Coquette — Restaurant in Raleigh

After dining at Coquette for well over a decade, it really seems like they have gone downhill in a big way. My wife and I held our small wedding and reception there in 2014 and have been returning every year (except 2020) for dinner on our anniversary. And every year the food has been good and they made us feel special (free champagne, free dessert, etc.) While those were always generous gestures that we appreciated and certainly aren’t owed, the only person who even acknowledged our anniversary (which we indicated in Resy) was the hostess.

Our cocktails and shrimp cocktail appetizer were very good and what I had come to expect from Coquette. Sadly, the rest of the meal didn’t follow suit. My wife ordered steak frites and i ordered the $49 NY strip. We both ordered them au poivre. They both came out with red wine demi. We asked the server and she insisted it was the right sauce and their au poivre preparation was with a “darker” sauce. I pointed out that i tasted 0 peppercorn in the sauce, it was red, and it tasted like red wine. I asked to just get the béarnaise sauce instead, and she offered to bring me a whole new steak. I accepted and asked them to do fries instead of the “crispy potato” it came with - they were bland chunks of deep-fried potato that could be outdone by the home fries on a mediocre brunch buffet.

Then someone who I assume is the manager shows up and asked about the situation. Even she said the red wine demi and au poivre “look similar.” I found that interesting because au poivre is basically cognac, peppercorns, and cream. She also informed me that the kitchen already put the NY strips in the freezer (90 minutes before closing, mind you) so they couldn’t make me another one. Whether that’s true or they were just being cheap, it’s poor service.

I’ll also note that my wife and I saw several other dishes sent back and/or complained about at tables around us.

I opted for the steak frites instead. I asked if they could make it au poivre the correct way because I really wanted that. She told me the kitchen “wouldn’t be able to execute it in the way I was expecting.” To her credit, she was incredibly apologetic and very nice. I felt she was genuinely empathetic but was having to make up for a situation as absurd as a so-called French restaurant unable to execute on the basics.

So my takeaway is that a once good French restaurant is now a place where they don’t know a red wine sauce from a cream sauce, and employs Saturday night kitchen staff who can’t make a simple pan sauce.

To their credit, they did comp my entree: a tougher cut of beef with a couple streaks of broken béarnaise. At least the fries were good, but I can get comparable fries at Wendy’s.

Thanks for the memories, Coquette, but we will be finding a new anniversary tradition among the many other superior restaurants in our own city. My wife enjoyed her dinner, but mine was beyond disappointing - especially for a special 10th anniversary meal. Perhaps we will return if they can go back to what they were even a few years ago.

Edit: added a photo from their Instagram that shows the two sauces side-by-side.

Edit #2: After I posted this review, the manager called me and offered a seemingly genuine apology and a $150 gift card if we would return. I’m still waiting 3 weeks later for a gift card that I was assured would be in the mail within a couple days of the call. So I’m taking this review down to 1 star for them adding insult to injury. Au...

We hosted our rehearsal dinner here with a group of twenty adults and two children. The food was fantastic, and everyone enjoyed it. However, the service left much to be desired. We don’t hold the server accountable—Zach was friendly and professional throughout. Instead, we blame whoever was responsible for staffing that night.

This event had been planned weeks in advance, so they knew we were coming. Despite that, Zach was the only server handling our group. While others helped bring out the food, Zach was left to take all the drink and food orders and serve bread on his own.

Some of the service issues we encountered (dinner service started at 5:45 pm) included:

Bread wasn’t brought to the table until an hour into the dinner (around 7 pm). We had to ask Zach for it, and we assume he simply forgot due to being overworked. We weren’t asked how we wanted the lamb cooked, and because we were busy talking, we didn’t think to specify ourselves. The food took a long time to arrive, with the main dishes not coming out until 7:15 pm.

We brought these concerns to the manager, Dimitrick, but unfortunately, the response was disappointing. While Zach remained polite and professional, Dimitrick was rude, passive-aggressive, and made snide remarks like, “Is this lamb to your perfection?” Rather than acknowledging the issues, he seemed irritated that we brought them up.

To be clear, we were more than happy to pay the full amount and knew exactly what the dinner would cost. We were not trying to get a discount or free food. Our disappointment came from the long wait times and sitting around with little service for extended periods. Though Dimitrick did slightly reduce the bill, his attitude was far from helpful, especially given the ample time they had to prepare for a large group.

We do apologize if we misinterpreted Dimitrick’s attitude, but that’s how it came across to us. He did step up and come out himself to help when he realized more service was needed, and we appreciate that effort.

In summary, we loved the food and appreciate Zach’s hard work, but the service experience, particularly with the management and staffing, could have...

I sat and waited for a bottle of Pellegrino for 35 minutes.

The table next to me noticed that an item was placed on their table and it was something they did not order. After another 10 min, we finally saw the server, I told her I was still waiting on my Pellegrino and glass with lime almost 35 minutes ago. She noticed in that moment that it was placed on the other table, now what happened next was the worst thing that has ever happened to me during a dinner service.

The server grabs the open bottle from the other table, as well as the glass with Pellegrino in it that sat in front of a woman and her family for 35 minutes.

We were all surprised that she simply swapped the items and placed them in front of me.

She didn't ask the family if they drank from the glass, she didn't discard it to make it right, she didn't even apologize.

As we sat there...with no bread, a bottle and glass from someone else's table, we were finally asked what we would like to order.

Apps please.

Apps arrived from the kitchen, we also noticed how attentive the server was to everyone's table around us. As we began finishing our Apps almost another 35 minutes later, we still did not see our server.

I waved the host to assist and take our order, and she did. We finally were able to grab a cocktail over an hours time at the point. Lucky us for seeing the host.

The server noticed the host was helping and immediately came over to finish asking what we order from the host.

It was the worst service of my life. Not to give anymore details, but I ordered the steak medium and it was over cooked, dry, and rubbery.

Check - 2 ppl at the table...we asked her to split 50/50. Total $150... The server brought us back 4 receipts to sign. Never in my life.

Seems like a very nice lady, but needs to know when to ask for help. I heard great things about brunch...so I always come back for a second shot before writing things off.

Thank you for your patience in reading.

From, the young lady in hopes of a better experience the next time around.

Tips: I normally tip $20 to $50...the service...