Cafe Madeleine North Park — Restaurant in San Diego

Waited in a long line to order, busy for the day after Christmas I suppose, but the gentleman behind the counter was very kind and informative. He said that the pastries were fresh and house-made. Was he trying to signal me? Warn me off the rest of the menu? Nah. Couldn't be...could it?

But then...

My daughter was given a glass for the serve-yourself water dispenser. The water was room temperature on a 75° day, gross. The attempt at herbs and citrus in the dispenser to make the water refreshing and appealing was an utter failure.

The one waitress working was inept, priorities were waaaay out of whack: looking lost, wandering around with orders, and no CLUE where they belonged. Also? First rule of waiting tables: never go back to the kitchen empty handed. EVER.

I waited for 3-4 minutes, then bussed my own table, wiped it down. We waited for fresh squeezed orange juice, usually not a mistake, but room temperature orange juice? No thanks.

Their system is: order first, get a number for the table's order and find your own seating. It's not awful, but definitely NOT working in this space, with this menu and staff.

We waited for our food to be delivered while I watched it sit on the expo rail, dying. It is one thing to clear the dishes from the table I wanted, but clearly another to get my own order from the kitchen when I SEE IT SITTING THERE. Finally, with plates on the table, we waited another 3-4 minutes, without flatware, while the waitress wandered past us, twice, delivering flatware and orders to other tables. (I bet you can guess... Yep! We had to get our own flatware. 🙄)

The steak au poivre was really salty. (I think they added salt to a dish with capers. Amateur hour.) The pommes frites were soggy and sad - too many fry orders without allowing the grease to come to temp will make this happen y'all. Again, with a bonus hair right on top, Amateur hour. My daughter's order was "dunked in honey" (her words) and covered with a confusing sprinkle of granola, all overpoweringly sweet.

Atmosphere/menu was French-themed. Background music was Brazilian samba, but I wasn't mad at it.

The handsome, dark haired man in a brown hat noticed us leaving, the same man that took our order. He inquired about our experience and I answered as honestly as I could. He was kind and delicate. I truly didn't want to say exactly how I felt so I gave him a withering, non-committal smile. I gave a few of the overarching themes of our meal, and he immediately looked embarrassed and apologized.

But did he DO anything to get me to want to return and try again? Coupon for a future visit? One of those fresh, house-made pastries to-go sur la maison?

Nope.

I live walking distance and maybe I'll try again...

Terrible service, she got all the order wrong. I was afraid to say something because it was like the 3rd mistake but I didn’t do it to not have a worst experience. I ordered 2 crock madame one with gluten free bread, when we got the order, I asked the server which one was the gluten free and he just said “I don’t know” I was hoping that he will check at the kitchen and he didn’t, I went to ask myself and the cashier lady said “oh let me ask…” and she reviewed the order and saw that she ordered both gluten free, why do I have to pay extra $ for her mistake? Because they charge you extra for a gluten free bread. I also ordered a brew coffee, because of COVID they don’t have milk or cream outside, so I stand up again and asked for MILK, I went back to my table and pour the “milk”, she gave me creamer (half & half) so I went back and told her that I don’t like creamer and that I messed my coffee because she gave me creamer instead of milk, and she responded “Oh you want REGULAR MILK?” .. say what?? Hahaha I asked for milk, milk is milk, and that’s CREAMER or Half and half, dont treat me like if I was the one o messed up, just give me another coffee and that’s it. Her attitude trying to blame me for her mistakes gave worst experience. Also, I ordered a latte (to go) and she made it “for here” (another mistake) when I ordered a cup to-go and switch cups, coffee was almost half empty, you can see the shadow from the cup sleeve, that is above the coffee. You don’t get the same amount if you order in a to-go cup than if you drink at the restaurant, even when they charge the same as a 12oz latte. I used to like this place a lot, but now the personal...

A recent addition to our neighborhood, this cafe offers Illy coffee, which immediately attracted our attention. We went for breakfast and ordered quiche and a sandwich, which were good. Despite working with excellent beans though, coffee is mediocre, due to (as we were told) the lack of training for the baristas. After a couple of tries they do get it right, but by their own admission, they are not aware of the terms, which in this area of hipster know-it-all foodies could be detrimental to a business. Therefore my plea to the proprietor: Please show these nice people how to make coffee. Pretty please. Oh, and there is another thing. If you're going to call your place Madeleine, you should probably offer good Madeleine cookies. Alas, the ones we were offered were doughy and dense, instead of light and fluffy like they're supposed to be. None of the buttery flavor either. All this is a pity because this little gem has the potential to be a 5 star rated establishment. So, in conclusion, I do hope they change their cookie recipe and train their baristas and make me revise this review soon....