Le Pain Quotidien — Restaurant in Thousand Oaks

Official complaint against Manager at store#222 2728 Townsgate Rd Thousand Oaks CA 91361

Ordered my usual toasted Croissant with Ham and Gruyere.  The person who prepared it thought that meant a croissant with ham and some sort of spread. How?  It’s their menu item, no alterations requested.

As this was purchased thru GrubHub for delivery I went thru the proper channels to inform them an item is incorrectly prepared.  However, since this is not the first time this establishment has prepared items incorrectly, I called to speak to a Manager.  The so-called manager, Christopher, (if that really is his name) got on the line.  I first confirmed that he was the Manager, to which he confirmed he was.  I informed him what the issue was and he went to look for the order.  Came back on the line he couldn’t find it and I repeated the order name and details. He found it and I asked how can your menu item be prepared differently than how it is supposed to be made.  He said it was made wrong and that he will speak to the preparer and unfortunately since this was ordered from GrubHub he couldn’t do anything.

I said the person preparing it is incompetent and then he said, I’m trying to help and I would like you to not use the degrading, incompetent, and hung up on me! Really, your staff incorrectly prepared my dish, thus, incompetent.  Definition of incompetent is: not having or showing the necessary skills to do something successfully.  They did not prepare my order successfully and thus incompetent.  So, he thought it was a good idea to hang up on me?

That doesn’t help, so Mr. So-called, Manager, you Sir, are an...

My fiance and I have been going to this location for over a year (and much more recently)and what a dramatic change you have had in the past 3 months especially around the holidays and during the fires this month! I've been meaning to write this review for a while now because your manager Chris is absolutely amazing! We were introduced to him back in October after an issue with our order and service we had. He handled our issue quickly and with such grace not only that he even remembered us the next time we came in and checked on us. Since then its like our home away from home we go at least 2x a week. He is so welcoming and we have noticed this with other guests. We didn't have power for over a week during the fires and Le Pain and Chris were a safe haven to be able to get a nice meal and work on our laptops. Anyone complaining about long wait during that period did not have a grip on reality as staff were doing their best to get orders out. Lastly I needed quick gifts for Hanukkah and had stoped into your Encino store to get the the packages I saw in Westlake but no one new what I was talking about packages with Hanukkah bows. So we went back to Westlake to found out Chris bought the bows himself so customers celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah could create their own packages with green and red bows for Christmas or blue and white for Hanukkah ANDS THAT IS GOING ABOVE AN BEYOND!! He's a gem and you just don't see enough of this now a days. See you...

I have been going to PQ (different locations) for the last 23 years and this was by far the worst experience. We went at around 2pm to have lunch and the food was terrible: I specifically wanted their gazpacho soup, however, they were OUT of it! It is literally advertised on every table! My kids ordered salads, and those came looking old, sad, and with NO dressing. We had to ask for dressing only to be told that they are OUT of the Mediterranean salad dressing. I ordered the Croque Monsieur in stead of the gazpacho soup which they didn't have and that was awful! It looked like something I could have done at home for much less than $18 and it was nothing like what it is supposed to be. The waitress was average and needed reminding to bring utensils for the cake we ordered for dessert. Basically a $100 spent on a miserable lunch. We left disappointed and not coming back. The only positive was easy parking and plenty of tables available. Save your money and go...