Brasserie Saint Germain — Restaurant in Ridgefield

September 2025 - Seeing another show at the Ridgefield Playhouse, I brought a family member here who also enjoys French food. His prepared halibut was a fine interpretation of this fish. I liked my seafood crepe but I regret not ordering their lamb shank special for the evening as it's one of my favorite dishes. Service, drinks, escargot all perfect. Fine dessert menu.

June 2025 - This was a sublime experience. If you're a French cuisine person, and in the area or passing through, you must try this brasserie.

I have to give a nod to the Google Maps no highways option, which brought me here from quite a distance with ease. For future guests looking for the entrance to this place, it's a little tricky. If you're using your GPS, it will correctly guide you to 470 Main Street in Ridgefield which is the front of a business. Having visited many eateries here before, I thought the GPS was not correct.

I drove to the usual spot which houses many fine restaurants that I have reviewed here for years. Not seeing the brasserie, I asked a couple, where is Brasserie St. Germain? They explained it was behind 470 Main Street on the back side and told me how to go from the lot. Taking it from there, I caught it out of the corner of my eye and pulled in.

There are a few tables outside the front of the restaurant with flowers on the tables for those who want to enjoy their food in the open air. I went inside and met the wonderful server who was totally engaged with me hearing the story I told as to why I was early. He had a similar one. It was a nice bond. No longer needing a table for two, I was fine with a seat at the bar or in a corner, but he brought me to the back room at a lovely end table with a leather backed bench seat.

As with any Ridgefield Playhouse concert, a local diner chooses to sponsor a show and offers a complimentary drink. It's almost always a free glass of wine. My last visit here, a free house margarita was offered to those holding "The English Beat" tickets. Impressive, that Brasserie St Germain offered guests to the show, any glass of complimentary wine.

I asked my waiter, as he made many knowledgeable selections, "You mean, I can have any glass of wine off of this menu?" He said, "Yes." I noted, "I've been to so many of these events now and frequented the sponsoring restaurant. When you tell them you're attending the Playhouse tonight for the complimentary glass of wine, they just ask red or white?"

He politely grinned as if to say without words, we're not them. Bien sur! I appreciated that he knew his wine, living in CA where I bought wine from tasting rooms in Napa Valley, Paso Robles and other vineyards. We agreed I should try their Bordeaux Chateaux tours de Bayards. Excellent selection.

For those of you who have missed French food being almost unfindable for a while now, connoisseurs like me are loving this resurgence. How can you not order the escargot? Steak tartare? I had both.

Honestly, when you think about eating snails, it's not that appealing, hence the word "escargot" working much better. The minced garlic, parsley, and butter sauce authenticated the escargot experience. The presentation could improve outside of the white ceramic dish.

The quail egg with the filet angus tartare was a nice bonus. It's on the side for anyone who can't eat eggs or does not like them. Tasting the tartare on its own, I thought I'd pass on the crunchy baguette slices that come with the dish. Glad I changed my mind and broke a piece off to put the tartare on top. Wonderful pairing. It made a big difference, with the crunch and overall impact of the flavor. I appreciated my server telling me I could order the appetizer size vs. the main. (4 oz/8 oz) Hearing this, I said, "I'll be good and get 4 oz."

We discussed other dishes, such as Boeuf Bourguignon, Crepe Normandy, or a mussels dish - their specialty, but larger in portion I passed since leftovers would sit in a hot car. The pinot noir Doudet-Naudin was full-bodied yet light.

If you love French food, this Brasserie is a must....

Good ambience, very friendly service and food very good. Appetizers are excellent with good portion sizes. Likewise a good selection of main courses. Desserts would benefit from some attention. As an example, the crepes we ordered were too thick and stodgy for French crepes; more akin to pancakes. But the restaurant is an asset to Ridgefield and we will certainly visit again.

UPDATE FOLLOWING SECOND VISIT

To ring out the old year my wife and I had lunch at Brasserie St. Germain on December 31st. The last time we had lunch here was on July 18th, so we were disappointed to find that the menu was exactly the same one we had then. Not specific to this restaurant, one of our perennial complaints about restaurants in this area is that they do not change their menu with the seasons. They might argue that their menu contains classic dishes which everyone enjoys, and, a la Henry Ford, if it ain't broke don't fix it, but good restaurants, and certainly French restaurants in France, make a point of using the best ingredients available seasonally, which means regularly changing the menu, so this was a deep disappointment.

Having said that, my starter of Terrine Foie Gras was excellent, but as on the last occasion in July, the Vol Au Vent a bit too heavy and larger than necessary. For our main courses the Poulet Chasseur was good, as was the Boef Bourguignon, although the latter would have been better accompanied by mashed potatoes or a Gratin Dauphinoise rather than by French Fries.

For dessert the Tarte Citron turned out to be Lemon Meringue Pie, rather than a proper Tarte au Citron, which was mildly disappointing, and once again the Crepe La Garrigue was as thick as an American pancake and not really a paper-thin French crepe. The food was good enough to retain the four stars we gave it last time, but to gain a fifth star Brasserie St Germain will have to do better. Perhaps we will visit again next July to see if the menu...

Im not one for reviews but I had to on this one. My wife and I came here back in 2023 and it was fantastic. Espresso martinis were superb the waiter who speaks french, your name escapes me sir I apologize you were great, the blue cheese muscles were so good I ordered a 2nd order. However this time we were sat with the waitress across from the great gentlemen and she didn't do a good job to put it plainly. To start off it took 30 minutes to get our drinks. Espresso martinis tasted like Jaeger unfortunate not the end of the world. The muscles this time were over done and dry as can be that was the star of the show last time so inconsistent to say the least. My wife and I specifically asked for the cheese platter as we don't eat pork. Lo and behold we have a platter full of meat with little cheese. And by the way we were charged for the meat/ cheese plater! We did not eat nor complain about having to pay for it . The waitress we had never asked us if anything was OK, in fact the great gentleman who served us last time and was on the other side of the dining room came and asked if everything was OK. I politely said it was. My server no where to be found after an extand period of time again ,I wave the gentleman over ask for a check immediately and he delivers. That man is the only saving grace of the entire night. I have never had to leave a restaurant and rush somewhere else before they closed for dinner. At least that place delivered. I wanted to make this place a regular spot but they absolutely destroyed that. Im going to add that my wife is french and that place originally made her feel like she was eating french food. 2nd go around ruined her birthday entirely. I'm not saying don't go im saying it is hit or miss in the most egregious way. If you go and sit in the back dining room sit on the left side with the gentleman. I cant comment on the front...