Le Relais de Venise L'Entrecôte — Restaurant in New York

We heard about L'Entrecôte from social media, and finally had a chance to visit on a frigid weeknight. We arrived a few minutes before their evening opening, around 5:25pm. The line was already nearly wrapped around the block, but we decided to take a chance. Within the first 30 minutes the line moved quickly as people got seated, but we missed the cutoff and had to wait an additional hour and change with about 50 people still ahead of us. Total time from arriving to getting seated was about 2 hours. For those thinking about eating here, try visiting early on a weekday or during the lunch hours. I can't imagine how busy it would be on weekends.

Seating is a bit cramped, and they got a little too creative by moving the tables as close as possible to each other. The unlucky people who choose to sit on the inside would have to move the table to enter and exit. There are two restrooms, and there was always a constant line of people waiting to use them.

Regarding the menu, they only offer one entree and that's steak with fries. Steaks are pre-sliced when they arrive. When you order, you just let them know how you like the steaks cooked. Notably, they only offer the following steak temperatures: blue, rare, and medium (I believe they do well-done too, but not 100% sure). They don't do anything in between, like medium-rare or medium-well. They have a bread basket and walnut salad for appetizers that they'll automatically bring out, and an exceptional wine list and dessert menu.

I normally order medium-rare at other steak restaurants, but I went with rare here. It was the right choice, as it came out juicy and just right. We ordered medium for our kid, and I think it was just a touch overcooked, but was still good. The steaks are served with a very nice sauce, and get this, they will give you a second serving of steak and fries when you're done with the first serving. The fries are crispy and are a great pairing with the steak.

Desserts here are fantastic. I forgot the exact names for the ones not called creme brulee, but we had one which was a tower of meringue, ice cream, and chocolate sauce (I think it's called relais vacherin), and a plate of creme puffs filled with ice cream also topped with chocolate sauce (I think this one was called profiteroles au chocolat). Needless to say, the creme brulee and the other two were divine, I think you can't go wrong with any choice on the menu. We also had a cup of espresso to pair with our desserts.

Service is decent, our servers did their best. However, I should note that it does take some time in between server visits due to how busy it is. The server who served us the second serving accidentally dropped some fries into my drink, which wasn't a huge deal, but I didn't get an apology or an offer to get a new cup. I did give it a pass, it's stressful enough given the conditions.

Overall, I think L'Entrecôte is nice to experience at least once. We did leave full and satisfied. As a date spot, I don't think it would be a wise idea due to how chaotic it can be during the busiest times. I think the overall vibe resembles more like a diner rather than an upscale dining experience. I think a lot of the issues would be resolved if they had an additional location with a much larger dining area and more staff, and maybe letting the hype die down a bit and allowing the staff get acclimated. But as-is, definitely try to arrive early to...

My family and I have frequented Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecôte for years (we’ve been to their Paris locations and to their previous NYC location). This new location is quite smaller than the last with some noticeable differences but nonetheless, the food is still the same.

RESTAURANT LOCATION: if you want to get in with the first seating, get there a little before an hour before they open. My family was dropped off by a private driver and we were still about the 15th table to get seated with the restaurant quickly filling up. There were hundreds of people after us that waited over 2+ hours. There are NO reservations so be wary of the wait time.

INSIDE THE RESTAURANT: the tables are VERY close together. You are basically sitting with the table next to you. I’ve been here for date night and while I think it’s great for a 4th date and beyond, I wouldn’t come here for a 1st date and I wouldn’t come if you have any parties larger than 6 people. We were a party of 5 and it was VERY cramped. there is 1 men’s and 1 women’s bathroom. At their old location they used to have a 3rd but it’s just the 2 in the restaurant. They are both singular bathrooms and often there’s a line to use them. They were clean and very spacious (for wheelchair accessibility).

SERVICE: Service was just OK.. did it feel rushed? Yes. Was our waitress friendly and attentive? Yes. Theres not much else we had to say about the service we received, it was just OK.

FOOD: Please note, they only serve a salad, steak, fries and various desserts - THAT’S IT the simplicity of their menu is super appealing because there’s only 3 ways you can order your steak: rare, medium, well done. Salad | 5/5: the salad does come with walnuts however they do ask if you would like it without. It comes perfectly dressed in a mustard dressing and is just simple. Steak | 5/5: the showstopper of the meal. It’s cooked to perfection with that green sauce that looks unappealing but you’ll dip your fries and sauce in it. It’s sliced thin and you get 2 servings along with the fries. Fries | 5/5: crispy, golden, fried to perfection. Ask for extra sauce from the steak to dip them in. Bordeaux Wine | 5/5: pairs beautifully with your steak and very inexpensive for a bottle. I wish they sold them to take home! Desserts | 4/5: the profiteroles are always a table favorite. My mom did order a seasonal dessert that came with peaches that was delicious. The reason for the 4 stars was the chocolate tower in my pictures. The wafer tastes and sounds like styrofoam and it’s incredibly loud to cut into. *Tip for ordering desserts: look at their website before going because they will show what the dessert is with the French name!

Overall we love coming here and know what to expect. They have really taken off on social media and I think that definitely attributes to the long wait times. My family and I will continue to eat here for...

We got in line at least 30 minutes before before they reopened for their dinner service (granted it was the day before Thanksgiving/Macy's parade- lots of extra tourists) & we thought we were relatively close to front so we'd hopefully get in at 1st seating but we got all the way up to the front of the line just when the restaurant was full so we had to wait another hour standing on our feet outside in the cold in line waiting for the 1st round of diners to be done before we could get in. Thinking it was going to be worth it, we ended up waiting a total of 2.5 hrs. Finally sat down excited to be served & eat! They pack you in like sardines in there since there's not much space in the restaurant & they've gotta serve a lot of people fast. So you're kind of on each others toes a bit seeing/listening to all the happenings around you. Definitely not an intimate meal. I had to crawl through the tables to my seat on the window side because all the tables are pushed together like communal eating even though we're served separately. We did have to share our salt & pepper shakers & other random condiments on the table which was fine. Service was prompt, staff was very nice & attentive contrary to what you may have heard. To be honest, the food was just okay. Don't get me wrong, it was good but it's definitely not worth the hype when there's a plethora of other good quality meals you could have in NYC & not waited near as long or paid so much! With our meal, my hubs ordered the recommended red wine which he Loved (we should've grabbed a bottle) & I got the chocolate cake for dessert which comes with 2 kinds of chocolate cake! Both were lovely! We actually found those items more rave worthy than the steak & frites, salad & bread. Sauce is supposed to be their specialty in what makes everything so great. It was good yes, just would've been better if we were served with more sauce to dip everything in. When the table next to us (who had more people in their group & was clearly spending much more $ on drinks/starters, etc) asked for more sauce, they came out with 2 small plates full of sauce for them to spoon on their plates free! When we asked, (just my husband & I) we were told there was an extra $5 charge, even though they would've only need to give us much less than the other table. It was a bit frustrating but it is what it is, money talks at some places. So all in all, it was fine. Would we go back? Probably not. I mean maybe if it was in our own hometown in Michigan where there's no wait, less options but we'd never go back in NYC or other locations because it's just not worth the hype! There's just SO many other/better options in the city to spend my patronage & a lot less time waiting! Some people just swear over that sauce but really, it's...