La Belle Vie Kitchen — Restaurant in Suwanee

Absolutely one of the worst restaurant experiences I've ever had in my entire life. The food was actually good but the service? Abominable.. We were seated and waited 15 mins and no-one ever approached our table. At this point I got the attention of another server and asked her to please send our server over. A young man came over with waters and apologized for being late. We placed our drink and food order. 20 mins later and my daughter still did not get her white chocolate mocha. I flagged down another server to ask where our server was since we haven't received our drinks yet. Couple of minutes later our server appeared with the coffee. This drink was the furthest from a white chocolate mocha.. It was bitter and bland. Waited another 10 mins for our server who was never around and I finally gave up and went to the bar and asked the bartender to add a little half and half and sweetner however he seemed super inconvenienced at my request. Nonetheless he added the ingredients and I went to sit down.. It took about 45 mins to get our food which was actually good, however our French toast was missing. We had no silverware or napkins so after trying to flag someone down I finally got up and went to the back and asked someone for silverware and napkins. 20 mins or so into our meal our server had not come up to check on us at all. He would go to other tables and completely walk the other way and ignore us. It takes quite a bit to irritate me because I used to work in a restaurant when I was younger so I understand, however the restaurant was not busy and most of the servers were sitting towards the kitchen area just talking meanwhile ours was totally missing. We had been done with our meal for nearly 15 mins when he finally showed up and I asked about the French toast which he apologized that the kitchen made a mistake. Im sorry what? We were already 45 mins into our meal which he not once came to our table and only then he tells us the kitchen made a mistake and that it would be ready in 10 minutes. He then went to the computer and I'm pretty sure he put in our French toast order which he forgot originally. Took another 20 mins for that to come out and I told him to put it in a to go container and the check. When he came back with the check he did say that he took the French toast off since we had to wait so long which I thought was a nice gesture considering. As we walked out my daughter who is the epitome of calm actually said that she's glad this experience was over. They did not look short staffed as there were plenty of servers milling around for such a small place. I would say this place needs to hire servers that are actually invested in the customers considering their earned money is based on tips. Because of the terrible customer service I absolutely 100% WOULD NOT recommend the...

Going in, I wanted to not like this place. It was the wife’s idea and I tried to argue that the Google reviews said that it was very expensive, considering it wasn’t authentic French cooking or even French-owned. In addition, when we got there, we were told that because the restaurant was under new ownership that they wouldn’t have a liquor license for another week. I asked my wife how she was going to eat French food without a glass of wine.

But, we stayed and we loved every dish we ordered. First of all, think of it as a French fusion in an American cafe. It’s a lovely little place and the young wait staff was pleasant, polite, and energetic. We ordered 3 appetizers and the fried honey Brussels Sprouts side (a very original and surprisingly delicious way to eat sprouts that I’m usually not too crazy about). The 3 appetizers we ordered were all between $14 and $16 and the two of us were, surprisingly quite full afterwards with the little salads and bread that came with each dish. The duck confit was crispy on the outside, but still juicy on the inside, and had a nice fruit coating that reminded me of some exotic BBQ dish. The lamb lollipops were, literally, finger-licking good. They were grilled with a delicious fig sauce and you got 3 chops, when I was only expecting 2. Finally, the mussels were the best surprise. There were a lot of them, they were fresh and not overdone, and the mussel meat, itself, was tender, sweet, and juicy. When the menu said white wine sauce, I was expecting more of the same boring wine, butter, garlic type that is most common in restaurants today. Instead, I was surprised with a delightful concoction of cream, butter, white wine, and mustard (I believe) that I couldn’t let any go to waste by using the last of my bread.

Turns out that if you’re expecting more of a fun fusion type of food experience, then this is your place and you will enjoy some delicious, creative takes on old standards. Also since no alcohol was available, I left completely full with a reasonable bill of $54 for 2 people that I was happy to add a 25% tip to for the friendly and warm service. We will be coming back to La Belle Vie...

I am a first time visitor and found this place genuinely underwhelming and the staff seemed insecure.

The vibe is nice space ample and clean. If music was playing I didn’t notice any. The hostess who greeted me was awesome! Super bubbly and inviting.

I chose to sit at the bar and found the meal experience truly blasé. The bartender was barely audible, although polite. I ordered a red sangria and when I tasted it, it was 100% sour. It legitimately tasted like there was Campari or Aperol in it or something. The bartender was accommodating when I asked for a glass of red wine instead, after inquiring why I didn’t want the sangria, but seemed as if their feelings were hurt or something, noticeably unfriendly and visibly uneasy after that. I tipped her @ 40% my tab— not because they had earned it —because they barely interacted with me at all and took 15 minutes to make a nasty drink and had almost no contact with me after the drink was delivered—but because they seemed sad and I wanted to tip them well despite the reality of poor service. I hope they embrace joy on the horizon!

Even the young person who brought my food seemed timid, had little interaction with me, and I wondered if the staff was afraid of failing or something. No joy. No smiles. It was kinda sad. That’s the vibe I got, that everyone except the hostess was afraid of making mistakes! Even hough I was kind and smiling the response was the same from everyone except the hostess.

The manager or owner or whoever asked how my food was very nice, but asked specifically “is it too salty” which made me wonder if it should have been lol. I found it bland, but did not express that. Because flavor is preferential. And the dish was flavorful in the sauce, but the grits were exceptionally devoid of flavor. And undercooked.

I got the shrimp and grits and can’t say it was a good meal. With Flavor Rich down the road, and it’s comparable prices, I will likely continue to choose flavor rich for my brunch option. Not a bad experience. Just not my cup...