Le Petit Chez Mimi — Restaurant in Santa Monica

It's hard to give Le Petit Chez Mimi 5-stars when I give Pasjoli 5-stars. But if you want simple but good French cuisine, in a simple, home-like and charming atmosphere, then this place is for you. Whereas Pasjoli is on busy Main Street in Santa Monica, Le Petit Chez Mimi is located at the storefront of a business park, at the T-intersection of Yale and Colorado. I pass by all the time either on the way to work, or running errands, but this place always looked closed: Only open for dinners Tues-Sun, and brunch on Sundays.

Therefore I made an effort to finally try this cute little place with my family. The restaurant, the food and the service is very reminiscent of eating at a local cafe in Paris. You know, you walk around, look around and finally pick a place for dinner, any place, because so many of the restaurants in Paris are good. This is how I felt of my first experience at Le Petit Chez Mimi.

Many who dined tonight (Friday night) seemed to be regulars and locals. The service staff dressed casually (blue jeans) and the service was good. Whereas Pasjoli, the wait staff are uniformed and professionally trained - what you expect from a Michelin recognized establishment. With Le Petit Chez Mimi, its simply good food, not particularly IG worthy in its presentation.

Surprisingly, the prices were higher than I expected. I guess I was expecting a simpler, quaint French cafe to be more reasonably priced. But I guess this is to be expected for French cuisine.

Now for my food review: -Escargot. Not bad. I've had better. I felt it needed salt and more of that greenish garlicky sauce (pesto-like.) Please excuse my lack of knowledge of the correct ingredients. -Onion Soup. Excellent! One of the best French Onion soups in town. The portion size was perfect. Sometimes, the portions are so big, you dont have room for the remaining courses, but theirs was perfect. Nice gooey cheese! -Entrées: the 3 of us had 2 different steaks and one pork chop entrée. Again, all were tasty and the steaks were perfectly cooked, but the pork chop was overcooked. This place isn't Michelin-worthy because of the simple presentation (not much presentation at all.) -Dessert: The Tarte Tatin was excellent. It was like warm apple pie with fresh cold whip creme. It was perfectly spiced, slightly tart, and not overly sweet. Someone posted on Yelp! that this was an "award winning" dessert....

A tiny but delicious French bistro in a sleepier part of Santa Monica. I’m a huge fan of French cuisine and I’ve pretty much been to all the other options in Los Angeles but for some reason I missed this place. Everyone at our table was really happy that we chose this location because we all had a great meal and great service. Our server was very polite and all of our items that we ordered came out very quickly. The owner was also there and gave a very sweet goodbye when we were leaving. The menu is not very large, but it has all sorts of bistro classics that you would expect and everything that we ordered really had a great taste and a fair price. They also have a large free parking lot attached, which is a huge bonus, especially for Santa Monica. The restaurant size is really tiny but done well and it really feels like the French countryside. It almost feels like you are dining in someone’s house, but with professional service.

Being our first time we wanted try some of the classics on the menu. We both started off with the French Onion Soup and thought it was fantastic. It wasn’t overly salty, there was loads of cheese, and great overall flavor. For my entree I ordered the Sanddabs Meunière because I love those flavors and sand dabs are a California classic fish. Only found on the West Coast so I order them anytime I get the chance. Everything was very light and buttery and it just had tremendous flavor. I was honestly sad when I finished it. We wanted to order a dessert, but by the end of the meal, we were just too full and decided to save that for next time.

Overall a fantastic bistro and I would recommend to any fan of French cuisine or anyone searching for a great...

Le Petit Cafe, located on the South side of Colorado in Santa Monica, stands unassumingly; yet, it is ready to leave a large impression in your palate. Your arrival will be met with a formal French greeting, at which point the response will indicate the language of service. I had a latte with brown sugar; the foam lasts till the last gulp. This was followed by onion soup. It is a taste party refusing to desperse from your mouth. The waitress added black pepper. It was hot enough to eat with hungry vitesse, but not too hot to burn your mouth. I know that when a bowl is scooped for every trace of soup, it is a sign of nutritious and tasty satisfaction. Next, the main course, half a chicken with mushroom, carrot square sticks, steamed broccoli, and mash potato was delivered on 200 degrees plate. The chicken is tender on the inside, but it is covered with a crunchy skin, laid on stewlike base. Finally, my lunch was well accentuated with an artsy apple tart. The rustic decor, with a mellange of colors, invites comfort and a homey feel to the lunch or dining experience. No less than four people checked up on my lunch experience. Their hosting is pleasant, informative, friendly, and expeditious. Even though this cafe has been rated by Zagat and Yelp, I am surprised at the absence of a line waiting to be seated. In my opinion, this is officially an Angelino restaurant stop, if not a California...