Sottise — Restaurant in Phoenix

First things first, my wife and I love Sottise, it's great and we love the vibe here as we've been a handful of times, mostly enjoying both food and drinks. The service here is also really good and most folks working there seem very intentional. However, on our latest visit, I was shocked when I received my bill for only drinks (I wish I still had the receipt..).

My wife and I came here for drinks only on a Saturday evening. We love rum and there are no rum-based drink options on the menu so we ordered daiquiris from the bar and they were good. However, we did not expect to pay $22 per daiquiri (we ordered 3 each) and the price of asking for a drink off the menu was not communicated to us prior to receiving the bill. I actually ended up paying for the bill before seeing the tab as our server saw my card on our table and offered to run the card since I was ready to pay at the time; I should've asked for the tab before letting her charge us but of course, I wasn't expecting such a steep price. I don't mind paying for quality and great service but this experience was a little much.

When I saw the bill, each daiquiri charge was itemized as something like "cocktail + $6 Diplomatico Reserva Rum" give or take. So this lets me know that they charged us pretty much the average price of their cocktails on their actual menu which seemed to be $16 (average price for a stirred/spirit forward cocktail was $20), with an additional upcharge of $6 each cocktail for the rum. Mind you...a daiquiri is just 3 ingredients which is typically a rum, lime juice and simple syrup. I was shocked when I saw this and I honestly thought it was a mistake. I'm familiar enough with the industry and staple rum cocktails such as a daiquiri so I was very confused by this pricing.

After I paid, I kindly went to the bar to ask the bartending staff if what I was charged seemed accurate to them as I explained the situation. They mentioned that the charges seemed correct based on their use of the only rum they had to use at the bar which is a quality rum. After our chat, one of the staff members ended up taking a round of drinks off our tab and apologized for the lack of the pricing transparency prior to me paying for the bill. They bar staff was nice and polite about everything and I was as well, but inside I was pretty upset even with the comped round of drinks.

The justification for the upcharge just didn't make sense and my wife and I felt extremely taken advantage of. You can find a bottle of Diplomatico Reserva at a liquor store or somewhere like Total Wine ranging anywhere from right under $30 a bottle to maybe around the $38 ish range. Given the type of drinks that they already have on their menu (some of them having more than one spirit) it just didn't register well with me that they upcharged to that extent. If anything, it makes more sense to charge more for their house cocktails given the time/effort behind bar prep for them as well as using spirit(s) with just as high quality as Diplomatico Reserva or better.

We went to one of our favorite cocktail bars immediately following this experience (often considered the best in town and in the Southwest but I won't name drop) who have complex cocktails on their menu and the highest price for a cocktail there regardless of the kind is $18...which includes clarified cocktails, spirit forward drinks and more. We asked the bar managers there about our experience and they told us that we were most definitely ripped off unfortunately. It was sad to hear fellow cocktail industry leaders confirm what we felt. Nonetheless, a return to Sottise is not on the table for us in the...

I don’t usually write negative reviews, but our experience at this French restaurant was frustrating enough that I think it’s worth sharing.

From the beginning, the service felt off. Our server didn’t greet us, didn’t smile, and generally gave off the impression that he didn’t want to be there. Throughout the meal, we had to ask multiple times just to get our water glasses refilled, and when it finally happened, it felt like we were inconveniencing him. I get that restaurants can get busy, but this didn’t feel like stress—it felt like indifference.

As for the food, some dishes were good, but the low points were really low. I started with the French onion soup, which is honestly one of my favorite things to eat. It looked amazing—golden cheese, toasted bread, rich-looking broth—but the flavor was a complete letdown. It was so bitter it was almost shocking. Not just lacking in depth or salt, but actually scorched. Like the onions had been burned and no one noticed—or worse, no one cared. I couldn’t eat it.

Next was the beef bourguignon, which I’d also been excited about. Unfortunately, it was way oversalted. Every bite was a struggle. We even mentioned it to our server, hoping there might be some kind of acknowledgment or offer to fix it—but he just shrugged and moved on. No apology, no replacement, nothing.

That said, not everything was bad. The deviled eggs were genuinely excellent—creamy, flavorful, perfectly seasoned. The baguette was fresh and had a great crust. And the cocktails were a highlight—really well balanced and thoughtfully made. Clearly, someone in the kitchen or behind the bar knows what they’re doing.

But a few good bites don’t make up for the overall experience, which just felt cold and careless. And for a dinner that cost over $150, it’s not unreasonable to expect more—better service, more consistency, and food that’s actually edible.

I won’t be returning. There are plenty of restaurants in town that know how to treat guests well and serve great food. This just wasn’t...

the venue is cute but the food is mediocre at best.

The oysters were good but only 3 per order so it was more of a small side than an appetizer the "fresh baguettes" were extremely tough and if you're into bread hurting your jaw from chewing so hard then it's fine the baked camembert dish was served in an extremely hot all-clad pan that the server said would be hot but I barely brushed it with my hand and it burned me. they didn't provide a hot handle holder. the dish itself was decent flavors but the texture was underwhelming and mostly just a liquid cheese that was difficult to eat with the fork they provide the duck was terrible. It was extremely chewy so I googled to see if this was a style of duck that maybe I wasn't aware of, but it was just cooked very poorly. It was so chewy it was like a cheap piece of steak and it was inedible after 3 forced bites... the service was fine but they didn't check up often so it felt like an average service experience none of the entrees are locally sourced (I spoke with the host who is friends with the chef), only some secondary ingredients. The entrees come from East coast farms and are definitely cheaper quality than you would want from a French restaurant that advertises itself as a semi-fancy dinner date vibe.

they just opened in December (2 months open from time of this review) but I don't expect them to stay open long if they don't do a better job with quality of ingredients and being more part of the local downtown community. nothing they had felt "special" or unique besides the location. even the website is a boring portrayal of a fancy restaurant with no personality.

this place ultimately feels like it's lacking love and care. feels like a place that some random rich people opened for a quick buck instead of a meaningful...