la Madeleine — Restaurant in San Antonio

The food La Madeleine offers is absolutely delicious. On quality of food alone I would rate La Madeleine as one of the top chains in San Antonio if not the United states far outstripping comparators (e.g. Panera). It may surprise you then that I rank - at least this location - so low. Please understand it takes a lot to earn such a low rating from me - not just a single bad experience but evidence of serious issues related to cleanliness, health, safety, or service. My negative experience started on Mother's day last year. I waited for two hours to receive my order and never got it. I called the phone number at curbside pickup pproximately every five minutes and got through maybe one time in ten. I went in multiple times (masked, socially distant, the whole nine yards) and each time was told another few minutes. After two hours, and missing the brunch I was supposed to host for my wife in the first place, I left. I was never reimbursed. Even after this infuriating experience, I gave them another shot. There were some mitigating circumstances, after all: many had the same idea as me for mother's day during the pandemic and their online ordering had obviously been overwhelmed. It was also early on in the pandemic and so I recognized that as much as it was frustrating, all businesses were struggling to adapt to the new way of doing business. So this morning, I gave them another try. I figure the morning of the superbowl would be an off day and not terribly busy. I pull up to curbside, call the number, and again no response. I wait a few minutes, call again; no response. I mask up and go inside. When i explain the situation, i get little sympathy. But here was the kicker: the man working the register, turns around, puts his gloved hand into his trousers from behind - not sure if he had an itch, was readjusting himself, or what - and then without changing gloves proceeds to transfer the fresh tray of croissants onto a dish. I don't care how good the food is, that is unsanitary and frankly disgusts me. Too many strikes. I'll...

I wish I could give no stars, had a horrible experience thanks to Connie, as a manager, she was unfriendly, didn’t pay attention, and bagged my order incorrectly twice. I still got home with my food incorrect, and it was only 6 desserts. We asked for the first fix, and she pulled a cheesecake out of my box with her hands, after I had already taken my box out to my car opened it and checked for my desserts. She then took the cheesecake that she got wrong, and put it back in the dessert case to be served to other customers, I’m sorry but where I have worked in the past, we don’t normally give people food that was already contaminated by another guest. I didn’t need the free desert so that isn’t the point, the point is, I’m pregnant and very careful with what I put into my body, so now I’m not sure if the desserts I received were. Touched by other guest before being served to me? She was also rude to her employee right in front of me and my mom. He helped her out by taking our Togo order, when she wasn’t even very busy, and gave it to her, and she rudely told him to ring it up even though dine in customers were piling in waiting on him, because she was to lazy to help us. When we walked in it wasn’t very busy, and for us to have to wait almost half an hour for our ready made desserts is pretty dang ridiculous. The young man working the dine in side, was very nice and cordial, and the only redeeming thing about our experience. I think Connie may need some customer service training, and maybe it needs to be given a second thought to her...

I love La Madeleine togo and eat there so much I have a rewards account. Today the Northwood's location changed that. It was horrendous and dissapointing.

I ordered the cafe sampler; the lorraine quiche was cold and weirdly textured, the spinach salad special this month is strawberry, bacon and spinach salad which was actually delicious the last time i had it. If you look at the attached photo this time it was terrible. The bacon was a grease ball with some bacon bits. Like so much bacon grease I couldn't separate it from the bacon bits and it stunk. I'm not sure how hard draining the bacon after its cooked is for the workers but if you can't do it right just leave it out. After industrially taking out the grease ball and bits, I had a strawberry and spinach salad.

My daughter ordered the salad sampler. Her salmon ceasar was also terrible. The salmon was barely heated with so much water in the container it looked like they boiled the salmon then threw it into a container without draining it first. The taste was bland and the texture terrible.

The workers need retraining on what's an acceptable product to give a customer and maybe some time off. It was a huge waste of money. The only decent item from my $25 order was a cup of potatoe soup that was watered down and really thin but the taste was fine. We couldn't add the cheese or the bacon because the bacon for the soup was also cocooned in grease and was in the same baggy as the cheese so the cheese was buried in bacon grease, too.

La Madeliene Northwoods, your...