Le Pain Quotidien — Restaurant in New York

Entered the restaurant and went up to the bakery counter to look at the menu and order. Were asked if we wanted to dine in and said yes. The guy behind the counter said to pick a seat anywhere and a waiter would come to us. We sat down at seats near the front of the restaurant and waited about 5 minutes before being told those were actually for to go orders and not for dine in. We move to another part of the restaurant and are greeted by a waiter with orange hair, nice guy. We continue looking at the menu for a minute or two and then wait about 15 minutes before we are checked on again. The waiter takes our order. I got a tomato and mozzarella sandwich and my girlfriend got a French cream donut and a pumpkin spice latte. It then takes about 20 minutes for our food to be ready, meanwhile the couple behind us has asked for their check twice now and the one poor waiter is serving the entire restaurant of atleast 30 people. We finally get our food which is decent for the price and finish eating before that other couple has gotten their check. At this point we have been waiting so long for him to come check on us that we have already stacked our dishes in the middle of the table for him to pick up. I finally get his attention and ask for the check and he nods and says just one second. He then seats atleast 3 more families and does not come back to us for 15 minutes. I understand this is not the waiters fault as he was completely alone in a restaurant that needed atleast 2 waiters, but at this point we had been in the restaurant for almost an hour and a half for a simple sandwich, premade donut that was sitting in a bakery case, and a coffee. Just absurd, ownership needs to get this...

Setting aside the fact that this place is so overpriced, the service is one of the worst I’ve gotten in New York. I never write reviews but I thought I would give notice this time. I came in and went up to order at the register, I wanted a pastry and a coffee. I told the woman working behind the register I wanted to sit down and she gave me the option to pay straight up or sit down and get the check at the end. Since I was already there I decided to pay straight up, with generous tip as if I had actually sat down and gotten dine-in service. I get my pastry and sit down while waiting for my coffee. The woman knew I had sat down but my coffee never came. After some time, I asked one of the servers and he quickly brushed me off and told me to ask another waitress, which I did. I very politely asked her if I could get my coffee (I am quite shy and non confrontational at all, I have to ask myself 50 times before talking to waiters because I know they’re busy and I don’t want to be a hassle). The waitress (the one with long pink braids) was extremely rude, she responded aggressively that I had to go get it myself at the front and walked off without the hint of a smile or anything. I got my coffee at the front and left. I had specifically asked the woman at the register and she gave me the option to pay straight up before sitting down, I tipped as if I had gotten dine-in service and was reasonable and polite in my request - nothing justified this kind of attitude. The waitress in question had long pink dyed dreads, I didn’t get her name but because of her attitude I’ll never step foot in a Pain...

It sucks that Katherine is never there when I go for my iced coffee or pastry! I'm not sure if she works there anymore or not but her customer service was always fabulous! I'm not a morning person but her friendliness, along with Gary's, was that little kick that allowed me to change my mood for the day.

I've gone recently and I've got nothing but stank attitude, my very easy beverage prepared incorrectly, and even the side eye for asking for extra milk! :( I ran in today at about 10 am and some girl at the counter barely greeted me when I walked in, and didn't care to add extra soy milk to my coffee when I was asked for it politely (was it because it was free from my rewards? Who knows!). When he handed me my drink I smiled and notified her I was going to add sugar and drink some of the coffee to make more room for milk. As I went fixed my drink and returned to ask for more milk, she shooed my hand away to grab my drink (?!), she adds more milk AND THEN MORE COFFEE?! Lol why? I said more MILK, hence me drinking to leave room for it . 😖 Anywho, my iced coffee was still dark and she returned it and walked away before I could even thank her for trying. 😐

I know we all have bad days but if someone's being polite, I believe, the least you could is try and give them the service they deserve.

Anyway! I think I'll no longer spend my earned money at this location. I do hope they improve their service and maybe I'll try again and re-evaluate...