be getting any more deliveries. We decided to give Barbette just one more chance with the delivery and this happens. I don't think we'll be patronizing Barbette in the future at all, not in person nor by delivery. Still waiting on that gift card, not necessary now. For such a sweet little place I'm surprised at the poor customer service. If there is resentment or something regarding deliveries then maybe you shouldn't do them.

This is the email I sent to the manager of Barbette on June 29th, 2024. He responded a few days later with an apology and a promise to send me a gift card. He never sent the gift card. I will also be posting a review of the order I received today, with a photo.

I've noticed lately that the quality of the food has been uneven when we have it delivered. Sometimes it's really good, sometimes it's really bad. I have not said anything about the bad meals because I assumed it was just a one-off or something, but my food this morning was the worst.

Tim ordered for me what looked like scrambled eggs with onion, bacon, a sliced half avocado, a few slices of baugette, and a Danish.

The avocado had bits of brown inside but I was able to scrape that out of the way. The eggs were all right. The bread was good.   The bacon was inedible. It was cold and it was so hard I was unable to chew it. It did not appear to have been cooked today. Actually, I am fairly certain it was not cooked today.

The cappuccino was undrinkable. It was the worst cup of coffee I have ever had, and I am over 60. I am not exaggerating. I took one sip and I had to run to the kitchen and spit it out into the sink. At first I was afraid there was something in it that did not belong there, degreaser or something, I don't know what, it was so bad.

The Danish was ok, but it was unwrapped and sitting on top of the food container in the bag.

No napkins or forks either.

We do love Barbette, and we have never, ever had a problem with the food when we eat in the restaurant. We will continue to patronize Barbette, but only when we can eat inside the restaurant. However, we will never order food to be...

Did we come on the wrong day at the wrong time? How does this place have such good ratings? My partner ordered the seared salmon, and I ordered a Niçoise salad with tuna. The pan-seared salmon arrived cooked around the edges but fully raw in the center, so we had to send it back to be cooked properly. How do you send out a plate of fish or any protein without temping the center to be sure it's safely cooked? I get wanting the fish to be just flaky enough and not over-done and tough, but this was inexcusable. Nothing we ordered was seasoned properly, and I don't mind lower sodium foods, but someone should be tasting as they go when cooking the food to ensure that it's evenly seasoned throughout. The lentils and rice had zero flavor and the salmon barely had any herbs or spices to speak of. I think I saw a single caper with the salmon, but there was none of the punchy, briney-ness that I was hoping for. I love French cuisine, but this lacked any of the typical French herbs and richness. Although a salad is difficult to mess up, the Niçoise salad was similarly disappointing. The salad greens were wilted, some were slimy, and the green beans weren't blanched properly and were tough and flavorless (they didn't get tossed in dressing). The inclusion of purple potatoes could have been a tasty swap for fresh tomatoes, but again they had no flavor and needed some browning in a pan to give them dimension and sweetness. Maybe comparing this salad to the genuine Niçoise I had while in Nice was too high a bar, but there were small techniques and seasoning choices that I think would have made both dishes more complex and flavorful. I'm just a home cook, but if I'm tasting your food and thinking "Hmm, I would have sautéed this with garlic, sprinkled some sea salt, and peppered it generously before serving." Even the rice and lentils could have used a French-inspired pilaf treatment with onions, chicken stock, and butter for flavor. What can I say? Whoever cooked this needs more experience. Lastly, and also unfortunately, the service was nothing remarkable, but that was easily overshadowed by the subpar quality of the food. I really wanted to like this place, and had high expectations given the...

I've been coming to Barbette for years, approximately 3 years since moving here from NYC. I've held off on this review because I wanted to truly experience this restaurant through all of its seasons and ups and downs before giving my final critique.

I'm from NYC, and I've worked and run French restaurants like Maison Kayser and Financier Patisserie on Stone Street and Bryant Park. So you can imagine, I know not only French but French cuisine.

Barbette is something amazing, I can't say it's the best French cuisine ever but it's the best American-French cuisine I've had in Minneapolis. It's like a spin-off or a twist so no, not everything is like France so don't expect it to be. Not every staff member is a representation of the hard-working kitchen staff and amazing bartenders/servers. Don't expect perfection, expect a warm, cozy local business thriving with an owner who tries their best.

I've had good food most days and sometimes its a miss but if you ask again, if you're open to allowing them to make it better, they will. Support them because you care, because they're family, because they're trying. Recommend or speak up if something is off and try to create that trust and I assure you, Barbette will always be there.

Coming from from Korea I couldn't have been more happy to be back at Barbette around familiar faces and the bustling sounds of politics, lovers dining and capturing lasting moments. With beautiful artwork for sale painting the walls. Now that's what I call a home away from home, thanks Kim and all the amazing staff at Barbette, I hope you're...