French Meadow Cafe & Bluestem Bar — Restaurant in Minneapolis

Sharing the email I sent to the French Meadow staff but since they never replied, I’m sharing here:

Hello Management,

I am writing to you today to share about the horrible service experience my mother, her best friend, and I had at the French Meadow location in Uptown.

Our server was Debbie G and our problems began when Debbie brought over a beer my mother's best friend ordered. My mother noticed that Debbie had stuck her fingers in the cup and appeared to try and get something out of it. It was when the beer was dropped off that we noticed a fly in the beer. When we notified Debbie of this she said she wasn't sure if it was a bubble or not and that she would bring over a new beer. I was surprised that is all she had to say, even after she heard us discussing this and the fingers in the drink. Another female, dark-haired server apologized on Debbie's behalf and asked us if we would like a complimentary dessert. I politely declined and said we were fine as long as the $6-$7 beer was removed from the bill.

Our food was good, although our appetizers didn't come out first like we asked. We were still fine with the experience until it came time for the bill. After Debbie dropped that off I noticed the beer charge was still there as well as no other discount. I asked if she could take off the beer and she replied with, "Well I brought over another one". I said, "Yes, after the first one had a fly in it and you tried to fish it out with your hands. That is disgusting and we shouldn't be charged for that." Debbie then started to argue that she didn't put her fingers in the drink and I let her know that my mother saw her do it so either she did or she's calling my mother a liar. I let her know that I am a server myself and that this service was unacceptable. You should never argue with the customer, especially with a situation like this. She then insulted me by making comments that I must be a bad server. I was beyond livid at this point and said, "I guarantee every table in here would agree with us and I wonder what the owners would think if they knew this is how she is treating customers." There were more exchanges after that but it ended with Debbie taking the beer off and us paying our bill. I was fully prepared to let this go if Debbie would have just removed the beer and not fought with me. I was even going to tip 20% but after being insulted and made to have a bad experience, there was no way in hell we were leaving that.

I have been to this location multiple times and is one of my top choices for taking friends / family visiting from out of town. Every experience has been really great, aside from today.

I'm not asking for anything in return but I wanted to let you know of the horrible service we received from Debbie...

I have been to this location a few times and I’ve enjoyed it. I was craving a pancake and originally came to try the fruit pancake on the chalk board, but the barista said the folded menu is more accurate. I don’t know why I got confused, that’s on me. I’m a bit jet lagged from a trip. I’m not really a person who takes initiative because I don’t want to make someone’s job harder by asking too many questions. I ordered the Belgian pancake off the menu. I felt like the whole time I was bothering them by taking time to decide what I wanted. For a slice of quiche, one Belgian pancake, a hot chocolate, latte, and hash browns the total was $45 which is a lot.

I was not aware the pancake was made from sourdough starter it didn’t specify on the menu, I ate a portion of it trying to force myself to like it because it was expensive for one pancake. It also seemed doughy? Maybe not as fluffy as I had imagined. Again, I hate hate being the person who doesn’t like their food and most times I don’t say anything because I don’t want to make anyone’s job harder or be “that customer”. I had asked the person working if the pancake was meant to be sour, they said yes it’s made from sourdough starter. Again, me not taking initiative—but I expected them to ask if I wanted something else, but I got a “would you like honey or whipped cream to cut the sourness” in a somewhat annoyed tone. I already felt like a bother, so I said no and I walked away. I just didn’t like the pancake. I’m honestly sorry I didn’t, I wish I liked it. I like French Meadow, but this experience was just off putting.

I’m sitting here trying to gaslight myself into thinking it’s all my fault and I shouldn’t say anything and I should just shut up and accept it for what it was. I do feel bad, I don’t want to ruin anyone’s day with this, and I’m making this a bigger deal than it was.

TLDR; I got something I didn’t like, I wish I was offered to get something else, but I felt too uncomfortable and a bother....

Service was friendly and prompt. Claire was a good waitress. We were seated right away. We visited Saturday for a late lunch and Sunday for an early dinner. It was fairly close to the MIA which we were at both days. The decor was nice and bright. It was a little loud, but that's the high ceilings in the main dining area. I think it would have been quieter in the front or back rooms. Water bright to the table right away. Our drinks were a hot chocolate and an on tap mandarin orange ginger kombucha. Both were very good. I especially liked the kombucha! I ordered the chicken wild rice soup. It was very thick. Lots of rice and big chunks of chicken. The slice of bread on the side was tasty though I would have liked to have it heated or toasted. I also ordered the "shroomy" calamari which was excellent! Easily the best dish of our whole weekend trip. I'm fact we came back on Sunday really just to have another taste of this. Nice and crisp. Paprika flavoring really the star. My daughter had the buttermilk ranch sandwich which was fine. The fries were not worth the extra $2 though. They must not like their fries crisp or tasty in this city because they were unseasoned and floppy. We had a slice of Chocolate Mousse cake which was yummy, as were the Coconut cake and the carrot cake (though they both were a little heavy on the top frosting) Since we were staying at a hotel we grabbed a couple of scones and croissants for breakfast. The croissants were good. The scones were interesting. I've not really had a drop scone before but that is what the cranberry one was. It has the right texture though and tasted fine. The lemon blueberry was very odd. It had the scone shape but that was it. It was like a crunchy shortbread instead of a tender scone. I would not...