la Madeleine — Restaurant in Plano

This will be a long detailed review but since most people have short attention spans here are the cliff notes: If you are black or of the melanin rich variety I would urge you to steer clear of the La Madeleine located at the intersection of Park and Preston. Do not pass GO. Do not collect $200! I would hate for anyone else to experience the kind of customer service, or lack thereof that my husband and I experienced there nor would I wish the sad wilting, yellow/gray mess masquerading as a ceasar salad that they served me on anyone, (Not even exaggerating. I couldn't even eat it because it looked like it was in the beginning stages of decomposition and have uploaded 2 pics for your viewing displeasure).

If,however, you are what passes for what some might call 'white/caucasian' and are comfortable with others receiving subpar service on the mere basis that they don't share your phenotype you will more than likely be welcomed by the open and speculatively inbred arms of the woman who served us today but I digress...

So I was out shopping with the hubs in Plano (5/26/2016), when hunger struck. Luckily for us, (or so we thought at the time), there was a La Madeleine nearby on Preston. We love the one in Lewisville - never had a bad experience there - and we made the sorry mistake of assuming this one would be the same. Upon us entering the building we were not greeted with even so much as a hello which I honestly didn't think too much about until the next two customers walked in moments after us and were greeted heartily with "Hello! Welcome to la Madeleine! This made my husband chuckle and shake his head because the disparity in how we were greeted and they were was so stark and the only difference we could discern between them and us was phenotypical, (i.e they were both white). Nonetheless, we let it go b/c we came here for food not for a hearty greeting nice as one may have been.

So we begin to make our way towards the cashier who for descriptive purposes was caucasian woman of a certain age, (old enough to know better than to treat fellow human beings like this but admittedly, probably grew up in a time in American History when being an ass hat was allowed to a certain demographic of the pop. if you catch my drift). Just based on her body language and the look she gave us I could tell she didn't seem too pleased to see us. In fact she chose to ignore us at first, that is until a young hispanic gentleman who must have noticed the puzzled looks on our faces said hi and asked us if we wanted to get some soup. We immediately engaged with him because he was the first person that had shown us any warmth since we had entered but that was cut short when the old lady interrupted him and said, "Don't worry, I've got this." Anyway, she finally takes our order, I ordered a turkey and brie sandwich and a side caesar salad and a cup of coffee for my drink to which she responds, "do you want that in a to go cup or a mug?" If my food wasn't to go, why would my cup be? I wondered but I let it go b/c I like to pick my battles. We take our food and place marker and go sit down then wait...and wait....and wait. 20 minutes in my husband looks up and notices our plates sitting at the top and we were next in line to be served but what does the old woman do she serves not one but both of the white people whose orders came after us first. Then she heads back to her cash register at which point she makes eye contact with us and perhaps notices our raised eyebrows and finally brings our food over drops it off as quickly as she can with nary a word and walks off. My sandwich seem edible enough but my salad looks..just look at the pic I uploaded. To add insult to injury another white couple is seated behind us and she dotes on them then rushes to the kitchen staff telling them loudly to "make sure their food is fresh!" Meanwhile my decomposing salad is likely growing a colony of staph. aureus. I dgaf about her blatant prejudice, but when you try to give me food poisoning??? Bih suck a railroad spike. DO...

It's a little sad to watch one a our few remaining breakfast institutions from the last 20 years go slowly downhill. The pandemic did-in the great self-serve bread and jam, but that was understandable given the circumstances then. But after the pandemic was over it didn't come back. Now instead of a selection of three types of fresh bread and two types jam, there is a single tasteless pre-packaged bread and a single jam that is actually more of a syrup than a jam or jelly.

But we had gotten used to that. What blew us away this morning was that the entire serving line has now been boarded up and shut down. Instead of a lively interaction where we picked a quiche or other items, and watched as our salads, trio sampler, etc., were being prepared in front of us, there is only a single cashier/order taker.

When we went to a table to wait for our food we saw that the dining areas had also been remodeled. The whole vibe we loved for so long is now gone. No more French Country Inn motif, replaced by a non-descript decor that may as well have been any other generic chain restaurant. Think Panera.

Then the food came out and I thought they had accidentally left out part of my croissant breakfast sandwich. It literally looked like the center section had been cut out, and just the two ends made it to the plate. I guess the croissants are 1/3 smaller now or something, who knows.

The whole experience was nothing like the La Madeleine chain we've loved for decades. My overall feeling was that the corporate owners are going to 'update' themselves right out of business because the longtime customers have little use for a generic Panera clone with no atmosphere. Maybe that's why the place was basically empty at a time of morning that was always crowded...

First time coming to La Madeleine, but it will not be my last. While I waited for my friend to arrive I browsed their menu and I loved what I saw. There was a variety of sandwhiches, salads, soups, and breakfast items. They serve breakfast all day as well as $5 mimosas!! Such a great deal that you cannot beat! I will definitely be back for breakfast.

I like their set up of a cafeteria style and you just tell them what you want. Since it was my first time here I could not decide what I wanted, so I got the sampler platter. The sampler gives you three choices of half a quiche, salad, and soup. I decided to get the spinach quiche, their new Mediterranean Salad, and lentil soup. The quiche was a good size and had a nice little crunch to it. It had a good flavor and was very light. The Mediterranean salad was made up of mainly quinoa. It had a soft crunch to it and had a nice mix of kale, tomatoes, olives, and pepper. It was a little spicy and just overall was good. I wish that there was a little bit more kale or green to it--like if it was the same ingredients, but on a bed of kale or spinach would make it even better.

Lastly the lentil soup had a good flavor as well. Just a little bit salty, but not so much that it was overwelming and made it difficult to eat. I definitely wish that there was more in my bowl. I think that the lentil soup could have been a meal by itself because it was very hearty. The total for my food was just $11, so not bad for lunch!

While grabbing water I noticied that they had free bread and their amazing strawberry rhubarb and BlackBerry spreads. They both were amazing!

I think that La Madeleine is a good place for breakfast, brunch, and lunch. I...