la Madeleine — Restaurant in Sugar Hill

Last year I stopped at a location in Washington, DC during a convention and was extremely impressed by their beautifully buttery croissants and lovely pastries in a bakery case to go, so when my birthday rolled around this year I decided to more thoroughly check this chain out so I went to this location. Ordering was slightly confusing and not terribly intuitive, which is fine. The place is a bit Panera-like, though I'm not quite sure what the long prep bar is for, exactly. You get some items right when you order and some with a number that goes on your table so your meal ends up pretty split. I wanted to indulge and ordered a crepe while my company ordered a turkey sandwich - which was brought out, not prepped at the prep bar - and a box of some pastry to go.

It took half an hour for them to bring two sandwiches to the table, so my order was wrong. They not ordered sandwich back. We'd ordered at the end of an obvious rush, so I was fairly understanding about that wait, but the longer we were there, the more it started to clear out.

Another half hour by and I stopped someone to inquire about my order and they went to check. They never returned. A few minutes later another employee was asking a few tables for who hadn't received all of their orders, so it turned out it wasn't only me. They took my receipt and the one from another table and took it back to the manager. I never got the receipt back, but that's fine.

Unfortunately, when they finally came with my crepe, it was the one an employee had been out in the dining room walking around with obviously unsure of where it went several minutes before and had gone to the back with. So my crepe was lukewarm in the middle and topped with cold broccoli by the time I got it. I just went with it as I didn't have another half an hour to burn. Lucky for the other lady close to me who hadn't gotten her order, her crepe looked to be steaming when it came out to her two minutes after mine. I hope she enjoyed it. Over the hour and change I was there I saw quite a bit of the employees looking lost in the dining room.

Some is unavoidable with the way the table system is, but in combination with my completely lost order it feels disorganized even for the people who work there. It kept them running around a lot without being able to accomplish much at times. No table was wiped off until after the rush was well over and half the tables were empty but piled with dirty plates. The staff was constantly busy, so I don't blame them. This was either a problem with disorganization or just not enough staffing to adequately run a Saturday, and even they seemed frustrated in their demeanor.

For the food, it doesn't feel too fair to judge a crepe plate that was already dead on arrival. The chicken was all tender. The veggies a consistent size. The sauce wasn't particularly rich and could have been more flavorful overall, but I like a lot of complex flavors, so I'm sure a lot of people like it fine.

My company thought their strawberry romanoff was ok, but a tiny side cup of strawberries topped with a bit of flavored sour cream, so it wasn't terribly impressive, either. She had the turkey and brie sandwich which was unremarkable enough that she doesn't even recall what it tasted like now a week later, and brie is one of her absolute favorite foods. Even just the picture on the website looks like the bread is too thick for the interior ingredients to balance.

My croissant with tea later in the day didn't feel as luxurious and buttery as the one I had in DC, but it was well baked and I'll get it again. It might have just been especially fresh in DC. The fruit tart was good. The lemon madeleines had a nice fresh lemon taste, but they were the most dense madeleines I think I've ever had. Like a very dense pound cake, so it felt a bit pasty and cloying in the mouth.

I'll definitely return, but not for any sit down orders in a restaurant packed area. Personally, I'll just be popping in for some croissants when the household has a...

I'm from out of town and this restaurant was near my hotel. I decided to give it a try for a Saturday morning breakfast. As I parked and walked in there were a few red flags. I parked next to a car that had graphics on it that advertised the restaurant. It looked like it had been sitting there for a while and was very dirty. I thought to myself why is the owner leaving this car right up front in a prime customer parking spot nit to mention its condition. As I walked up to the door I noticed that the windows were visibly dirty which was also present through the restaurant when I got in. After being seated the condition of the table's finish was worn and had a sticky feeling. I wasn't a fan of that.

Back to my entrance when I walked in the door I was immediately confused. There is a long counter where you'd get a serving tray and slide it along on a rail and order what you see under a glass case however you don't get to see this part until after you order and pay. There is a stand with some menus and you're supposed to browse the menu and then go to the register to order and pay. There wasn't enough space for this to happen and the restaurant was not very busy so the line didn't function well either. To the right is a bakery case as well. Its hard to get your bearings as a first timer.

I ordered the French country breakfast because it was first on the list. 2 eggs, sausage or bacon, potato galette and a croissant for $10.99. I also ordered a carmel machiatto and a creme brulee. Also picked up a heart shaped cookie that was wrapped as a gift (mothers day is next week). It was about $23. So they get the creme brulee from the case and hand it to me along with the cookie and a spoon with a letter on it (table sign) and tell me they will bring the rest out.

Between the 3 items, my wallet and the phone I was carrying my hands were full and I hadn't gotten to the trays yet. So I get to my table and a server comes out with my breakfast but I missed the silverware and napkins that I was supposed to collect in the opposite corner of the building. When I asked the server for silver she just says "overthere" and left. So I found it and while I was gone my coffee arrived.

The food was very good it could have been hotter and it could have come faster and insure was looking at the creme brulee longingly with no silverware. But it was all good. The croissant was excellent.

Overall I felt like the meal was reasonably priced and tasted good. The process of getting to the food was broken and the experience of being there was poor.

I also overheard the table next to me commenting that they were happy with the...

I would go back to this place, but honestly wouldn't be my first choice. I'm not a big fan of how it's set up, like the stand in line with your trey, vibe. I have a toddler, and didn't know it was set up like this, so it was very hard to try and wrangle my 2 year old while also ordering, standing in line, having to hold a trey, etc..it was pretty frustrating to be honest, but we got through it. I did need someone to help me though, because there was no way I could hold on to him and do everything else at same time. Basically you stand in line, order food, grab your trey, they put some of the food like soup, pastries, etc. On your trey, and then you pay. You then walk back to your table with your trey, and an employee brings out your main entree/bigger food items when they are ready. You also have to get your own drink, silverware, napkins, etc..so I don't recommend bringing your baby or toddler unless you have a family member with you to help! Our food was hit or miss, some things way better than others. I ordered the roast beef sandwich that comes with au jus to dip in, and my side was the potato soup. Also got creme bulee for dessert. My sandwich was okay, wouldn't order again. The bread it came on was delicious, & I honestly ended up just eating pieces of the bread. The horseradish on it was very spicy, which I didn't expect, and I couldn't handle it. The au jus dip was good though. The potato soup was honestly pureed too much, as 2 other family members agreed, but the rest of the soup was great. It had cheese and bacon in it, and I found it to be delicious. I would definitely order it again. The best item was the creme brulee, it was probably the best I've ever had, & my loved ones agreed. I'd stop by there & order multiple just to go! My son had the cheese pizza and a blue berry muffin. Muffin was okay, a little hard. The cheese pizza was just okay as well. Nothing special. It is over all not a bad place, just kinda average in my opinion, but I would eat there again, knowing which dishes to order next time, and knowing...